Facing economic hardships and wary of potential military involvement, the appeal of Russian citizenship has sharply declined among foreigners, with applications dropping by nearly half since the 2022 Ukraine invasion.
The demand for Russian citizenship among foreigners has significantly reduced, causing a headache for the Kremlin. The Ukraine invasion in 2022 stood out as the biggest reason behind the growing unpopularity among foreigners regarding Russia. Economic factors have also contributed to the declining trend of Russian citizenship.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, 63,000 foreigners applied for Russian citizenship in 2023. This is almost half of the people who applied for the same in 2022 and a quarter in 2015. Russia after the Ukraine invasion has been consistently easing provisions for acquiring Russian citizenship.
However, the easy route involves a definite joining of the Russian military. Russia added the provision in the citizenship criteria because the Kremlin has been losing ground force at the border against Ukraine. If a foreigner tries getting Russian citizenship and signs up for the military, they will get their citizenship within a month.
Many believe this clause in acquiring permanent status in Russia has hindered foreigners from applying for citizenship. A large volume of citizenship applications come from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. However, the numbers from Kazakhstan have drastically reduced.
In 2023, only 25,500 people moved to Russia from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Many people chose the path to Russia despite the current situation because they have no work or opportunities in their villages and small towns in the two countries. But surprisingly, Latvia and Germany have seen an increase in the acquisition of Russian citizenship in 2023.