Foreign Russians Fined

From the MT:
"70,000 Russians Fined for Failure to Report Foreign Passports, Documents"

Since Russia's enactment last year of a strict new dual-citizenship law, some 70,000 Russian nationals have been fined for failure to declare their foreign passports and residency permits, the TASS news agency reported Wednesday, citing the head of Russia's Federal Migration Service (FMS). In June, President Vladimir Putin approved legislation requiring Russian nationals who hold dual citizenship or foreign residency permits to register with the country's migration authorities. The law required affected citizens to declare their foreign passports and residency documents by October. Failure to declare one's legal ties to a foreign state can result in a fine of up to 200,000 rubles ($3,200), or up to 400 hours of community service. Konstantin Romodanovsky, the head of the FMS, told TASS that the 70,000 individuals who had faced administrative charges for violating the law were fined, though he did not specify the amounts. "This is a new rule that not everyone understands," TASS quoted Romodanovsky as saying. "We are not only confronted with Russians nationals who have received citizenship elsewhere, but also foreign citizens who have adopted Russian citizenship." Romodanovsky added that some 900,000 Russian nationals had informed the FMS of their citizenship and residency ties to foreign states. Russian citizens who declared their dual citizenship most often held American, British or Israeli passports, according to Romodanovsky.

Russia does not explicitly forbid dual citizenship but has been known to restrict dual nationals' rights, including barring them from working in the civil service. For residents of the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia last March, the new citizenship law will not enter into force until Jan. 1, 2016.

^ This is more of Russia's xenophobia coming out into the open. I do not understand any country that prohibits or restricts dual-nationality. Those that permit dual citizenship usually require you to enter their country on their documents and not those of another country. That makes sense to me and so I have no issue entering Canada on my Canadian passport and entering the US on my American passport. With that said the countries that punish people for having dual nationality are merely scared and that seems to be the case with Russia. Official anti-Russian paranoia has taken hold and that's a shame. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/70000-russians-fined-for-failure-to-report-foreign-passports-documents/517652.html