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List of grounds for citizenship denial extended

A list of grounds for denying citizenship has been extended in Belarus, BelaPAN reports.

The new list is provided for in a law governing the legal status of foreigners and stateless persons, which took effect on July 21.

Earlier, foreigners convicted previously of serious crimes were not eligible to apply for Belarusian citizenship, Valery Shuntaw, deputy chief of the citizenship and migration department at the interior ministry, told reporters in Minsk on July 21. “Under the new law, the denial will be issued to foreigners and stateless persons convicted of any crime or three and more administrative offenses,” he said.

The law requires applicants to earn a monthly income of at least one time the Subsistence Minimum Budget. It allows the termination of Belarus’ citizenship for legal minors even when their parents continue to be citizens of Belarus.

Foreigners may now be denied permanent residence permits if their marriages to citizens of Belarus are found to be bogus. The denial of permanent residence permits in such cases is provided for by the law governing the status of foreigners and stateless persons, which took effect on July 21.

A Council of Ministers directive that was also enacted on June 21 specifies how to assess bogus marriage allegations.

It is very difficult to prove that a marriage is fictitious, Valery Shuntaw said. Simultaneous but separate interviews with spouses and the subsequent comparison of their answers will be the most important test, he said. Authorities will also question neighbors and relatives and evaluate evidence of cohabitation and income-sharing, Mr. Shuntaw said.

"Our interviews will look like child play compared with how this is done in the United Kingdom," he said. "Rather intimate questions are asked there. Our questions are about household issues and common interests."

As many as 581 foreigners were deported from Belarus in the first six months of this year, with 230 of them escorted by police, Mikalay Shewchyk, an official of the interior ministry, said at a news conference.

Eighty-three were deported after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol, Mr. Shewchyk said.

Foreigners were convicted of 7.314 minor offenses and 1,181 crimes punished under the Criminal Code in the first half of the year. Russian and Ukrainian nationals accounted for a major part of the convicts, the official said, adding that the number of offenders from Baltic states was, however, on the rise, with most of them tried on drug-related charges.