Information on requirements for a Soviet citizen with permanent residence status abroad to return to live in the Soviet Union [SUN9684]

For information on this topic, please see the attached Response to Information Request SUN9695. An official from the Embassy of the Soviet Union provided the following additional information in a telephone interview on 14 November 1991.

A Soviet citizen having permanent residence status abroad who wishes to return to live in the Soviet Union must send a message to the Consular Office abroad explaining the purpose of returning. The Consular Office will send the person's biography, pictures and other related documents to authorities in the Soviet Union. The official indicated that it is necessary for the individual to show that he/she will have a place to live in the Soviet Union. Soviet citizens currently living abroad who have relatives in the Soviet Union generally encounter no problems in receiving permission to reside in the Soviet Union. For those who do not have relatives in the in the Soviet Union, returning to live there may be more difficult.

Please note that some republics are enacting their own laws pertaining to immigration in their territories (USSR: Country Profile October 1991, 22, 59-60). The IRBDC has no information regarding the potential impact of these laws on Soviet citizens returning from permanent residence abroad.

For further information on exit and return in the Soviet Union, please consult the USSR: Country Profile and the Law on the Procedure for Exit from the USSR and Entry Into the USSR by Citizens of the USSR (See Response to Information Request SUN8923).

Bibliography


Embassy of the Soviet Union, Consular Office, Ottawa. 14 November 1991. Telephone interview with Official.

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC). October 1991. USSR: Country Profile.

Attachments

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre. 7 November 1991. Response to Information Request SUN9695.