How can I recover my previously lost Ukrainian citizenship? Israeli and US citizens

Of course, Ukrainian citizenship can only be restored to those who were already in it but withdrew their citizenship for certain reasons. We meet many such examples of former Ukrainian citizens who left earlier for Israel or the US, but now want to regain their Ukrainian citizenship.

You need to start by preparing the documents: 

• Application for restoration of Ukrainian citizenship. You will need two such applications;

• Photographs 35 mm by 45 mm in size. You will need to prepare three such photographs; 

• A document which confirms the fact that you have terminated Ukrainian citizenship;

• Declaration of absence of foreign citizenship;

• Letter of commitment to terminate foreign citizenship after obtaining Ukrainian documents.

Related article: How to get Ukrainian citizenship by roots?

Renunciation of second citizenship upon obtaining Ukrainian citizenship

An important issue for many Israeli citizens is that Ukraine does not recognise dual citizenship, so previous residency will have to be renounced. At the stage of preparation of documents for Ukrainian citizenship this is not necessary, but you will have to sign an undertaking that you will renounce your second citizenship after the Ukrainian one has been granted to you.

The procedure of submitting documents and their consideration depends on the exact basis on which you are applying for citizenship. 

You must renounce your previous citizenship within two years after you obtained Ukrainian citizenship, during which time you must obtain a document confirming the renunciation of your foreign citizenship and submit it to the State Migration Service of Ukraine. If you fail to submit this document within the allotted period, the temporary passport will lose its validity and the whole procedure will be annulled. 

Important! Sometimes there are certain difficulties associated with renunciation of citizenship - sending documents takes a long time, the document is lost, the authority of the country of previous residence does not issue the document, etc. It is possible to find a way out of any situation, the main thing is not to procrastinate.

The main difficulty is that the procedure takes a long time, but still requires compliance with procedural deadlines. It is important to meet them and not to miss any important steps in the procedure.

The cost of obtaining citizenship in Ukraine can be found here.