Uzbekistan to clearly define the process of granting citizenship

On September 27, 2019, a regular meeting of the “Adolat” Social Democratic Party (SDP) faction took place at the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis.

Deputies considered important aspects of the state and public system and a number of draft laws aimed at protecting the interests of the population.

At the faction meeting, the draft law “On citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was considered, taking into account liberalization of the procedure for admission to citizenship and elimination of other problems associated with this law.

According to statistical data, today in our country more than 33 million citizens, 95,857 stateless persons and 14,365 foreign citizens reside permanently. 8,249 stateless persons have received citizenship of Uzbekistan so far.

As deputies noted, the law “On citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was adopted 27 years ago and many of its provisions are outdated and do not meet the requirements of large-scale reforms being carried out in our country. In this regard, it is necessary to adopt a law that takes into account all the necessary and long overdue changes in this important sphere.

The draft law contains such terms as “certificate of residence”, “certificate of verification”, “citizen of a foreign state”, “stateless person”, etc. All terms are given detailed comments, and the bill itself is written in the spirit of unity and equality in admission to citizenship. It is aimed at reducing the facts of refusal to grant citizenship, and widespread use of the principle of openness in decision-making.

The procedure for granting citizenship to children, who are considered foreigners as for the place of birth and the citizenship of the parents, is established. In accordance with the bill, the basis for admission to citizenship will be the candidate’s mastery of the state language at a level sufficient for communication.

At the meeting, proposals of the faction deputies on draft laws were heard and appropriate decisions were made.