In a telephone interview on 15 May 1996, an official with the embassy of the Russian Federation in Ottawa provided the following information. Officially, Russia acknowledges dual citizenship only with countries with which it has agreements. Russia has an agreement on dual citizenship with only one country, and the official was unsure if this is Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. However, since the passage of the Citizenship Act on 6 February 1992, people who are granted Russian citizenship or are renewing their Russian passports are no longer required to prove that they are not citizens of another country. Consequently, there are numerous cases of Russian citizens possessing dual or multiple citizenship. The official added that it is likely that some Russian citizens are also Canadian citizens.

A facsimile sent to the DIRB on 14 May 1996 by a nationality law adviser with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Ottawa, and modified during a telephone interview on 16 May 1996, states the following:

Canadians naturalized outside of Canada prior to February 15, 1977 ceased to be Canadians, whereas persons naturalized on or after that date did not. This is because a provision in force prior to February 15, 1977, subsection 15(1) of the Canadian Citizenship Act, was not carried over into the 1977 Citizenship Act. Also, under Canadian law, it is an all or nothing situation. In other words, it does not matter what nationality was acquired or possessed. Canada does not have reciprocal or bilateral agreements on dual citizenship with certain countries and not others etc... Canadian law either applies to all nationals or no nationals in particular. Whether those who acquire Canadian citizenship retain their other nationality depends on the law of the other country.

For information on dual citizenship and the acquisition and termination of citizenship in Russia, please consult the attached Citizenship Law of the Russian Federation.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa. 16 May 1996. Telephone interview with nationality law adviser.

_____. 14 May 1996. Facsimile received from nationality law adviser.

Embassy of the Russian Federation, Ottawa. 15 May 1996. Telephone interview with official.

Russia. Law of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic On Citizenship of the RSFSR. 23 January 1992. Translated by the Multilingual Translation Directorate of the Secretary of State Canada, pp. 1-19.
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