On possibility of acquiring a second citizenship in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

The article considers the possibilities of having a foreign citizenship for citizens of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, focuses on national features of granting citizenship to foreigners in these countries, enumerates the types of legal liability for violating the legislation of citizenship. “Dual citizenship” implies having passports and equivalent legal status of citizenship of two states which have signed the mutual international agreements on the dual citizenship. Russian (Belarusian) citizens can also have citizenship and passports of other states with which Russia (Belarus) does not have the international agreements on dual citizenship. In this case people having two or more citizenships on the territory of the Russian Federation are not viewed as people having a dual citizenship. In the first case, the state considers a person more than its citizen, in the second one it ignores foreign documents of a person. If the dual citizenship brings advantages to its owner, the second citizenship leads to negative consequences for the owner. Kazakhstan has the hardest legislative requirements on this issue. Reflecting on the institution of citizenship in friendly nations, the author comes up with proposals concerning unification of the citizenship legislation of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan relating to citizen’s rights and liabilities in case of becoming a citizen of another state.