Verkhovna Rada approves bill allowing multiple Ukrainian citizenship

On Wednesday, 18 June, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada approved a bill introducing several amendments concerning the acquisition and retention of Ukrainian citizenship, notably allowing for the possibility of multiple citizenship.

The bill received support from 243 members of parliament, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainian media.

MP Iryna Gerashchenko shared on her Facebook page that this marked the fourth version of the bill. She emphasised that by the second reading, the working group had made significant improvements, including the addition of mandatory exams on knowledge of the Ukrainian Constitution, history, and language.

According to Gerashchenko, the bill aims to:

• Create conditions for the return of Ukrainian citizens who were forced to leave due to the armed aggression by the Russian Federation, ensuring the preservation of their Ukrainian citizenship, though concrete mechanisms are not yet detailed in the draft;

• Expand the eligibility for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship to certain categories of foreigners and stateless persons serving under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and other military units;

• Legally establish the cases where multiple citizenship (subjectship) is permitted;

• Define the grounds under which Ukrainian citizenship may be lost.

The concept of permitting multiple citizenship had been under discussion even before the full-scale war in Ukraine, and gained urgency following the 2022 escalation. In 2023, former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that adopting a policy on multiple citizenship was necessary to preserve and strengthen the global Ukrainian community.

In January 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally submitted a draft law to parliament addressing what is often referred to as ‘dual citizenship.’

The law explicitly prohibits multiple citizenship for individuals who hold passports from certain countries — excluding Russia but including Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Syria, and Sudan — citing these nations’ opposition to the 2014 UN General Assembly resolution affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

By Tamilla Hasanova