Belarusian citizenship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Belarusian citizenship is acquired and terminated in accordance with the Citizenship Act of the Republic of Belarus (2002) as well as international treaties to which Belarus is a party (Treaty with Ukraine (1999), Treaty with Kazakhstan (1998), Treaty between Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus (1999)).
Only Belarusian citizens by birth can be the President of the Republic of Belarus.
Belarusian citizens hold citizenship of the United State of Russia and Belarus.
Contents |
[edit] Citizenship Act (2002)
[edit] Acquisition of citizenship
Belarusian citizenship can be acquired:
- by birth
- by naturalization
- by registration
Citizenship by birth can be acquired by a child if one of the parents is a Belarusian citizen or both of them are permanent residents of Belarus.
Citizenship by naturalization can be gained if the applicant:
- had permanent residence in Belarus for 7 years preceding application
- has enough knowledge of one of state languages (Belarusian or Russian)
- has legal income
- has no foreign citizenship or will lose it after acqusition of Belarusian citizenship or has renunciated his citizenship
Period of residence can be reduced for several categories of people (ethnic Belarusians as well as their descendants born abroad, people who had Belarusian citizenship in the past, people who have made significant contributions to development of Belarus).
Citizenship by registration can be acquired by:
- people who hold USSR citizenship and were born in Belarus or have had place of residence in Belarus before November 12, 1991, as well as their wifes and husbands who hold citizenship of USSR and their descendants
- a child of a Belarusian citizen
- an adopted child
[edit] Termination of citizenship
Belarusian citizenship can be terminated by:
- renunciation of citizenship
- loss of citizensip
Belarusian citizenship can be lost if a person enters military service, police service or government service in another state.
[edit] Belarusian citizenship in 1991-2002
The first citizenship act after declaration of independence was adopted in October 18, 1991.
The Citizenship Act (1991) has not declared succession of citizenship of Byelorussian SSR. USSR citizens who had permanently resided in Belarus were recognized by the Act as citizens of the Republic of Belarus.
Belarusian citizenship could be acquired:
Citizenship by birth could be acquired if both of the parents were citizens of the Republic of Belarus. The same applied if only one of the parents was a citizen of Belarus and at the same time the child was born in Belarus or at least one of his parents had permanent residence in Belarus. The same applied to a child that was born in Belarus to stateless parents.
Citizenship by naturalization could be gained if the applicant:
- had permanent residence in Belarus for 7 years preceding application
- had enough knowledge of one of state languages
- had a legal source of income in Belarus
[edit] Belarusian citizenship in 1917-1991
In 1917-1991 regulations regarding Belarusian citizenship were issued by Belarusian government as well as USSR government (since 1924).
Aliens Decree was issued on August 4, 1922 by SNK of Byelorussian SSR. According to that Decree all of subjects of former Russian Empire who had permanent residence in Byelorussian SSR (including refugees) were recognized as citizens of Byelorussian SSR. Citizens of other Soviet Republics (like RSFSR) were not recognized as aliens and shared common rights and obligations with Byelorussian SSR citizens on the territory of Byelorussian SSR. Every adult could apply for Byelorussian SSR citizenship. Children of those who were granted Byelorussian SSR citizenship acquired Byelorussian SSR citizenship automatically (for children older than 14 years old their agreement was necessary for that). Everyone could renunciate citizenship. The following people were deprived of citizenship (unless they received passports in consulates of Soviet Republics before January 1, 1923):
- persons who left the country without a proper permission of Soviet government
- persons who struggled against the Soviet government
- persons who had the right to opt Byelorussian SSR citizenship but had not opted
Children of Byelorussian SSR citizens born on the territory of Byelorussian SSR acquired citizenship by birth. If only one of parents held Byelorussian SSR citizenship then citizenship of the child was determined by joint declaration of his parents, without such a declaration child acquired citizenship of Byelorussian SSR by birth, given a right to follow citizenship of another parent upon becoming adult.
According to the Code of marriage, family and guardianship of Byelorussian SSR promulgated in 1927:
- children of Byelorussian SSR citizens acquired citizenship by birth
- children of a Byelorussian SSR citizen and an alien acquired citizenship by birth if one of the parents had permanent residence in Byelorussian SSR
- children of a Byelorussian SSR citizen and an alien who were living abroad acquired citizenship by birth upon joint declaration of the parents
Citizenship Act of USSR (1930) and the Citizenship Act of USSR (1931) declared citizens of USSR who lived on the territory of a Soviet Republic as citizens of that Republic unless they chose citizenship of another Soviet Republic in connection with their ethnic origin.
Up to the dissolution of Soviet Union citizenship legislation got more and more centralised. Legal norms regarding Belarusian citizenship by birth were revoked while bringing Belarusian family law in accordance with Principles of Legislation on Marriage and the Family of the USSR and the Union Republics (1968).
[edit] External links
- Citizenship Act 2002 (in Russian)
- Treaty with Ukraine, Treaty between Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus (in Russian)
