Russian immigration authorities issued fewer passports to foreign citizens last year than they have since at least 2020, the Kommersant business newspaper reported Thursday, citing Interior Ministry data.
Authorities granted 209,000 Russian passports in 2024, nearly 45% fewer than in 2023. The number of temporary residency approvals fell more than 50% to 44,500, while permanent residence permits dropped more than 20% to 214,900.
The Interior Ministry attributed the decline to stricter immigration controls and a slowdown in the so-called passportization of occupied Ukrainian regions, Kommersant noted.
At the same time, a record 190,200 people were deported from Russia, with 157,000 forced to leave for legal violations — figures up more than 30% and nearly 45%, respectively, from 2023. The ministry also barred 267,200 people from entering Russia, a nearly 55% increase from the previous year.
Russian immigration authorities, meanwhile, have ramped up denaturalization efforts, revoking the citizenship of 1,757 naturalized Russians in 2024.
“Russia has lost the desire to hand out citizenship,” said Vyacheslav Postavnin, a former deputy director of the Federal Migration Service and head of migration analysis at the Russian House of International Scientific and Technical Cooperation.
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