Double citizenship: To be or not to be?

Recently, the problem of loss of Azerbaijani citizenship in connection with the acquisition of citizenship of another country has become a subject of discussion in social networks, and especially among women. Until 2014, such problems were rare. And now in such cases, women are summoned to state bodies, they are threatened with large fines.

Women are confused and do not know what to do. Some of them, after receiving a notification, tend to pay a fine. However, it is not enough to solve the problem. They are deprived of the citizenship of the state of Azerbaijan, in which they were born and lived since childhood, whose citizens are their parents and members of their families.

Lawyer of Samir Agayev: The Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Citizenship" was adopted on September 30, 1998. But on May 30, 2014 the new Law "On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan" On Citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan "came into force". After the adoption of this new law, our compatriots began to face the above problems when they married foreign citizens. The fact is that in the 1998 law it was stipulated that the person in that case loses the citizenship of the Azerbaijan Republic if he or she submitted falsified data or fake documents as necessary for receipt. This meant that if Azerbaijani citizens created a family with citizens of another country and accepted the citizenship of the wife / husband, they did not lose Azerbaijani citizenship. The citizen of Azerbaijan could be deprived of citizenship only if they themselves would make such a request. This issue, according to Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was directly decided by the President of Azerbaijan.

The new Law "On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan: On Citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan" (May 30, 2014) specifies the voluntary acceptance of citizenship of another state by the citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan as grounds for deprivation of citizenship.

After the entry into force of this law, an Azerbaijani citizen who has accepted the citizenship of another state is deprived of Azerbaijani citizenship. This process is initiated by the Citizenship Department of the State Migration Service and a notification is sent to this person. The notification informs about the beginning of the procedure for the deprivation of citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan and is invited within 10 days to inform the State Migration Service about the presence/absence of intention to renounce the citizenship of another state in favor of preserving the citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The amendments made to the Law "On Citizenship" did not affect Article 10 of this Law. This Article remains unchanged. Article 10 states that if a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan possesses double citizenship (if a person, along with Azerbaijani citizenship, also has the citizenship of another state or states), the citizenship of a foreign country does not recognize that person's belonging to the foreign country, except in cases stipulated in international treaties or decisions in accordance with paragraph 32 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In addition, the same article stipulates that a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan who has accepted the citizenship of a foreign country must notify the relevant executive authority about this in writing within 1 month. Persons who did not submit such data shall be held liable in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Thus, Article 10 of the Law is still valid today, and responsibility exists in the person who has adopted the citizenship of another state in the manner prescribed by law. That is, if a citizen of Azerbaijan has accepted the citizenship of another state, then he or she within a month informs about it in writing to the State Migration Service. After that, the production of deprivation of his citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan begins. This means that if a person who, in addition to the citizenship of Azerbaijan, also has the citizenship of another state, does not inform the relevant authorities about it, then he is criminally liable in the manner prescribed by law and must choose one of two citizenships.

The question arises: If a person who has accepted the citizenship of another state does not inform about this, then how and by whom does the procedure for depriving citizenship begin? The law does not give answer to this question. Although the law has changed, there are still enough misunderstandings and contradictions.

The most obvious contradiction in this law is that the concepts of "double citizenship" and "citizenship of the two countries" are not differentiated. The concept of double citizenship in the law is disclosed, whereas the concept of citizenship of the two countries allows the person to adopt the citizenship of both Azerbaijan and another country, but at the same time provides for the preservation of Azerbaijani citizenship. Double citizenship is possible only if the constitution of the countries allows it, on the basis of special agreements. For example, according to the agreement between Moldova and Romania, residents of these two countries can be citizens of both countries. In our national legislation these two concepts are mixed. One person can be a citizen of 2-3 countries. It does not fall under the concept of double citizenship, but means to be a citizen of two or three countries.

In other countries, for example, in Russia the situation is as follows. There double citizenship is recognized. According to the bilateral agreement signed between Tajikistan and Russia on April 26, 1997, a Tajik citizen can also be a citizen of Russia and vice versa.

But individuals with double citizenship are subject to certain restrictions: they cannot hold a number of state posts and they cannot be members of electoral commissions with the right to vote. According to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Citizenship", if a citizen of the Russian Federation accepts the citizenship of another state, this does not lead to the loss of Russian citizenship. -0--