For 16-year-old Izatullo Mukhtarjanov, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in the United States was jeopardized when his passport application was rejected due to a loophole in citizenship legislation.Born to Kyrgyz citizens, Izatullo spent most of his childhood abroad, where he received his first passport at the age of 14.

“I was told that I cannot obtain a passport of the Kyrgyz Republic because I have citizenship of another country. But I never renounced my Kyrgyz citizenship, and all my documents were in Kyrgyz, including my birth certificate, school documents, and medical insurance. There were no contradictions.”   Izatullo said.

Izatullo was one of 60 Kyrgyz teenagers selected to spend a year in an American school through the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX), a U.S. State Department academic exchange program for students. When his passport application was rejected, Izatullo sought help from his school principal, Aselya Kupuyeva.Aselya contacted Azizbek Ashurov, Director of Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders (FVLWB), who received the Nansen Award in 2019 for outstanding achievements in protecting the rights of stateless persons.Izatullo, his mother Mahliyo, and FVLWB lawyer Nurlan Ystanov spent nearly two months at the Citizens Services Center in Osh. Meanwhile, Azizbek Ashurov was in formal communication with the Ministry of Digital Development, which issues Kyrgyz passports.

“Izatullo’s case is one of many similar cases we have handled. We conducted a legal analysis of all the cases we received and identified gaps in the legislation related to the definition of civil status and the right to personal identification. The legal issue concerning Izatullo affected many other migrant children as well. Resolving this case would establish a good precedent for recognizing the citizenship status of children by birthright and improve access to civil documents in the future.” said Nurlan Ystanov.

FVLWB referred to a provision of the Law “On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic” which states that a child whose parents are citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic at the time of their birth is a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic regardless of the place of birth. In May 2023, following FVLWB’s efforts, Izatullo finally received an ID card and a Kyrgyz passport.At the end of May, Izatullo traveled to Bishkek to participate in the National Economics Olympiad organized by the University of Central Asia. He took first place and was invited to participate in the International Olympiad in Slovakia in early September.However, he did not attend the Olympiad — not because he didn’t have a passport, but because he was already on his way to the United States, where he would spend the next school year.