Rada adopts law on citizenship for foreign volunteers

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted a bill on citizenship for foreign volunteers. A total of 315 parliamentarians backed the adoption of bill No. 9585 as a whole, with of the minimum required 226.

The co-chair of the European Solidarity faction in the parliament, Iryna Herashchenko, announced this on her Telegram channel, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

The bill provides for:

• the possibility of obtaining permits for immigration or acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship on the basis of expired passport documents, as well as the possibility of obtaining temporary residence permits by foreigners and stateless persons involved in the defense of Ukraine as part of the territorial defense forces or voluntary formations of a territorial community, regulate their legal status of stay in the territory of Ukraine;
• family members of persons who have signed a contract for service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service and the National Guard of Ukraine will have the right to receive a temporary residence permit;
• citizens of the russian federation and citizens of the Republic of Belarus, who in the period from February 24, 2020 acquired the citizenship of Ukraine in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the Citizenship of Ukraine" and submitted an obligation to terminate foreign citizenship, will be required to submit a document on the termination of foreign citizenship within a year from the date of termination or cancellation of martial law, if the deadline for fulfilling such an obligation has already expired;
• persons who acquired Ukrainian citizenship during martial law and submitted an obligation to pass exams on the basics of the Constitution of Ukraine, the history of Ukraine and the level of proficiency in the state language, and who undergo military service under a contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service or the National Guard of Ukraine, will have the right to fulfill the obligation within two years from the date of termination or cancellation of martial law.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on May 30, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the procedure for taking exams on the basics of the Constitution and history of Ukraine for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship.