Belarusian lawmakers are expected to consider amendments to the law on citizenship at the spring session of the House of Representatives, state-run news agency BelTA reports.
According to MP Maryia Vasilevich, if the amendments are made, foreigners who get professional education in the country might be admitted to Belarusian citizenship under the simplified procedure; the required term of a foreigner’s permanent stay will be reduced from seven to five years.
Those who obtained higher education in Belarus and have been working here for at least three years will also have a chance to avail themselves of acquiring citizenship on preferential terms. Foreigners who have been married to Belarusians for at least three years and have children (citizens of Belarus) may also become eligible.
In addition, the simplified restoration of citizenship is likely to be possible for adults of Belarusian origin who wish to resettle in the country; they will not even have to renounce their current nationality.
At the same time, the amendments stupulate stripping Belarusian citizenship from the persons who earn it not by birth in the event of their participating in terrorist or other extremist activities that hit the interests of Belarus.
