An agreement between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Russian Federation on dual citizenship is being prepared for signing.

The draft agreement provides that the Russian Federation will grant citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia the right to apply for citizenship of the Russian Federation under the simplified procedure. The conditions for granting Russian citizenship will be established by the President of the Russian Federation.

The simplified procedure will operate unilaterally - the draft Agreement does not provide for a simplified procedure for acquiring Abkhazian citizenship and does not change the grounds and procedure for acquiring Abkhazian citizenship, either through the simplified procedure or through the general procedure.

The draft Agreement enshrines the norm according to which persons of both Parties hold citizenship and perform military service in the Party on whose territory they permanently reside at the time of enlistment. Persons who are nationals of both Parties and have completed compulsory military service in one of them are exempt from being called up for military service in the other Party.

The draft notes that persons with citizenship of both Parties enjoy the rights to social security, education and medical care in accordance with the laws of the country in which they permanently reside.

The draft Agreement stipulates that in states with which only one of the Parties has diplomatic relations or in which only one of the Parties has diplomatic missions or consular offices, these persons enjoy the full protection and patronage of such a Party.

The Agreement will be signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia upon agreement with the Russian Federation.