Possession of Ukrainian citizenship in the event of acquiring citizenship of another country, e.g. Polish citizenship

The Constitution of Ukraine sets out guidelines for citizenship. A person who holds the citizenship of Ukraine is considered a citizen of Ukraine. The legislator emphasizes that the method of acquiring this citizenship must be consistent with the provisions of Ukrainian law or the provisions contained in international agreements to which the Ukrainian state is a party.

The law provides for the possibility of having one citizenship. However, there are no provisions specifying the behavior in a situation where a Ukrainian citizen has citizenship of at least one foreign country. The law allows for situations in which a person has, in addition to Ukrainian citizenship, citizenship of another country. In order to present such possibilities, it is necessary to analyze the basis for the loss of Ukrainian citizenship. The reasons for its loss are:

- voluntary acquisition of citizenship of another country by a citizen of Ukraine, only when he has reached the age of majority;

- acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship on the basis of admission to Ukrainian citizenship, when we are talking about acting as a result of fraud, intentional submission of false information or false documents

- voluntarily taking up military service in another country.

Voluntary acquisition of citizenship of another country occurs when a citizen of Ukraine applies for it on his own initiative in order to acquire citizenship of a foreign country. The Act, in turn, lists four cases in which acquiring citizenship of a foreign country is not considered voluntary.

The first of them concerns the simultaneous acquisition by the child of citizenship of Ukraine and another country at the time of birth.

In the second case, it occurs when a child who is a citizen of Ukraine acquires the citizenship of the parents who adopted him.

We talk about the third reason when obtaining citizenship of another country takes place upon entering into a marriage, and the regulations of the country of which the spouse is a citizen provide for automatic granting of citizenship at the moment of marriage.

The last, fourth case provides for the automatic acquisition of another citizenship by a person who has reached the age of majority as a result of the application of the provisions on citizenship of a foreign country, if such a citizen of Ukraine has not received a document confirming citizenship of another country.

Ukrainian regulations do not provide for a procedure for declaring second or subsequent citizenship. There are no legal tools to prove that a Ukrainian actually holds another citizenship. The only consequence that a Ukrainian citizen with more than one citizenship may face is the loss of Ukrainian citizenship. However, such a procedure is a long and complicated process. It is not used in practice. The regulations do not provide specific instructions on how to behave in the event of acquiring foreign citizenship. The legislator only indicates that having citizenship other than Ukrainian is the basis for the president to issue a decision confirming the loss of Ukrainian citizenship. Article is important in this respect. 25 of the Constitution of Ukraine. It states that "A citizen of Ukraine may not be deprived of citizenship or the right to change citizenship. A citizen of Ukraine cannot be expelled from the borders of Ukraine or extradited to another country. "Ukraine guarantees care and protection to its citizens who are outside its borders."

To sum up, the initiation of the process of losing citizenship should be preceded by an application from a Ukrainian citizen and not by action of the state authorities. It should also be noted that the interpretation of the principle regarding single citizenship does not prohibit having multiple citizenship.

On January 22, 2024, President Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a draft law on certain issues in the field of migration regarding the grounds and procedure for acquiring and terminating Ukrainian citizenship. This project provides for the introduction of a new law of Ukraine on Ukrainian citizenship. The assumptions of the president's proposal are based on the introduction of the institution of multiple citizenship. This means that in order for any legal act on dual or multiple citizenship not to be found unconstitutional in the future, it will be necessary to amend the Constitution of Ukraine. At the same time, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 157 of the Constitution, it cannot be amended in conditions of war or a state of emergency, which makes it impossible to implement the draft law in the current political situation of the country.

In turn, Polish regulations do not restrict citizens from having citizenship of another country.