The Cabinet of Ministers has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada draft law No. 13716, which proposes to amend the list of grounds for dismissing police officers and restrictions on their service.
In particular, Article 77 of the Law on the National Police proposes to exclude grounds for dismissal due to acquiring another citizenship or providing false information during recruitment.
At the same time, Article 61 proposes to establish that a person whose Ukrainian citizenship has been terminated or who acquires citizenship or nationality of another state cannot be a police officer. In the event of acquiring foreign citizenship, the police officer's service is terminated by orders of superiors with simultaneous dismissal from service.
These changes echo Law No. 4502-ИХ on Multiple Citizenship, which will enter into force on January 16, 2026. However, as noted by the Head of the State Migration Service, Natalia Naumenko, currently key issues regarding multiple citizenship are not directly regulated by law and require additional by-laws.
According to her, there is no exchange of information between states regarding the acquisition of citizenship by Ukrainians. The agency does not receive data on which Ukrainians have passports of other countries, as this is a matter of personal data protection. The bill also does not provide for the creation of a separate register for persons with multiple citizenship.
Experts note that the lack of data exchange and a registry will complicate monitoring compliance with the new rules in the National Police and create legal gaps in determining the legal status of police officers with dual citizenship.
