4020 foreign citizens got Belarusian passports in 2012
This year, there are 2000 such people already.
The Administration of Information and Public Relations of the Interior Ministry has told Euroradio about this. The most frequent reason why foreigners apply for the Belarusian citizenship is living in Belarus for 7 years. In 2012, 1780 people got Belarusian passports this way.
Moreover, 1334 people became Belarusian citizens according to Article 15 of the Law "On Citizenship". According to it, any person who turned 18 while living in Belarus, and close relatives of the Belarusian citizens, have a right to apply for the Belarusian passport.
Other cases of provision the Belarusian citizenship are connected, as a rule, with the international agreements made by Belarus with Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. According to the mentioned agreements, citizens of these countries can get the Belarusian citizenship by a simplified procedure.
Since 2002, it is also possible to become a citizen of our country "for special merits for the Republic of Belarus". The decision on provision of the Belarusian citizenship to a person (as well as on deprivation of citizenship) is taken by state leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally.
Photo - gorka.by
