You may have citizenship in a country you've never lived in: what problems does this create and how to solve them

К to our office People who emigrated to the United States long ago, even before the collapse of the USSR, often contact us. They do not have and never had Russian passports, but many of them are currently faced with the need to prove the absence of Russian citizenship.

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For example, one of our subscribers wrote: “We left for the USA in 1978. All Soviet documents are gone. There is only a marriage certificate from 1974. We have been American citizens for a long time, and now we need to prove with documents that we do not have Russian passports. Such absurdity. We left the USSR. Russia did not exist then.”

In fact, this is not absurd. This is a rational demand of foreign authorities. The fact is that neither the absence of a valid Russian passport nor the presence of American citizenship at all confirm the absence of Russian citizenship. And even the fact that the applicant came to live in the USA long before the collapse of the USSR does not guarantee anything to anyone.

Whether you have citizenship (be it Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek or any other) is not obvious to anyone. And very often it is not obvious to the applicant himself. You can write any affidavit under oath swearing to everyone around you that you do not have Russian citizenship, but at the same time you can be honestly (or dishonestly) mistaken. Why? Well, at least because not all people went abroad applying for permanent residence. Many scientists went for work, tourists went on vacation, artists went on tour. Not everyone migrated from the USSR with refugee status and renunciation of citizenship. Many left while keeping their registration in their Soviet passport. And this means that on a certain day these people automatically became citizens of the Russian Federation (if they had Russian registration) or any other country of the former USSR.

On the subject: How to Accept or Refuse an Inheritance While Abroad: A Notary's Explanation

Many people stop considering themselves citizens of their country of birth after receiving American citizenship. I personally know hundreds of people who will put their hand on the Bible and swear that they do not have a second citizenship, although the circumstances of their case make it obvious (at least to a professional) that they do.

Immigration authorities of different countries know all this well. That is why they ask applicants for documentary evidence of the absence or presence of a second citizenship.

How can you prove that you have a second citizenship or not? Who needs it? Well, first of all, if you want to get a residence permit or citizenship of a European country, the authorities of this country will want to know more about you than you yourself want to tell them. And citizenship of another country is, of course, the most important question that should be answered with documentation. If you left the USSR before its collapse, the exact status is of great importance. If you had refugee status, were discharged from your apartment, renounced citizenship, then confirmation of your lack of Russian citizenship will be a certificate from the registration authorities on the date of your removal from the register. Even a certificate from the consulate on the absence of Russian citizenship may not be enough, because the consulate may not have all the data. Most likely, the consulate's response will be vague, that information confirming the presence or absence of citizenship was not found, that is, this is an answer about nothing, which will not help you much in resolving immigration issues in another country. But an archival certificate with the words “discharged on December 1, 1978 in connection with departure for permanent residence in the USA” will answer this question quite objectively and exhaustively.

The fact that your surname has changed may prevent you from obtaining such a certificate. Many people, when they come to the USA, simplify their names and surnames, thereby complicating life for themselves and their legal successors. Therefore, if the surname/name/patronymic in your American passport differs from the data by which you were known in your home country, then obtaining a certificate from the archive will be a real challenge. But it is doable. To do this, you will need to restore the entire chain of changes in your names and surnames.

You will have to endure the same procedure when confirming your citizenship. It would seem that you have received an American passport, consider yourself an American citizen and have forgotten that you are also a Russian citizen. And then suddenly - and your second cousin has left you an inheritance in Saratov. I am sure that many readers will smile at this point, but my professional experience confirms that few people refuse an inheritance, wherever it is located and whatever it consists of. And inIt is better to inherit in Russia if you are a citizen of Russia.

Inheritance is not the most common reason why people restore long-forgotten passports. Some want to leave for the country of origin forever, some want to pass on citizenship to their children and grandchildren. There are many reasons, but they are not the point. The point is that to confirm the presence or absence of citizenship, you need a document, not words, even the most convincing ones.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

In every immigration case, whether in the US or any other jurisdiction, you will need civil registry documents. Unfortunately, many underestimate their importance and not everyone has these documents. But even if you are a meticulous and careful person who has all the important papers in order, this is not a guarantee that you will not need new documents.

For example, Costa Rican immigration authorities require that all civil registry certificates be current, issued within the last six months. This requirement seems odd to me, because if you were born on March 10, 1967, that fact will not change as a result of obtaining a birth certificate with a later date, but perhaps there is some logic to these requirements.

In any case, even if the demands made on you seem unreasonable to you, you must fulfill them clearly and correctly.

Our office specializes in solving most problems and tasks in the field of international private law. We will be happy to help each of you.

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