The Association of Lawyers of Russia itself works actively in the field of legal education and provides free legal consultations. 84 regional offices of the Association regularly organize days of free legal aid, as part of which all categories of the population have the opportunity to receive free counseling, including on citizenship issues. We express our willingness to act for the protection of minorities, especially for the rights and legal interests of Russian compatriots abroad. Thank you for your attention. Note Russian legislation includes norms aimed at reducing statelessness. Relevant laws provide for a simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship by stateless people residing in the Russian Federation, as well as for those who were resided or are residing in states that were former republics of the USSR. Stateless people, whose status in Russia is considered equal to that of foreign citizens, enjoy the same rights and obligations in its territory as Russian citizens, with the exception of individual cases. Foreign citizens and stateless people permanently residing in Russia, in other words, people with a residence permit, have the right to elect and be elected to local administrative bodies and to participate in local referenda in the cases and manner established by the legislation of Russia. The law also provides for a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for several categories of foreign citizens and stateless people (Art. 14 Federal Law No. 62 on citizenship, 2002). In addition, children whose parents are both foreigners or stateless people, obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation at birth (Art. 12 Federal Law on Citizenship). Chamy Vu (Ms.) Chief Adviser Office of the Association of Lawyers of Russia