According to the law “On the Citizenship of the Russian Federation” of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens can apply for the Russian citizenship only after passing a two-step process.

1. Obtaining Temporary Residency Permit (TRP), that is issued for up to 3 years.
2. Obtaining the Residence Permit (RP) that is issued for up to 5 years.

The process for application of TRP for foreign citizens from CIS countries takes 60 business days. The process for application TRP for foreign citizens from other countries takes 6 months.
Once six months from the moment of the issuing date of the TRP have passed, a foreign citizen may be eligible to take the second step to submit the application forms for a Residence Permit. The process of the application takes no less than 6 months.
In order to apply for Citizenship of the Russian Federation holding RP, a foreign applicant should live in the RF no less than five years continuously.

If a foreign citizen complys with one of the following statement, then he/she can be eligible to submit an application for Russian citizenship earlier than five years:

• If was born within the borders of the RSFSR and formerly held citizenship of the USSR.
• if is married to a citizen of the Russian Federation for a minimum of three years
• if is disabled, and has a son or daughter who has reached the age of 18 and is a citizen of the Russian Federation.
• if has demonstrably sought political refuge within the boundaries of the Russian Federation
• if has claimed refuge in a manner according with international law

NOTE: The procedure is also simplified for Highly Qualified Specialists (HQS), they can get Residence Permits based on their Work Permits as well as their family members, and their Residence Permits are issued for the period of their Work Permits ( 3 years)