The article analyzes the experience of countries – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) relating to consideration of citizens’ appeals with regard to crossing of the State border.

The article aims at making a comprehensive analysis of the organizational and legal framework for consideration of citizens’ appeals with regard to crossing of the State border, as provided for in the CIS countries.

The article focuses on the experience of Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia, and examines these countries’ legislation regarding appeals of citizens, and also relevant by-laws on the procedure for consideration of such appeals. Besides, the author draws attention to the prescriptions regarding the obligation to consider citizens’ appeals in the statutory instruments which determine the status of authorized entities. The article highlights strong and weak points of the examined experience, and this allowed comparing it with the corresponding experience of Ukraine. The article formulates three models of development of the organizational and legal framework for consideration of citizens’ applications with regard to crossing of the State border.

The following positive aspects are found in the CIS countries’ experience on considering citizens’ appeals with regard to crossing of the State border: most of the CIS countries have specialized legislative acts on the implementation of the right to appeal; some CIS countries have well-developed forms of processing citizens’ appeals with the use of information and telecommunications systems; there are formalized guarantees of court protection of the right to appeal.

The article emphasizes such negative aspects of the CIS countries’ experience on considering citizens’ appeals with regard to crossing of the State border: outdated paradigm of the “government-society” relations (due to unwillingness of governmental authorities to cooperate with society); the abstract and uncertain nature of legislation on citizens ‘appeals; lacking institutional links between the right of citizens to appeal and the duty of officials to consider such appeals; fragmented subject matter of citizens’ appeals. At the same time, the author believes that there are good prospects for scientific research in the analysis of the European Union countries’ experience relating to consideration of citizens ‘ appeals with regard to crossing of the State border.