Kyrgyzstan stops granting citizenship to Russians “For no money”

Kyrgyzstan has stopped issuing citizenship to Russian nationals, with applications submitted after January 24 no longer being processed, according to a passport consultant.

Mikhail Zhukhovitsky, a specialist on Kyrgyzstan’s passport procedures, shared the development on his Telegram channel, warning that obtaining citizenship is currently "impossible under no circumstances."

"It is now impossible to obtain Kyrgyz citizenship. For no money. Under no circumstances, absolutely frenzied collection of advances. And all the performers, intermediaries, officials know this - they collect money for a deliberate scam," he said.

He added that since January, neither the State Committee for National Security nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs has approved a single citizenship application.

According to a Ukrainian media report, due to the imposition of US and European Union sanctions, a scheme for obtaining Kyrgyz passports with full support has become popular among Russians, which helped to open bank cards, obtain visas and conduct business in other countries. Offers to purchase a passport even began to appear on Russian marketplaces. The cost of the service was up to 1 million rubles, and the registration took up to six months. For example, in 2022, more than 2 thousand people received Kyrgyz passports.

After the influx of “new Kyrgyz”, Hong Kong banks began to pay increased attention to individuals and legal entities associated with the country. The presence of a Kyrgyz passport has become a factor of increased risk for credit institutions and may lead to refusal to open accounts, transfers and transactions , since Kyrgyzstan is considered a jurisdiction through which they try to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions.

As reported, in September last year, Kyrgyzstan blocked the channel for transit payments  from Russia for goods from Europe and China.

By Khagan Isayev