Uzbekistan citizenship in 2026: how to get it

Uzbekistan does not recognise two passports, so admission requires leaving the previous citizenship. Three legal routes, the guarantee letter, a fee of about $70 and what to do if you were born in the Uzbek SSR.

In detail

Uzbek citizenship in 2026 is not for sale and cannot be combined with another passport: the 2020 citizenship law does not recognise a foreign citizenship held by an Uzbek citizen, so any admission requires leaving the previous one. There are three routes: the general procedure after 5 years of living with a residence permit, a simplified one for compatriots whose parent or grandparent lives in Uzbekistan as a citizen, and an exceptional one by presidential decision. The fee for reviewing the petition is 792,000 sums, about $70. The rules for those who want to keep a Russian passport are covered in Uzbekistan and Russia dual citizenship.

How to get Uzbek citizenship: three routes

Trips abroad do not break the five-year period if they total no more than 183 days a year. The five-year period does not apply to a stateless person born and living in Uzbekistan, or to someone married to an Uzbek citizen who has lived continuously with the spouse in the country for three years since the wedding.

If you were born in the Uzbek SSR

Being born in Soviet Uzbekistan does not by itself give a passport. Under the law, citizens are those who permanently lived in the republic on 28 July 1992 and had no other citizenship. Those who left earlier count as compatriots: if a parent or grandparent with an Uzbek passport lives in Uzbekistan, the simplified procedure without a residence period is open; if not, the general one through a residence permit. The relative requirement may be waived for compatriots with high achievements in science, technology, culture and sport and for specialists of interest to the country. Someone who was already an Uzbek citizen and lost citizenship may have it restored, but only once.

How admission works: step by step

1. Check your ground and collect documents: passport, residence permit, proof of income, and kinship documents for the simplified procedure.
2. Prove knowledge of Uzbek to the extent needed for communication: the level is checked under a Cabinet of Ministers regulation.
3. File the petition with the internal affairs bodies, through a consulate or via the unified public services portal, and pay the fee of 792,000 sums, about $70.
4. Receive a guarantee letter. The Citizenship Commission under the President approves the application, and the applicant receives a letter granting citizenship on condition of leaving the previous one. The letter is valid for a year, and the commission may extend it for another year.
5. Leave your previous citizenship while the letter is valid. For a Russian citizen this is a separate procedure through the consulate and takes months.
6. Wait for the presidential decree. Citizenship is granted by decree after the applicant submits the document confirming renunciation; then the identity card and biometric passport are issued.

The main trap is the order of steps. Leaving Russian citizenship before the guarantee letter can leave you without any passport if the commission refuses. The bureaucracy here knows how to wait, so the letter's deadlines are counted with a margin.

What an Uzbek passport gives

• About 60 destinations without a prior visa, 58 by the latest data, mainly in the former Soviet Union, Asia and the Middle East.
• Living and working in Uzbekistan without a residence permit or work permits, and buying property on general terms.
• Taxes follow residence, not the passport: a resident's income tax is 12%, and 5% on dividends and interest. More on the taxes in Uzbekistan page.
• Duties: military service applies to men of conscription age.

If the goal is to live in Uzbekistan rather than change citizenship, a residence permit is usually enough: it is granted, for example, for buying a home from $300,000 in Tashkent, from $200,000 in large regional centres and from $100,000 in other regions, and the Russian passport is kept. Prices and purchase rules are in buying an apartment in Uzbekistan.

How we help

The law does not forbid applying for Uzbek citizenship on your own. But mistakes cost more than the fee: leaving Russian citizenship before the guarantee letter, a missed letter deadline, unproven kinship with an Uzbek citizen, being unprepared for the language check. Murblz specialists check which route is open to you, collect kinship and income documents, handle the petition up to the guarantee letter and plan the exit from Russian citizenship so you are not left without a passport, and if changing citizenship is not needed, they find a residence permit instead. Our manager in the chat will calculate the cost of support.

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