duel citizenship question

[Doc Rep]

Hello everybody, I do not post on here very often, but I could not think of a better source for my question. My intrest in the FSU first came in 2003. My ex-wife and I adopted a son from Saratov, Russia. Not long after the adoption the citizenship laws changed. Needless to say after a long and intersting battle I finally got his American citizenship last week. The surprising thing was they back dated it to his entry date of August 2003. Now to get to my question. I am trying to figure out if he still has his Russian citizenship. Does he now have duel citizenship or just the American? I am not sure where to find out anything else about this. Thank you for any help. Doc Rep

[vwrw]

I am not sure but I suppose that if your son still has his Russian birth-certificate, he has his Russian citizenship. To lose Russian citizenship, a person must fill in a form. Since your son obviously did not do that, he is still Russian citizen. 

[Vaughn]

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOUR SON !!!

DocRep, this is one of those very rare questions, of which few if any here will have first-hand experience.

IF he is still a Russian citizen (legally) he will eventually have to acquire an internal passport (age 14?) and
could also be subject to service in that army later on. I suggest you hop onto a Russian adoption board
like this one and toss your question out there too.

http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/russia_adoption.php

I am NOT a huge supporter of Yahoo Groups, but this particular one seems to be fairly active with an
considerable number of posts each month for the past decade.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Russian_Adoption/

[remiel6]

Does Russia recognize dual citizens? If they do then I suppose he would be a dual citizen. The Ukraine does not, the question gets trickier then.

[OlgaH]

Doc Rep,

does your child have original Russian passport your child used to enter the US? If your child has Russian passport you child is a citizen of the Russian Federation.

According to the Federal Law on Russian Federation citizenship the acquisition by a Russian Federation citizen of another citizenship shall not cause termination of Russian Federation citizenship.

REGISTRATION OF ADOPTED RUSSIAN CHILDREN WITH CONSULAR DIVISION
OF EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation Russian children adopted by foreign citizens must be registered at the Consulate. To register your child, please submit the following documents:
http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Consulate/adoptions.html

[Al_C]

As I understand it, Russia does not recognize dual citizenships for their citizens.  If I am right, that means that in Russia, his U.S. Passport is toilet paper.  He is allowed to have it, but it will not confer any American citizenship protections while in Russia, nor can he use it to enter Russia.

The good thing about the Russian citizenship is that he will not need a visa to go there like you or I need it.  His Russian passport will get him on the citizens' line while you wait on the foreigner's line, visa in hand.  The bad thing is that if he goes there when he is 18, he may very well be told to report to a Russian army boot camp, since they have a military draft.

[I/O]

Russia allows multiple citizenship (unlike Ukraine). Whichever passport the holder uses to enter Russia will dictate how they are officially seen whilst in Russia (not sure why you'd use the foreign passport anyway). If the holder uses a foreign passport, he or she will require appropriate visas as will any other foreigner.

Further down the track, yes military service can be enforced. Russian passport holders (citizens) should be registered with their most local consulate. If they need to replace a passport or other documentation, this will be the first step (generally). Based on our experience, my advice is to do that immediately they enter the new country of residence.

[OlgaH]

As I understand it, Russia does not recognize dual citizenships for their citizens.  If I am right, that means that in Russia, his U.S. Passport is toilet paper.  He is allowed to have it, but it will not confer any American citizenship protections while in Russia, nor can he use it to enter Russia.

The Federal Law on Russian Federation Citizenship

Article 6. Dual Citizenship
1. A citizen of the Russian Federation who also has another citizenship shall be deemed by the Russian Federation only as a Russian Federation citizen, except for the cases stipulated by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or a federal law.

2. The acquisition by a Russian Federation citizen of another citizenship shall not cause termination of Russian Federation citizenship.

To enter Russia with the US passport you will need to obtain Russian entry/exit visa.

"The U.S. Government recognizes that dual nationality exists but does not encourage it as a matter of policy because of the problems it may cause. Claims of other countries on dual national U.S. citizens may conflict with U.S. law, and dual nationality may limit U.S. Government efforts to assist citizens abroad. The country where a dual national is located generally has a stronger claim to that person's allegiance...

Persons in Russia are subject to Russian laws and procedures. Persons who are citizens of both the United States and Russia should be aware that, while U.S. immigration law requires Americans to use U.S. passports when entering or leaving the United States, Russian law likewise requires Russian citizens to use Russian passports to enter and depart Russia.

There have been several instances in which U.S. citizens who also have Russian citizenship have entered Russia using their Russian passports, but then could not leave as planned because their Russian passports had expired during their stay in Russia, or because they lost their Russian passports. Since these travelers had not obtained Russian entry/exit visas in their U.S. passports, Russian authorities did not permit them to depart using their U.S. passports"
http://stpetersburg.usconsulate.gov/dual-nationality.html

[Al_C]

Thank you for laying it out for us so clearly.

As for passport expiration, the lesson learned there is don't let it happen to you.  If your passport is close to expiration, get it renewed before you leave.

One of our company employees, a native of El Salvador, did pretty much what you wrote about, as his El Salvadorian passport expired while he was there.  He had to renew it and wait 30 days for it to be issued before he could return home to the United States.