Soviet Union/Azerbaijan: Information on whether the conscription of a non-citizen into the Soviet armed forces would confer a right to Soviet or Azerbaijani citizenship upon that individual
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SUN12640 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Soviet Union/Azerbaijan: Information on whether the conscription of a non-citizen into the Soviet armed forces would confer a right to Soviet or Azerbaijani citizenship upon that individual, 1 February 1993, SUN12640, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab6884.html [accessed 24 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
An exhaustive search of the documentation currently available to the DIRB on citizenship in the Soviet Union and in Azerbaijan has provided no information specific to this topic.
A professor at Rutgers University, who has written several books on Soviet citizenship, indicated that he has heard anecdotal accounts of foreign citizens receiving Soviet citizenship because of having served in the Soviet armed forces, but that he has not found any legislative documentation which would indicate that this type of military service would confer a legal right to Soviet citizenship upon a foreign citizen (16 Feb. 1993). He stated, for example, that he has heard stories that some people who were deported from Poland to the Soviet Union were then drafted into the armed forces and ended up with "Soviet [citizenship] papers" (Ibid.).
Additional and/or corroborating information on this topic is not currently available to the DIRB.
References
Professor at Rutgers University. 16 February 1993. Telephone Interview.
