In a foreign way: citizenship is now one-third less likely to be granted in Russia
In the first nine months of 2025, 110.8 thousand people took Russian citizenship, according to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was reviewed by Izvestia. This is a third less than last year. The decrease is mainly due to stricter migration legislation. In addition, in recent years, residents of new regions have actively obtained citizenship. Basically, Russian passports are issued to visitors from neighboring countries and Asia. At the same time, the number of patents granted to citizens of the CIS countries increased by 32%, and work permits for specialists from distant visa states increased by 52%. Why the authorities are changing their approach and instead of naturalization, they are more likely to use control over the employment of foreigners — in the Izvestia article.
How many people have received Russian citizenship
In January–September 2025, 110.8 thousand people received Russian citizenship, which is 30.1% less than in the same period of 2024, according to the materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Izvestia analyzed them). The editorial board sent a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Here we are talking exclusively about the admission of foreigners and stateless persons to citizenship, explained Alexey Gavrishev, Managing Partner of AVG Legal. Children born during this period, even if they automatically receive Russian citizenship, are not included in these statistics.
In general, representatives of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Armenia and Uzbekistan are among the top 5 recipients of Russian passports, said Yulia Florinskaya, a researcher at the Institute for Social Analysis and Forecasting at the IPEI Presidential Academy.
However, people from many unfriendly countries also express a desire to obtain Russian citizenship. On November 15, it became known that video blogger Artur Babich, who was born in Ukraine, received a Russian passport and noted: for him, this is not just a document, but the personification of people and the country that he considers his home. In July, it was reported that Daniel Martindale, a 33-year-old American who had been in the territory controlled by the Kiev regime for two years and transmitted intelligence information to the Russian side, became the owner of a Russian passport. In addition, from January to September of this year, Andrea Lucidi, military commander and editor-in-chief of the Italian edition of International Reporters (IR), and Maxim Zhitnikov, chef of restaurants in Vladimir Dobrograd, who moved from Germany, received citizenship.
According to the agency, the authorities have decided to terminate citizenship in respect of over 1.3 thousand people.
How migration legislation is changing in Russia
The decrease in passport issuance is due to stricter control in this area, according to the materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Another reason is that residents of the new regions actively acquired Russian citizenship in 2022-2024. In the same year, the trend has already started to slow down.
The trend was influenced by changes in legislation and law enforcement. The authorities have revised the conditions for simplified citizenship and tightened control over those who had previously applied for it through resettlement programs, temporary residence permits or residence permits, but had not actually integrated into the country, explained Alexey Gavrishev from AVG Legal.
At the beginning of the year, obtaining an RVP and a residence permit became more difficult. For example, a temporary residence permit in connection with a marriage with a citizen of the Russian Federation can now be obtained only after three years from the date of the wedding or if there is a common child. If the marriage is recognized as fictitious or is dissolved, the migration status is revoked. After receiving a residence permit, a person can apply for a residence permit, and only then get a passport. If the conditions for issuing the first two documents are tightened, then it will become more difficult to become a Russian citizen.
Now the approach to citizenship has become more selective: instead of increasing the number of new citizens, the main focus is on "quality" — issues of state security, social compatibility and loyalty of new citizens to the state, said Vladimir Popov, Associate professor of the Department of Private Law at the State University of Management (GUU).
According to him, the naturalization of foreign citizens coming to Russia is increasingly seen as a risk factor for the sustainability of society and the state. In this regard, priority is given to such forms of stay of foreigners, which involve temporary work in the Russian Federation and subsequent return to the country of permanent residence. Foreigners are considered primarily as labor resources, and not as future permanent residents.
Who needs foreign workers in Russia
According to the Ministry, the number of foreigners working under a patent increased by 32% and exceeded 1.9 million. Citizens of visa—free countries, such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, need such a document. At the same time, a person can only work in the region of our country in which he was issued this document.
At the same time, according to the Interior Ministry, in January–September of this year, the number of work permits issued increased by 52% (to 103 thousand). It is issued by companies for people from visa-eligible countries, such as China, the United States, Belgium, and African countries. To employ such a foreigner, an organization must first obtain permission to hire an employee, and only then issue a document. In addition, the number of jobs for citizens of the EAEU countries increased (almost 730 thousand) — by 26.4%.
Foreigners remain in demand in the Russian labor market, particularly in such areas as housing and communal services, construction, logistics and the food industry, said Alexander Smirnov, an expert in sales management and outsourcing of line personnel. According to him, many companies often fill vacancies with both Russian and foreign workers. However, now our country is striving to create a high-quality migration flow.
Globally, Russia remains a country with mass labor migration, but it is changing the vector somewhat, the expert said. Citizenship is becoming a privilege for loyal and culturally close groups, while the labor market remains open to foreign labor, but under increasing state control, explained Vladimir Popov from GUU. The reduction in the number of new citizens is a consequence of the past peak of simplified procedures and more careful selection, and the increase in the number of patents and permits issued is a response to the structural shortage of personnel in the economy. Since the beginning of 2025, the unemployment rate has been at 2.2%, and in August it fell to a record low of 2.1%. However, it rose slightly again the following month, and again to 2.2%.
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