Due to Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, huge numbers of Ukrainian citizens were forced to leave their homes and went abroad in search of shelter. In response to an information request from the Civil Network OPORA, the Department of Consular Service reported that according to estimates of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine, as of May 2024, about 7.6 million Ukrainian citizens were staying outside Ukraine. This creates risks of integration of our citizens abroad and loss of communication with Ukraine, including through the acquisition of foreign citizenship. Therefore, OPORA continues to study the impact of forced migration and its consequences to develop an effective policy of repatriation of Ukrainian people.
The Scale. Increasingly, more pieces of information are shared in the media about the desire of Ukrainians to renunciate Ukrainian citizenship or acquire foreign citizenship. Thus, an MP, Mykola Kniazhytskyi, said on the program "The Big Lviv Speaks" that now "there are hundreds of thousands of applications for renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship." In addition, the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said he would check this information.
OPORA also decided to check the magnitude of renunciation of citizenship and find out some legal aspects of this issue. Therefore, we submitted an information request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In response, we were informed that since February 24, 2022, as of September 2024, 928 people have applied to foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine with applications for renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship.
Thus, in 2.5 years, slightly less than one thousand people have applied for the renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship. After February 24, 2022, 464 Ukrainian people applied for citizenship, 208 applications were submitted in 2023, and 256 in 2024 (as of mid-September).
The highest number of applications was submitted to the Consulate General in Munich — 190, the Consulate General in Düsseldorf — 167, and to the Embassy of Ukraine in Austria — 99.
Legal Aspects. Article 17 of the Law of Ukraine On Citizenship of Ukraine lists three grounds for termination of citizenship:
- as a result of the renunciation of citizenship of Ukraine;
- as a result of the loss of citizenship of Ukraine;
- on the grounds provided for by international treaties of Ukraine.
As OPORA has already emphasized, renunciation of citizenship is a procedure for terminating citizenship initiated by a person or their legal representatives. On the other hand, loss of citizenship is a procedure for terminating citizenship, which consists of making an appropriate decision on the initiative of the state without taking into account the person's desire if there are legal grounds incompatible with the status of a citizen of Ukraine or those that indicate a violation of the procedure for admission to citizenship of Ukraine.
As a general rule, a citizen of Ukraine permanently residing abroad can withdraw from the citizenship of Ukraine upon request.
It should be highlighted that renunciation of the citizenship of Ukraine is allowed if a person has acquired the citizenship of another state or has received a document issued by the authorized bodies of another state stating that a citizen of Ukraine will acquire its citizenship if they renounce the citizenship of Ukraine.
However, there are cases when renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship is not allowed, in particular, if a person in Ukraine is notified of suspicion of committing a criminal offense or in respect of which there is a court conviction in Ukraine that has entered into force and is subject to execution.
There are also some peculiarities of children's renunciation of citizenship. These provisions are set out in Art. 18 of the Law "On Citizenship of Ukraine". For example, it provides for conditions when children can renounce citizenship at the request of parents/adoptive parents. At the same time, the withdrawal of children aged 14 to 18 from the citizenship of Ukraine may occur only with their consent.
It must be emphasized that applying does not automatically terminate citizenship. Such termination occurs only after issuing the relevant decree of the President of Ukraine. Therefore, a citizen of Ukraine who has filed a petition (application) for renunciation of citizenship of Ukraine before the issuance of such a decree shall enjoy all the rights and bear all the obligations of a citizen of Ukraine.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that the number of those wishing to renounce citizenship is directly affected by the legislation of a foreign state on the acquisition of citizenship, which may require the termination of existing citizenship of Ukraine (or legalization may be required for the continuation of residence due to the acquisition of citizenship of the host country). At the same time, Ukrainian citizenship will not always be an obstacle to establishing legal ties with a foreign state.
At the same time, based on the legislative understanding of the principle of single citizenship in the absence of a Presidential Decree on the termination of citizenship of Ukraine, even after acquiring the citizenship of a foreign state, for Ukraine, a person shall be considered as a citizen of Ukraine only (for example, they will be entitled to participate in elections). Certain changes regarding the termination of citizenship are proposed in the draft law "On Certain Issues in the Field of Migration on the Grounds and Procedure for Acquiring and Terminating Citizenship of Ukraine" No. 10425 dated January 22, 2024 and submitted by the President, which is often referred to by the media as the "draft law on multiple citizenships".
In this regard, to assess the prospects of acquiring foreign citizenship and terminating the citizenship of Ukraine, OPORA will continue to study the legislation of the countries hosting the largest number of Ukrainian people, as well as explore domestic legislative initiatives designed to return Ukrainians home and prevent mass renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship.
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