According to data from the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, a record number of Tajiks received Russian citizenship last year – 173,634 people, which is 69,953 people more compared to 2021. In 2021, 103,681 Tajiks received Russian citizenship.
Tajikistan tops Central Asia\s nations in terms of the number of citizens receiving Russian citizenship last year.
In 2022, 42,010 nationals of Kazakhstan and 27,220 nationals Uzbekistan received Russian citizenship.
The Russian Interior Ministry adds that that 121,122 other Tajik nationals have obtained a Russian permanent residence permit. It means that they are on the verge of getting the Russian citizenship, and most likely, they will become Russian nationals already this year.
A Russian permanent residence permit has a five-year validity period and can be extended without any limitation. However, just like the temporary residence visa, it must be authenticated on an annual basis.
Besides, 47,987 other Tajik nationals have a temporary residence permit, which is the first step to obtaining citizenship.
Analysis made by the Russian Interior Ministry shows that over the past seven years, the number of Tajikistan nationals receiving Russian citizenship has increased more than 6.5 times.
Thus, more than 830,000 Tajik nationals received Russian citizenship during the period from 2016 to 2022.
In 202, Russian authorities made amendments to the country’s federal law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation", which came into force on 1 July 2002. The amendments make it easier to get Russian citizenship for foreign nationals who signed a contract for service in the Russian army for a period of at least a year.
In accordance with the amendments, this category of foreigners does not need to obtain a residence permit for receiving the Russian citizenship.
The reason for this was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By this way, Russia has decided to encourage foreign citizens, primarily those from the CIS member nations in order to replenish the ranks of the mobilized people.
Tajiks choose Russian citizenship because they consider that it gives them access to better employment opportunities and accordingly to a better quality of life.
Besides, Russian citizenship gives their children access to quality education and free quality medicine.
