Ukraine adopts law introducing multiple citizenship

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced this.

243 members of parliament voted in favor of the decision. The bill was initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Multiple citizenship is permitted in the following cases:

• when a child acquires both Ukrainian citizenship and that of another country at birth;
• when a child who is a Ukrainian citizen acquires the citizenship of their foreign adoptive parents;
• when a Ukrainian citizen automatically acquires another citizenship through marriage to a foreigner;
• when a Ukrainian citizen of legal age automatically acquires another citizenship under the laws of a foreign state, provided they have not received a document confirming that citizenship;
• when a foreign citizen obtains Ukrainian citizenship through a simplified procedure, if their country is on the list of those eligible for simplified acquisition;
• when a Ukrainian citizen acquires the citizenship of a country whose citizens are eligible for Ukrainian citizenship through a simplified procedure.

The law is the first to regulate the issue of multiple citizenship at the legislative level. It was developed in response to demographic and security challenges, as well as the need to restore and preserve ties with millions of Ukrainians living abroad.

• Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk stated that the main goal of the multiple citizenship bill is to send a signal to Ukrainians abroad that the state is not turning its back on them and is not forcing them to give up their Ukrainian passport.