[1] Foreign nationals may become citizens by admission after meeting a minimum residence requirement (usually five years), proving a legal source of income, and demonstrating proficiency in the Russian language.

[6] Provincial governments held wide discretion in determining who could be naturalized as Russian subjects until 10 February 1864, when the imperial government introduced a five-year residence requirement and shifted authority over naturalization from provincial authorities to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire.

The residence requirement could be reduced for individuals who performed an extraordinary service for the Russian state, were especially talented or highly skilled in a scientific field, or made significant investments in the empire.

Other Russian subjects could separately apply for the end of their subjecthood through the Ministry of Internal Affairs with approval from the emperor.

Any person who became a foreign subject or citizen without prior government approval could be punished by the deprivation of their rights or banishment to Siberia.

[8] After the October Revolution in 1917, the new Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) government abolished all previous imperial legislation.

Prevailing Bolshevik theory at the time considered communism to be an international movement, which became reflected in citizenship regulations in the new state.

Standard regulations in other countries required wives and children to hold the same citizenship as the male head of the family.

As part of its preparations for a reformed Soviet Union, the RSFSR drafted new citizenship legislation that brought regulations in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Spouses, children, and other lineal descendants of Russian citizens were eligible for citizenship by registration without time limit.

[20] In order to give this population and other former Soviet citizens an opportunity to choose the country of their new affiliation, visa-free movement was established throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 1992.

Residents of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria were granted Russian citizenship under provisions of the 1991 law accommodating former Soviet citizens.

[23] Part of Russia's objectives in pursuing dual citizenship agreements with CIS member states in the 1990s was to provide Russians residing in the former Soviet Union with some sense of security from the Russian state so that they would be less likely to resettle in Russia during that period of prolonged economic crisis and restructuring.

The other post-Soviet states were wary of Russia's intentions with extending citizenship to people within their borders and did not want to expose themselves to further Russian influence.

[24] Despite some support within the State Duma for automatically extending Russian citizenship to all former Soviet citizens, the legislature ultimately rejected this to prevent causing unnecessary friction.

[25] The dual citizenship agreements had been intended to ease the post-Soviet transition for ethnic Russians who found themselves living in foreign countries.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs ceased issuing new Russian passports in that year to former Soviet citizens who did not have established propiska in Russia on 6 February 1992.

The cumulative effect of these added conditions extended the time in which a former Soviet citizen could acquire Russian citizenship to as long as eight years.

[30] Russian and Belarusian citizens may reside and work in either country under a freedom of movement for workers established by bilateral agreement, which was later expanded to all member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) founded in 2015.

The residence requirement is reduced to one year for individuals who have been granted asylum or refugee status, or who have made extraordinary scientific, technological, or cultural contributions.

[34] Certain groups of foreign citizens and stateless persons qualify for a facilitated acquisition of Russian citizenship without needing to fulfill a minimum residence requirement.