MOSCOW, May 28. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian upper house on Wednesday has approved a bill on criminal responsibility for Russian citizens who conceal having citizenship of other countries. The bill initiated by LDPR deputy Andrei Lugovoi was passed by the lower house of the Russian parliament on May 23.

The bill envisages amendments to the law ‘On citizenship of the Russian Federation’. The amended bill envisages that Russian citizens, who have citizenship of other countries as well, are obliged to notify a respective territorial organization of the Federal Migration Service within 60 days since the foreign citizenship was granted. The only exception to the bill are Russian citizens who permanently live abroad, have either citizenship of another country, a residence permit abroad or any other document which authorizes them to stay in a foreign country on a permanent basis.

Russian citizens are also obliged to notify the Federal Migration Service if their children have foreign citizenship. The Federal Migration Service accepts such notifications only from legal representatives of children under 18.

Notifications about foreign citizenship shall be submitted to the Federal Migration Service either in person or by mail. Citizens who violate the bill are administered criminal punishment in the form of a fine worth up to 200,000 rubles ($5,796), or any other income of a citizen convicted for violating the bill, or sentenced to community service for a term of up to 400 hours.

The bill also envisages a fine worth from 500 to 1,000 rubles ($14.5-$29) if information about foreign citizenship is submitted later than envisaged by the law or if the data submitted are not full or contain false facts.

The bill comes into force 60 days after official publication.

Chairman of the upper house committee on constitutional legislation Andrei Klishas said that they would attentively control practical use of the bill with their colleagues from the Federal Migration Service.