From April 19 to August 31, 2018, 2307 applications for acquiring the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova through recognition under the simplified procedure were registered. The applicants submitted 2282 applications to the PSA subdivisions in the country, another 25 requests were registered with the diplomatic missions of the Republic of Moldova.
The simplified procedure provides that persons over the age of 18, born in Moldova, regardless of whether they hold the citizenship of another state and whether they are domiciled in the country or abroad, shall be recognized as citizens of the Republic of Moldova at the time of filing the application in this regard, which contains the consent of the applicant. When registering the application, the applicants shall present the identity document in their possession and the civil status documents. Applicants, who do not have identity documents, are identified according to the procedure established by the legislation in force.
The previously applied territorial principle has been excluded, thus the interested persons may apply to any subdivision of the Public Services Agency. People living abroad may apply to diplomatic missions and consular offices of the Republic of Moldova.
It should be mentioned, that the statistical data of the last years show that the acquisition of the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova through recognition is the most requested procedure. Approximately 85 percent of applicants opt for this procedure. 1554 applications for acquiring the Moldovan citizenship were submitted last year, of which 1309 applications aimed for acquiring the Moldovan citizenship through recognition.
Amendments to the Law of Citizenship no. 1024-XIV providing for the simplification of the procedure for acquiring the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova entered into force on 19 April 2018.