On 3 February 2012 the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers submitted legislative amendments to the national parliament which, if approved by the legislature, will introduce monetary fines for possession of multiple citizenships and will otherwise make Ukraine’s opposition to dual/multiple citizenship more stringent. Amendments to Article 197 of the Ukrainian Code on Administrative Violations will make ordinary citizens of Ukraine who obtained foreign citizenship and failed to inform Ukrainian authorities of this fact within six months subject to a fine 10 to 30 times the amount of tax-free minimum earnings. For the same offence, state officials will be subject to a fine 30 to 50 times the amount of tax-free minimum earnings.
Proposed amendments also tighten the requirement to relinquish prior citizenship upon acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship. In particular, high cost of foreign citizenship renunciation will no longer be a legally acceptable reason not to renounce foreign citizenship (proposed amendment to Article 1 of the citizenship law). Under the current law, if the cost of foreign citizenship renunciation exceeds one half of the amount of minimum wage in Ukraine at the time the Ukrainian citizenship was acquired, the affected person does not need to produce documentary proof of relinquishing prior citizenship. Additionally, the proposed amendments state that foreigners who acquire Ukrainian citizenship will have three months to return their foreign passports to the authorities of the country of prior citizenship, and within another month thereafter must show to the Ukrainian authorities a documentary proof that the passport was returned (proposed amendments to Article 8 of the citizenship law). Current citizenship law states that the passport must be returned, but neither requires any proof to this effect nor sets a deadline. If the passport was not returned and proof was not submitted within the stipulated deadline, Ukrainian citizenship will be withdrawn (proposed amendments to Articles 8 and 9 of the citizenship law). The anti-dual/multiple citizenship bend of the proposed amendments is also evident in the proposed change to Article 2 of the citizenship law that defines the principles of Ukrainian legislation on the issue of citizenship. In particular, “avoidance of multiple citizenship” is added to the list of principles underlying Ukrainian citizenship legislation.
At the same time, the government draft slightly softened but simultaneously formalised the language requirement (proposed amendments to Article 9 of the citizenship law). The amendments exempt persons who reached retirement age from fulfilling the knowledge of the state language requirement contained in the citizenship law. The amendments at the same time stipulate that the necessary level of language knowledge, language instructions, the procedure for determining sufficient competency in state language, and documentary proof of such a competency are to be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers. The law currently in force states only that applicants for Ukrainian citizenship need to “know the state language or understand it to the extent sufficient for communication,” without specifying how the level of one’s linguistic competence is to be ascertained or documented.
News article on the topic: “Fines for dual citizenship are planned” Ukrainska Pravda, 3 February 2012 (in Ukrainian).
Draft amendments and supporting documents submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers to the Ukrainian parliament: Draft law No. 9728-1 from 1 February 2012 “On introducing changes to certain legislative acts of Ukraine on citizenship” (in Ukrainian).