Exams for obtaining citizenship to be introduced in Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada supported in the second reading and as a whole draft law No. 7606 authored by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, which provides for the passing of a comprehensive exam on the basics of the Constitution, the Ukrainian language and history for those who wish to obtain Ukrainian citizenship, according to the website of the parliament.

281 MPs voted for amendments to the laws on Ukrainian citizenship and on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language with regard to the conditions for accepting Ukrainian citizenship.

The draft law gives certain categories of applicants for citizenship the right to take an exam on the basics of the Constitution, Ukrainian language and history within two years from the moment of obtaining a Ukrainian passport.

This applies to people who have significant merits for Ukraine, or their acceptance into Ukrainian citizenship is of state interest. This also applies to those who legally serve under a contract in the Armed Forces, the National Guard or the State Special Transport Service.

Deputy Chairman of the Rada Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, Ruslan Horbenko, noted that the document received a number of comments from the main legal department of the legislature, which should have been taken into account, and after that the bill was finally adopted.

"We have raised the status of Ukrainian citizenship, because it is wrong to grant it to those who do not know the Constitution or the history of the state, which he wants to be a citizen of," Horbenko stressed.

• On July 8, 2022, Zelenskyy, responding to a petition on the introduction of exams for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship, instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to deal with this issue.
• On July 28, the Rada received a draft law authored by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal with proposals to change the conditions for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship.
• On October 18, the parliament voted in favor of the draft law.