Law of Turkmenistan on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in Turkmenistan - Generic

1. Statelessness determination procedure may be carried out:
1) upon an application by a person who claims to be stateless;
2) at the initiative of the Migration Service units.
2. A person (applicant) who has reached the age of eighteen years shall submit a written application for statelessness determination procedure to the Migration Service units at the place of his/her stay in person or through an authorized representative. Persons under the age of eighteen years, as well as those unable to exercise their rights and duties independently due to health reasons, shall submit applications through their legal representatives.
Application for stateless person status must contain the following basic information about the applicant:
1) personal data (last name, first name, patronymic (if any) or, if changed, former last name and first name, former citizenship, sex, date and place of birth, last name of the applicant's mother before and after marriage);
2) information about the applicant's personal identification document or travel document issued by a foreign state, if any (name and number of the document, validity period, date and place of issuance, issuing authority);
3) information on marital status (date of marriage, divorce), spouses (former spouses) and children (last name, first name, patronymic (if any), date of birth, citizenship);
4) information about the states of residence and duration of residence in these states;
5) information about education, place of employment, place of study;
6) information about the actual place of residence;
7) information about parents and other close relatives who are citizens of any state;
8) detailed description of the necessary facts, information, and evidences;
9) other information necessary for consideration of the application.
In the absence of personal identification and other documents relevant to statelessness determination, the applicant shall indicate in his/her application the reason for the absence of such documents.
The list of documents supporting application for stateless person status, and as well as the standard form of an application for stateless person status shall be approved by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan.
In case if the applicant does not speak the state language a translator/interpreter shall be provided to him/her to apply for stateless person status.
When applying for stateless person status, staff of the Migration Service units shall explain to the applicant his/her rights and obligations and provide information about the statelessness determination procedure.
As of the day of submission of an application for stateless person status the Migration Service units shall provide an applicant with a temporary certificate of a standard form on registration of the application, and based on such certificate shall register an applicant according to the place of his/her stay under the procedures established under the legislation of Turkmenistan.
Lack of personal identification documents shall not constitute a ground for refusal to register an application for stateless person status and to issue a respective temporary certificate.
3. Statelessness determination procedure may be initiated by the Migration Service units in the following cases:
1) there are facts and information that may indicate the existence of grounds for determining the status of a stateless person. In this case, the Migration Service units shall notify the person about the need to undergo statelessness determination procedure and to submit necessary applications, information, documents and other statements;
2) identification of undocumented and stateless persons, including through the implementation of a campaign aimed at registration of stateless persons in accordance with national plans.
4. The procedure of registration and issuance of a temporary certificate of registration of an application for stateless person status, as well as standard forms of these documents shall be approved by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan.
5. The Migration Service units shall immediately take measures on referring unaccompanied minors willing to claim stateless person status to the guardianship and custody bodies according to the place of stay of these minors. The guardianship and custody bodies shall within three business days apply to the Migration Service units on behalf of unaccompanied minors with a claim for stateless person status and shall take other necessary measures to protect the rights and legitimate interests of these persons.
Unaccompanied minors shall acquire the rights envisaged under Articles 32, 33, 37 of this Law

1. A person whose stateless person status has been determined shall enjoy the rights and fulfill the duties to the extent established under legislation of Turkmenistan.
2. A person whose stateless person status has been determined shall be entitled to:
1) receive information about his/her rights and duties, and other information in accordance with this article;
2) obtain a certificate and a travel document of a stateless person;
3) employment, purchase of ownership of property, use of medical care and social welfare services under the terms established under legislation of Turkmenistan concerning foreign citizens residing in Turkmenistan;
4) receive preschool and general secondary education on a par with Turkmen citizens;
5) use cultural achievements;
6) freely exercise religious practices;
7) receive information about his/her relatives residing in other countries and about the property left in the country of former habitual residence, with the support from the relevant authorities;
8) family reunification;
9) acquire citizenship of Turkmenistan under the procedure established by legislation of Turkmenistan;
10) judicial protection on a par with foreign citizens residing in Turkmenistan;
11) voluntary return to the country of his/her former habitual residence;
12) leave to another state for permanent residence;
13) bring out the assets brought by him/her to Turkmenistan and the property acquired in Turkmenistan to another country where he/she was granted the right of entry for residence;
14) enjoy other rights on a par with foreign citizens residing in Turkmenistan, unless otherwise established under the legislation of Turkmenistan.
3. A person whose stateless person status has been determined must:
1) abide by the Constitution of Turkmenistan, this Law and other regulatory legal acts of Turkmenistan, to fulfill legitimate demands of the state bodies and officers, to respect national traditions, historical, cultural and natural heritage of the people of Turkmenistan;
2) register with the Migration Service units according to the residence place under the established procedure, starting from the date of issuance of the certificate of a stateless person;
3) notify the Migration Service units in case of any changes in personal data, place of residence or stay;
4) notify the Migration Service units about the intention to leave for permanent residence outside Turkmenistan;
5) notify the Migration Service units on the acquisition of foreign citizenship, within ten working days;
6) fulfill other duties on a par with foreign citizens residing in Turkmenistan, unless otherwise established under the legislation of Turkmenistan.

1. Consideration of an application for stateless person status shall be carried out by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan within six months from the date of registration of the application. The period of consideration of an application for stateless person status may be extended up to one year, if necessary.
2. During the period of consideration of the application the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan shall take necessary measures to collect information from the applicant's place of birth, place of stay or former place of residence, and from the state of citizenship of the applicant's family and parents.
If an applicant has valid or invalid personal identification or another document listed in the second part of article 10 of this Law, in order to establish the identity of an applicant, date of his/her birth, citizenship and other information the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan shall send requests to relevant state bodies of Turkmenistan and (or) competent state bodies of foreign states through diplomatic channels and shall conduct an interview with the applicant and other persons concerned. Once the requested official information confirming personal data of an applicant has been received, the State Migration units, after carrying out the procedure of establishing citizenship, shall facilitate the provision of the person with personal identification documents according to his/her status.
In cases where official information on the request is absent or impossible to obtain, or if an applicant does not have personal identification documents, to establish the identity of the applicant the Migration Service units shall send requests to the authorized state bodies referred to in part one of article 10 of this Law, so that these bodies carry out the relevant activities within their mandate. In cases where official information on these requests sent by the Migration Service units is absent or impossible to obtain, of the applicant’s identity may be confirmed by the authorized state bodies referred to in part one of article 10 of this Law which received the requests, through information provided by two adult and legally capable persons (witnesses) certified in writing by the notary.
On the matters concerning statelessness determination procedure including consideration of the applications, establishment of identity, the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan shall interact with the relevant state bodies of Turkmenistan and foreign states, public associations and international organisations. Official documents issued by the state bodies of Turkmenistan and foreign states and international organizations shall be accepted as facts having evidentiary value.
The procedure of statelessness determination shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan.
4. The State Migration Service of Turkmenistan shall recognize an application for stateless person status as unfounded and shall decide to dismiss consideration of such application if:
1) it is established that the person is a citizen of Turkmenistan or another state;
2) the person holds the status of a refugee or an asylum-seeker;
3) applicant's previous claim for stateless person status was rejected due to the absence of the grounds envisaged under the legislation of Turkmenistan, provided that the circumstances have not changed as of the day of filling in a new application;
4) the person does not cooperate with the Migration Service unit or other authorized state bodies during the period of consideration of the application for stateless person status on the matters concerning establishment of his/her identity and the circumstances necessary for statelessness status determination, or deliberately presents inconsistent, contradictory, inaccurate, false information or forged documents to the Migration Service units, or does not answer questions or evades answering them;
5) It is established that the person destroyed personal identification documents, and (or) used forged documents;
6) there is a criminal investigation initiated against this person for committing a crime in Turkmenistan;
7) the person poses a threat to the national security and public order of Turkmenistan;
8) the person has left Turkmenistan during the period of consideration of his/her application;
9) the person filed a request for dismissal of consideration of his/her application;
10) the person has acquired Turkmen citizenship or foreign citizenship during the period of consideration of his/her application;
11) the person has died.
5. Upon the results of the consideration of an application for stateless person status the State Migration Service shall make one of the following decisions:
1) to grant stateless person status;
2) to refuse to grant stateless person status.
6. Stateless person status may be denied in the following cases:
1) absence of the grounds to grant stateless person status;
2) listed in part four of this article;
3) listed in part two of article 30 of this Law.
7. The State Migration Service of Turkmenistan shall notify the applicant in writing or via electronic message (SMS message, email, etc.) of the results of consideration of the application for stateless person status within ten working days.
8. The Migration Service shall provide a person whose stateless person status has been determined with a standard-form certificate of a stateless person within thirty working days. A person whose stateless person status has been determined shall be issued with a stateless person's travel document upon his/her application.
9. The form and description of the certificate and travel document of a stateless person shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan.
The procedure of processing and issuance, issuance of the duplicate, replacement and extension, revocation of a certificate of a stateless person status, as well as the procedure for processing and issuance, revocation of a travel document of a stateless person shall be determined by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan.
10. Registration and extension of the period of registration according to the place of residence or stay of a person who was granted stateless person status shall be carried out in the Migration Service units based on a certificate of a stateless person.
The procedure of registration, extension of the periods of registration, removal from the registry and keeping records of the applicants for stateless person status and persons whose stateless person status is determined shall be carried out by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan.
11. Upon rejection of a stateless person status the applicant shall be notified of the reasons for the rejection, as well as the procedures and the period for appeal of the decision on rejection of stateless person status.

1. Personal identification documents of a foreign citizen in Turkmenistan are:
1) passport of a foreign citizen;
2) residence permit in Turkmenistan;
3) certificate of return to the country of a foreign citizen's origin;
4) other documents replacing a passport of a foreign citizen provided for by the legislation of Turkmenistan or recognized under an international instrument of Turkmenistan as a personal identification document of a foreign citizen.
2. Personal identification documents of a stateless person in Turkmenistan are:
1) temporary certificate of registration of an application for stateless person status which serves as a personal identification document of a stateless person for the period of consideration of the application;
2) certificate and (or) travel document of a stateless person issued by a foreign state and recognized as a personal identification document;
3) certificate and (or) travel document of a stateless person issued by the authorized state bodies of Turkmenistan in the manner prescribed by legislation of Turkmenistan;
4) residence permit in Turkmenistan;
5) other documents provided for by the legislation of Turkmenistan or recognized under an international instrument of Turkmenistan as personal identification documents of a stateless person.
Foreign citizens and stateless persons must have their personal identification documents with them, not hand over them to a third person, and show them to authorized state bodies of Turkmenistan upon request. Revoked, invalidated or found documents issued by the authorized state bodies of Turkmenistan must be returned to units of the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan in the manner established under the legislation of Turkmenistan.