35,000 Tajiks obtained Russian citizenship last year

AKIPRESS.COM - 221,100 foreign nationals have obtained Russian citizenship in January-August this year, Fergana news agency reports.
According to Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova, most applications have come from nationals of the CIS member nations such as Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova.
Moskalkova noted that in connection with amendments simplifying acquisition of the Russian citizenship, the number of complaints related to citizenship and migration affairs had decreased.
According to the statistics from the Russian Interior Ministry, the number of foreigners obtaining the Russian citizenship has doubled over the past five years - from 135,000 in 2013 to 269,000 in 2018.
Last year, the Russian citizenship was granted to 83,000 citizens of Ukraine, 45,000 citizens of Kazakhstan, 35,000 citizens of Tajikistan, 27,000 citizens of Armenia and 21,000 citizens of Uzbekistan.
This year, Russia has reportedly simplified the procedure of granting citizenship to highly qualified specialists. The procedure of granting Russian citizenship has also been simplified for citizens of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria who were born in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (in Soviet time).
The new simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship came into force for select categories of foreign nationals on March 29, 2019.