Issues of citizenship

The Law of the Republic of Belarus of August 1, 2002 «On the Citizenship of the Republic of Belarus» (as amended on June 22, 2006) (hereinafter – the Law) defines the legal basis for state regulation in the field of citizenship, regulates the grounds and procedure for acquisition, the preservation and termination of the citizenship of the Republic of Belarus, the adoption, execution and appeal of decisions on citizenship issues, determines special cases of change and preservation of citizenship, establishes the competence of state bodies, as well as rights and obligations citizens of the Republic of Belarus in this area.

Information for citizens of the Republic of Belarus, who have children born after August 17, 2002 and who were born by foreign nationals:

In connection with the entry into force of the Law of the Republic of Belarus on October 11, 2006 «On Making Addenda and Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus» on issues of the Nationality of the Republic of Belarus, a child acquires the citizenship of the Republic of Belarus if at least one of the child's parents is a citizen of the Republic of Belarus, regardless of the place of birth of the child (art. 13).

This Law applies to children born after August 17, 2002 (means on August 17, 2002 and later).

In accordance with the law, parents have the right to choose: either to retain their citizenship of the Republic of Belarus for their child and to obtain a Belarusian passport for him or to register a loss of Belarusian citizenship for the child (after registering the loss of Belarusian citizenship, a visa must be issued to a child to enter Belarus). The loss of Belarusian citizenship is registered only with respect to children who by birth have the citizenship of a foreign state.

In the event that one of the parents, a citizen of the Republic of Belarus, remains registered in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, documents for issuing a passport or for registering the loss of citizenship of the Republic of Belarus are provided to the internal affairs bodies of the Republic of Belarus at the place of residence.

By the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in such a case, a Certificate of Return to the Republic of Belarus is issued for the entry of the child into the Republic of Belarus.