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Putin approves stay rules for new regions’ residents without Russian citizenship

According to the decree, residents who lived in the new regions at the moment of their accession to Russia or those who lived there previously and relocated to Russia, but opted to retain their previous citizenship and not take the oath of Russian citizenship, will be considered foreigners

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree outlining the specifics of how to become a legal resident of the new regions of Russia if the individual opted against becoming a Russian citizen. The document was published Thursday.

According to the decree, residents who lived in the new regions at the moment of their accession to Russia or those who lived there previously and relocated to Russia, but opted to retain their previous citizenship and not take the oath of Russian citizenship, will be considered foreigners.

These people and people without citizenship will be able to apply for residence permits; they will have to be fingerprinted and provide a number of documents. The decree stipulates that any documents written in a language other than Russian must be provided with a translation. Meanwhile, the requirement to legally verify the translation will not be mandatory in the new regions until the transitional period is over.

Residence permit applications must be reviewed within 20 working days. An application may be denied if any of the documents are forged. The decree also specifies the procedure for how such people can register at their place of residence.

The decree stipulates that decisions on deportation, prohibition of entry, undesirability, or reducing the term of temporary stay will not be applied to people who opted to retain their original citizenship or to people without citizenship (with some exceptions). These people also will not be subject to having their residence permits revoked, or losing their refugee status or temporary shelter.