The Public Council of the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs assists a St Petersburg University graduate in becoming naturalised as a full Russian Federation citizen

For more than ten years, a graduate of Leningrad State University (now St Petersburg University) could not be issued a Russian passport.

Born in Dushanbe in 1970, Nikolai Mazurenko was enrolled as a student of the English Translation Department at Leningrad State University. Later, he transferred to the Department of Modern and Contemporary History. After successfully defending his graduation project, he remained at the University as a postgraduate student, in order to work then as a teacher at the Academic Gymnasium of St Petersburg University. Born in Dushanbe, now Tajikistan and at that time the USSR, Nikolai Mazurenko have been living in Leningrad (and then in St Petersburg) since his student days. After the collapse of the USSR, he ceased to be a citizen of the Soviet Union. He could not obtain Tajik citizenship, since neither he nor his family lived there any longer. He was never issued a passport of a Russian citizen either.

For a long time, Nikolay unsuccessfully tried to apply for Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure. He deemed it fair that he had the right to do so. Each time, he received an oral refusal to his application for citizenship under a simplified procedure. As a result, he was deprived of the opportunity to receive any, albeit negative, response.

In July 2022, he applied to Nikolay Kropachev, Chairman of the Public Council and Rector of St Petersburg University, with a request to assist him in obtaining Russian citizenship.

Nikolai Mazurenko sent letters of thanks to both Nikolay Kropachev and Roman Plugin, Head of the Main Directorate.

On behalf of the Chairman of the Public Council, an expert examination of the documents submitted by the applicant was carried out. Assistance was provided in preparing an appeal to the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Then, a personal visit of the applicant to the head of the Migration Department was organised.

St Petersburg University professionals and student consultants from the Legal Clinic of St Petersburg University took part in the expert work. The lawyers were able to argue in favour of the existence of grounds for obtaining Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure, without going to court. In cooperation with the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St Petersburg, the lawyers helped resolve that challenging issue. The Main Directorate conducted an additional verification of Nikolai Mazurenko’s documents and fixed a date for him to visit the office and submit an application.

In late February 2023, Nikolai Mazurenko was officially naturalised as a full Russian Federation citizen.