The Procedure for Confirming Moldovan Citizenship Will Be Simplified

The Cabinet of Ministers has positively assessed a legislative initiative aimed at resolving the issue of persons born after the declaration of independence on 27 August 1991. The bill aims to prevent cases of statelessness among those whose parent was a Moldovan citizen but who did not obtain documents before reaching adulthood, as well as to exempt this category of people from mandatory language and Constitution exams, according to rupor.md. The government noted that forcing such people to undergo the procedure of citizenship’s “recognition” is legally incorrect, since they have already acquired it by right of birth. Instead, the Cabinet proposed introducing a separate mechanism – “confirmation of citizenship”. This will allow the competent authorities to simply verify the authenticity of documents and the fact of initial acquisition of citizenship without unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles. “Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova is confirmed if it is confirmed that the person was born to parents, at least one of whom was a citizen of the Republic of Moldova at the time of the person’s birth, provided that the person has not lost their citizenship in accordance with the law”. At the same time, the authorities proposed introducing a rule on automatic loss of citizenship. Persons permanently residing abroad who have not obtained a Moldovan identity card by the age of 22 will be considered to have lost their effective connection with the state and will be deprived of their citizenship. A transition period until 1 January 2028 will be provided for to regulate the status of such citizens. In addition, the government recommended abolishing the age limit of 14 years for exempting children from exams on knowledge of the Romanian language and the Constitution in order to protect the rights of minors from the diaspora and refugees. Additional amendments will also affect the law on preparing citizens to defend their homeland. Military registration will be carried out exclusively on the basis of identity cards or updated information from the State Population Register. According to ministers, this will eliminate the risk of unidentified persons or those who do not have Moldovan citizenship being drafted into the armed forces.