Abstract
Presently, the Russian Federation is characterized by the transformation of migration processes. The difficult political and military situation in various territories of the post-Soviet space and issues related to assisting in the resettlement of compatriots living abroad determine the liberalization of migration policy. The migration policy of the Russian Federation can be directed toward ensuring the simplicity of procedures and the clarity of the conditions for acquiring citizenship. The development of legislation on citizenship led to the formation of new approaches by the legislator to the regulation of certain aspects of its acquisition. In particular, draft law No. 49269-8 “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”, which passed the first reading in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, proposes expanding the practice of recognition as citizens of the Russian Federation. Within the framework of this article, drawing on the experience of recognizing residents of the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol as citizens, the legal nature of the institution of recognition is analyzed. The author concluded that it is urgent to simplify the acquisition of citizenship and develop a mechanism for recognizing as citizens of the Russian Federation persons living in the country, but having limited basic social, political, and economic rights due to their lack of citizen status. At the same time, according to the author, the practice of simplifying the acquisition of citizenship as much as possible would not only have a positive effect in the form of protecting the rights of a significant category of persons in need of security and stability, but may also lead to the annulment of citizenship status after additional checks by authorized bodies justification for issuing Russian passports. Thus, mass recognition of citizens of the Russian Federation would result in certain risks for state security, which should be taken into account by both the legislator and the law enforcement officer.