On 18 June, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the second reading and in general the draft law No. 11469 on the acquisition and retention of Ukrainian citizenship. The initiative, known as the law on multiple citizenship, envisages significant changes to the citizenship procedure, including the permission to hold multiple passports in certain cases. The document was voted in favour by 243 MPs. According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, all amendments were taken into account in accordance with the wording of the relevant committee.
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The bill was initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the summer of 2023. The document was supported in the first reading only in December, and a number of amendments were made for the second reading. The law establishes new conditions for foreigners serving in the Ukrainian Defence Forces under contract, facilitates citizenship for children born in mixed marriages, and allows Ukrainians who marry foreigners to obtain another citizenship without losing their Ukrainian one. At the same time, the law obliges all applicants for citizenship to pass an exam on the Constitution, history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian language, an approach that has long been discussed but not yet enshrined in law.
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