Verkhovna Rada Adopted the Law on Dual Citizenship on June 18, 2025

ARE WE… THIS MANY MILLIONS NOW?

The Verkhovna Rada adopted and submitted Law No. 11469 for signature by the President. By the way, this was not the first attempt to adopt it, but the previous versions were quite “raw”. It is worth noting that today more than a hundred countries provide for multiple citizenship, and significantly fewer – only one.

Most experts immediately drew attention to the fact that the Constitution of Ukraine provides for the presence of only one citizenship – that of Ukraine. Therefore, either a decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine or amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine are necessary. The Constitutional Court is currently incompetent, as ​​it does not have a quorum. To amend the Constitution, the votes of two-thirds of the deputies of the Parliament are required. And in general, Section XIII makes it impossible to amend the Constitution of Ukraine in conditions of martial law or a state of emergency.

Procedural issues of obtaining and losing Ukrainian citizenship are described in detail in the Law. Therefore, in this material we will put aside the problems of citizens of Ukraine in occupation, exams, language skills and other issues, and focus only on the points that the authors of the Law wanted to see in its implementation, and the possible results that are not obvious at first glance.

The stated declarative “incentive to return Ukrainian citizens home” is questionable. The solution to this issue lies in another plane; first of all, it is the cessation of hostilities in any form, a separate legislative regulation of the process of returning “evaders” and “economic refugees”, those who are more aptly called the “Monaco battalion”.

The Law partially resolves the regulation of the status of refugees, but there are a lot of nuances that require detailing in subordinate regulatory documents, which we do not have yet. Therefore, there is nothing to comment on yet.

It makes sense to assist foreign volunteers who are already fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with citizenship issues, especially from the perspective of the potential involvement of military specialists in narrow specialties: pilots, air defense operators, etc.

More interesting and not completely clear is the situation with state officials, both existing (who have a non-public second passport) and potential ones from among foreign “Ukrainians” who may have access to information related to state secrets. The requirements and restrictions are, in principle, already spelled out in other laws. Still, again, we are waiting for additional regulatory documents.

Let us consider that the possibility of attracting foreigners for labor is possible in the future. Based on the obvious demographic hole that we already have, such a situation should be foreseen. But the same Turks, at one time, were involved in the reconstruction of Germany after the end of World War II. Turks or Filipinos will not come to work at factories under Shakhed and rocket attacks, although they will receive an obvious bonus in the form of visa-free travel to Europe, which they do not have with their existing passports.

An interesting point is the acquisition of a certain number of potential voters from among the “old” diaspora, or, in principle, from persons who can take advantage of the Law (with the exception of citizens of the Russian Federation and other “unfriendly” states). They can really bring intrigue to the election process. A good example is the elections in Moldova, Romania, Poland, when the results of domestic exit polls were radically different from the results at foreign polling stations. There is a significant paradox here in that foreign citizens-neophytes partly do not have close ties with the Motherland, are not aware of the current situation in the country and, in general, they do not live in the situation that they “vote for”.

Let us turn attention to some economics now. And the first issue that has always worried Ukrainians is land! Obviously, now we will have a certain number of potential foreign landowners from among the “new” Ukrainians. Until now, the acquisition of agricultural land has been limited to non-residents. Law No. 11469 has opened up opportunities for new participants in the land market.

Among the non-obvious benefits, we can include the opportunity for a citizen of Ukraine-Great Britain to defend their economic rights in a London court, and not in the most humane Pecherskyi Court (Kyiv).

As for taxes, there is nothing particularly interesting here. This issue is mostly determined by the status of tax residency and is regulated by other laws. We have a lot of significant statistical data on individual entrepreneurs – citizens of European and other countries who have chosen Ukraine as a “tax haven” for their business and without obtaining a Ukrainian passport. Ukrainian “economic refugees”, even with legalized multiple citizenship, will, as before, hire tax lawyers to calculate taxes, determine the place of their payment and prepare “multiple” reports.

Volodymyr Harkusha

Auditor, Managing Partner of K.A.C. Group