However, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 18 of the Citizenship Act was not in conformance with the Constitution, as the registration procedure of Article 18 could be applied to Russian citizens by birth; that is, those persons who: were born in the territory of the RSFSR were citizens of the USSR did not renounce Russian citizenship relocated to another Soviet republic were not citizens of another Soviet republic eventually returned to Russia There is an opinion that this ruling determines that every former citizen of the USSR who was born in the territory of the RSFSR and never renounced Russian citizenship is a Russian citizen by birth, even if he also has foreign citizenship.
Namun, Mahkamah Konstitusi memutuskan bahwa Pasal 18 Undang-Undang Kewarganegaraan tidak sesuai dengan Konstitusi, karena prosedur pendaftaran Pasal 18 dapat diterapkan untuk warga negara Rusia berdasarkan kelahiran; yaitu, orang-orang yang: lahir di wilayah teritorial RSFSR adalah warga negara Uni Soviet tidak melepaskan kewarganegaraan Rusia pindah ke republik Soviet lainnya bukan warga negara republik Soviet lainnya akhirnya kembali ke Rusia Ada pendapat bahwa putusan ini megatur bahwa setiap warga negara bekas Uni Soviet yang lahir di wilayah teritorial RSFSR dan tidak pernah melepaskan kewarganegaraan Rusia adalah warga negara Rusia berdasarkan kelahiran, bahkan jika ia juga memiliki kewarganegaraan asing.