Really confusing situation, mom born in Ukraine but Russian citizen?

[mariachrin 4]

Hi guys,

My sister is planning on doing a trip to Russia. She is a US citizen - born in the USA. However, we have been running into some problems, particularly because of my mother's citizenship.

My mother was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1964. Moved to the USA via B2 visa in 1992. Both of my mother's parents are Russian born (Pskov & Novokuznetsk). We are confused as to whether or not she would have been considered a Russian immigrant or Ukrainian immigrant. Her passport says USSR, but at some point it says the visa was issued in "Moscow". Would this mean she is a Russian citizen? Or were all visas still being done in Moscow at that time?

Also she claims she was a Russian citizen. But I'm just trying to confirm this is correct. I plan on calling the embassy tomorrow anyway but just want to see if anyone can give me more information before that.

Thank you.

[piff 46]

Why would her citizenship matter?

Anyways, as a Russian I will explain the following:

No matter who it is, whoever was a USSR citizen and WAS registered in Russia, no matter where he and she was located on February 6, 1992 -> that person is a Russian Citizen. If the person was at that time registered somewhere else, particularly in Ukraine, therefore that person is a Ukrainian citizen.

You can and need to make an inquiry to the Embassy of Russia (or Consulate) to find out if she is a citizen or not. USSR passport, as I remember, usually have a registration stamp in them.

Good luck!

[mariachrin 4]

Why would her citizenship matter?

Anyways, as a Russian I will explain the following:

No matter who it is, whoever was a USSR citizen and WAS registered in Russia, no matter where he and she was located on February 6, 1992 -> that person is a Russian Citizen. If the person was at that time registered somewhere else, particularly in Ukraine, therefore that person is a Ukrainian citizen.

You can and need to make an inquiry to the Embassy of Russia (or Consulate) to find out if she is a citizen or not. USSR passport, as I remember, usually have a registration stamp in them.

Good luck!

They're asking for parents citizenship. Not sure the exact reason why. We will call the embassy tomorrow anyhow.

But thank you. <3

[millefleur 5,046]

An application for a Russian visa has a question about any family members that might've been born in Russia or are/used to be Russian citizens.

Call the embassy and see if you get any answers. But she has to have all the answers about this otherwise there might be problems with getting a Russian visa.

[mariachrin 4]

An application for a Russian visa has a question about any family members that might've been born in Russia or are/used to be Russian citizens.

Call the embassy and see if you get any answers. But she has to have all the answers about this otherwise there might be problems with getting a Russian visa.

Yes, exactly.

I'm afraid we're already running into problems at this point. So now I'm going to have my mom call the Embassy. I don't see anywhere where it says where her passport was registered. And my mom is convinced that she has "Russian citizenship" and not "Ukrainian citizenship". But her passport from 1992 just looks Soviet. Makes it look like she has "Soviet citizenship." And to make matters worse, it's only a copy of the passport. The real passport has been missing because she never got it back from Ukraine when she mailed it over to sell her property. We will see what happens. Thank you nonetheless!

[millefleur 5,046]

Yes, exactly.

I'm afraid we're already running into problems at this point. So now I'm going to have my mom call the Embassy. I don't see anywhere where it says where her passport was registered. And my mom is convinced that she has "Russian citizenship" and not "Ukrainian citizenship". But her passport from 1992 just looks Soviet. Makes it look like she has "Soviet citizenship." And to make matters worse, it's only a copy of the passport. The real passport has been missing because she never got it back from Ukraine when she mailed it over to sell her property. We will see what happens. Thank you nonetheless!

Wow, that is crazy. If you get any answers, post them here and let us know what they say. 1992 was a "transition" year for the Soviet Union, that's probably why it looks Soviet. Good luck!

[mariachrin 4]

Wow, that is crazy. If you get any answers, post them here and let us know what they say. 1992 was a "transition" year for the Soviet Union, that's probably why it looks Soviet. Good luck!

They have left my sister alone with her Russian Tourist Visa - only because on her birth certificate it said my father was born in Germany.

As for my mom, we have to send all the paperwork over to the Russian Embassy (permanent residency, etc). I've heard from other people Ukraine probably won't be as compliant to confirm her residency there and so on. So this may end up being a nightmare process for my mom. But we will see. :\