Spravorossy propose to postpone the deadline for foreigners to receive maternity capital

Deputies of the “A Just Russia” faction propose to provide foreigners who have received Russian citizenship with maternity capital five years after acquiring this status and only for children born after this period. The corresponding bill was submitted to the State Duma. Among the authors of the document are faction leader Sergei Mironov, his deputies Gennady Semigin and Dmitry Gusev, as well as deputies Yana Lantratova, Alexander Terentyev and others.

The bill proposes amendments to the federal law “On additional measures of state support for families with children,” which regulates the conditions for obtaining maternity capital. Foreigners granted Russian citizenship are placed in a separate category. They will be able to receive matkapital no earlier than five years from the date of acquisition of Russian citizenship. At the same time, the right to state support and disposal of maternal capital will apply only to children who were born or who were adopted after a five-year period from the moment the parents received Russian citizenship. The bill proposes to extend the changes to those who have received Russian citizenship since the beginning of 2024.

At the same time, as noted in the draft document, the amendments will not apply to residents of new regions who have received Russian citizenship. In October 2022, the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions were included in Russia.

The explanatory note to the bill states that a foreigner, when acquiring Russian citizenship, must “prove a stable legal connection with this state.” The deputies turn to the experience of states (without indicating which ones, however), in whose constitutional legislation the acquisition of certain rights is conditioned not simply by the presence of citizenship of this country, but also by “the need to be a citizen by birthright or the need for continuous residence in a certain territory,” the explanatory note says note. The legislative initiative was developed as a response to existing “migration challenges,” the authors summarize.

Now foreign citizens can receive assistance from the state immediately after acquiring Russian citizenship. The amount of federal maternity capital in 2023 was indexed by 11.9% and since February has been 587,000 rubles. for the first child and 775,628 rubles. – on the second.

According to the migration statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2021, 735,385 people received Russian citizenship, in 2022 – 691,045 people. From January to July 2023 – 232,655 people, and in the same period last year 1.5 times more – 356,355 people. The distribution by country is only for the first half of 2023. Of the 204,988 people who were accepted, reinstated or recognized as citizens of the Russian Federation, 42% are from Tajikistan, 19% from Ukraine, 8.7% from Armenia, 6.8% from Kazakhstan, 5 % from Kyrgyzstan, 4.6% from Uzbekistan, 3.6% from Azerbaijan, 3.4% from Moldova, 0.7% – stateless persons, etc.

Demographer Elena Egorova considers the proposed condition for receiving benefits to meet the standards of migration policies of many developed countries, including European ones. “People who move to Russia with their families claim government support, but it is not a fact that their children will stay here. You also need to take into account that not all of them receive a “white” salary and, accordingly, pay taxes, from which maternity capital is formed,” Egorova explained to Vedomosti.

Migration policy expert Vadim Kozhenov does not agree with the proposed amendments. “This proposal has nothing to do with reality. If a person has a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation, then along with it he acquires all the rights due to him. Otherwise, it will turn out that some Russian citizens are “more equal” than others,” he said. In his opinion, such a bill will not be adopted.

Vedomosti sent inquiries to the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the government of the Russian Federation.