Only possession of full citizenship of the state provides a person with full civil rights. For persons, even permanent residents of the country, but who are not its citizens, a number of restrictions are usually provided. In Russia, such people cannot hold a number of positions, and they will not be able to receive legal assistance from Russian diplomats abroad. Sometimes the status of a citizen of a certain state has to be proven. Let's find out why confirmation of Russian citizenship is necessary and how this procedure is carried out.
Acquiring the status of a Russian citizen
The majority of Russian citizens received this status by birthright and very often do not even think about having it; another part of Russians acquired it in a different way: they went through a special procedure and received a Russian passport.
Both the first and second are confident that such a task as confirming their citizenship will never arise before them.
As you know, the Basic Law of the country - the Constitution of the Russian Federation - guarantees that the rights of all Russian citizens are the same and each of them has the right to equal protection of these rights by the state, regardless of the method of acquiring citizenship. However, sometimes its presence has to be proven. Then the question arises of how to prove that you are a citizen of the Russian Federation. It is this problem that we will consider in this article.
How to check the readiness of Russian citizenship
To do this, you need to go to the official website of the Main Directorate of Migration “Guvm MIA.RF”. On the home page you should find a tab called “Services” and from the offered services select the line “Checking the readiness of Russian citizenship”. After completing these steps, a form opens that you need to fill out. There is no need to indicate last names in the proposed questionnaire.
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Consideration of the application requires payment of a state fee in the amount of 3,500 rubles. After the decision is made, the applicant is informed by mail that the period for obtaining citizenship may be extended by another month, depending on how the letter arrives.
What documents can an adult citizen of Russia use to confirm Russian citizenship?
We will discuss situations in which such confirmation may be needed below. Now it is important to find out how this problem is interpreted by the legislative acts of our country, and what the law says about confirming Russian citizenship.
The main issues of obtaining citizen status are reflected in the Federal Law of May 31, 2002 No. 62-FZ “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”. In pursuance of Federal Law No. 62, Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 14, 2002 No. 1325 was signed, which introduced provisions on the consideration of issues of Russian citizenship. Paragraph 45 of the provisions of the normative act contains information on the basis of which documents can confirm citizenship of the Russian Federation.
According to the text of Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1325, the following documents are defined as evidence of citizenship:
- Russian passport - in addition to an internal passport, your status can be confirmed with foreign, service or diplomatic passports;
- military serviceman's ticket - a corresponding insert must be attached to the ticket;
- birth certificate - the document must have a corresponding mark and insert.
To confirm the fact of Russian citizenship, it is enough to simply have one of the documents listed in the list. All other papers necessary for a Russian citizen are drawn up on the basis of one of the above; another document or stamp that certifies the applicant’s citizenship of the Russian Federation is not needed.
However, for various reasons, a person may not have the previously listed documents. Many people worry that in this case it will be completely impossible to prove the status of a citizen of the Russian Federation, but these worries are in vain. The Russian state, represented by authorized bodies, issues special certificates, if necessary. We will discuss below where to obtain confirmation of Russian citizenship.
Does having a Russian passport always confirm that its owner is a Russian citizen?
The Soviet Union, of which Russia is the legal successor, collapsed at the end of 1991. This process was accompanied by economic difficulties and the emergence of a number of conflicts, including armed ones, on the territory of the republics that were formerly part of the USSR. In February 1992, the Russian citizenship law was adopted, but a mark on the presence or absence of citizen status was never introduced in passports.
Many ethnic Russians (or Russian speakers) - former citizens of the USSR, living outside Russia in newly formed countries, especially in conflict zones, were actually left without any legitimate documents allowing them to perform basic actions. USSR passports lost their validity, and they could not receive passports of their republics or did not want to receive them. To make the existence of such people easier, the Russian Federation issued them its passports as a document that provides the ability to move geographically and confirms their identity. At the same time, such people did not become citizens of the Russian Federation, but then this seemed of little significance.
In 2002, a new version of the 1992 law was adopted, and from that moment on, the presence or absence of citizen status became important; we have to admit that having a Russian passport does not guarantee Russian citizenship if the document was issued between 1992 and 2002.
Those who still use such a passport should contact the Main Migration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and go through the confirmation procedure.
In addition, it is impossible to confirm the status of a Russian citizen with a passport that shows signs of falsification, or if it is damaged or expired. According to the requirements of the law, a document is considered expired when its owner, upon reaching 20 and 45 years of age, has not exchanged it for a new one.
How to obtain a certificate confirming Russian citizenship
Sometimes Russians need to confirm their civil status, but they do not have the required documents for this. This can happen, for example, if your passport is lost or expired. In this situation, it is important to know what kind of request is used to confirm citizenship and where to apply with this request.
In Russia, citizenship issues are in charge of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and abroad, if the problem arose there, - the diplomatic missions of our country abroad. It is these government agencies that you should contact.
When applying for a certificate to the appropriate authority, you should submit:
- an application in the prescribed form, in which you should indicate your personal data;
- documents on the basis of which it is possible to establish the fact that the applicant is a citizen of the Russian Federation, for example, documents of Russian parents if a child is included in them, an expired passport, etc.
Based on the results of studying the papers and replies to their requests to other government bodies, the authority to which the applicant applied will issue a conclusion on the presence of Russian citizenship or its absence. You should be patient, because you will have to wait a long time for an answer, sometimes it takes up to 3 months. In addition, in some situations, in order to obtain a certificate, it is necessary to provide evidence that the applicant does not have a passport of another state.
How to obtain a certificate of Russian citizenship in 2021
To obtain a certificate of Russian citizenship, a person must contact the territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Internal Affairs) for permanent registration, or send a request through the multifunctional center (hereinafter referred to as the MFC).
There are several ways to submit an application for a document:
- by personally contacting an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
- by contacting a MFC specialist in person;
- send a request by Russian Post by registered mail with notification;
- use online services (order a certificate on the websites of the State Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation);
- use the services of a lawyer who will act in the interests of the client on his behalf under a notarized power of attorney.
Important!
There is no state fee for obtaining a certificate of Russian Citizenship.
Documents for obtaining a certificate of Russian citizenship in 2021
To obtain a certificate of confirmation of citizenship, you must provide a small package of documents.
| Title of the document | Type | Number of copies | Delivery option |
| Child's birth certificate | Original (required) | 1 | Provided for informational purposes only or for making a copy. |
| Parent's passport or other document confirming the representation of the citizen's interests (for example, power of attorney) | Original | 1 | For information |
| Statement | Original in writing or on a completed form | 1 | Provided irrevocably |
| Applicant's civil passport | Original | 1 | For information |
This package of documents is usually provided by persons born in Russia between 1992 and 2021, as well as people registered in the Russian Federation in 1992, but who have lost their civil passport.
Application for a certificate of confirmation of citizenship
To obtain a certificate confirming Russian citizenship, the applicant must write the application correctly. There is no unified form of the document, but there are some requirements that are recommended to be followed:
- the application indicates the applicant's contact information, full name, date and place of birth;
- the application must include details of a civil and foreign passport, if any;
- the purpose of acquiring the certificate is indicated;
- a request to issue a document is displayed;
- The date and signature of the applicant are affixed.
If the application is submitted by an authorized person, then the details of the notarized power of attorney are indicated.
Deadlines for obtaining a certificate of Russian citizenship
The deadlines for issuing a certificate of confirmation of citizenship are regulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
A citizen’s appeal is registered within 24 hours after it is received by the territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. If the application is submitted by Post or through the MFC, the period is extended by the time the documents are delivered to the authority.
The certificate can be obtained by one of the selected methods 20 working days after registration of the application.
When is it necessary to confirm citizenship of the Russian Federation?
Russians have to present their passport quite often: at the post office, at the bank, when contacting any department. However, in these cases it is used to identify an individual and not to establish citizenship status.
Proof of citizenship is required in the following situations:
- applying for an internal passport (not by right of birth);
- registration of a foreign passport for a child under 14 years of age;
- obtaining a loan, including for the purchase of real estate.
- crossing the state border;
- change of citizenship by the applicant.
There may be other circumstances when confirmation of the status of a citizen of the Russian Federation is required.
When confirmation procedure is not needed
In some situations, proof of citizenship is not required:
- Obtaining an internal passport for the first time.
- Exchange of a foreign or internal passport for a new one.
- Obtaining a passport due to loss (damage) of the previous one.
In the first case, the child’s civil status is confirmed by his birth certificate with the appropriate mark, and in the last two cases, information about this is already available in the applicant’s file.
Rules for completing an application for a certificate
To obtain a certificate of Russian citizenship, you must fill out an application. The application must include the following information:
- personal and contact details of the applicant;
- passport data of Russian and foreign documents;
- the purpose of requesting a document of citizenship;
- information regarding obtaining a second or subsequent citizenship;
- grounds for granting citizenship;
- date of application;
- signature with transcript.
A receipt for payment of the state fee must be attached to the application. As for children, there used to be an insert on the child’s birth certificate that confirmed his citizenship, but now this insert has been abolished, and a stamp indicating his citizenship is placed on the child’s birth certificate. If a child's birth certificate is lost, a duplicate is made. Therefore, parents of children under 14 years of age should contact the registry office at the place of registration of the child to confirm Russian citizenship.
Confirmation of Russian citizenship for minors
Children under 14 years old do not have an internal passport. Is there a document certifying the citizenship of the Russian Federation for a minor citizen? This question is quite logical and legitimate.
Such a document exists, or rather, there are even several of them:
- birth certificate;
- international passport;
- passport of one of the parents (or guardian), which contains information about the child.
If a small citizen was born not on the territory of our country, but abroad, his parents will be issued a certificate confirming the child’s citizenship of the Russian Federation; it will be issued by Russian diplomatic missions abroad.
Situations in which it is or is not required to confirm Russian citizenship for minors
The provision that every citizen of the Russian Federation must have documentary evidence of his civil status applies to absolutely everyone. A document confirming Russian citizenship for a child under 14 years of age, for example, is no exception. The problem is that due to fairly frequent changes in the legislation of the Russian Federation, such documents may have completely different appearances. Not everyone can quickly understand this issue, so let’s try to clarify.
Many people probably know that after 2002, a birth certificate issued by the civil registry office, if it clearly states that the child’s legal representatives are citizens of the Russian Federation, itself confirms civil status. However, the question arises as to whether it is necessary to confirm citizenship for a child born in 2002, and the answer depends on the date of issue of the birth certificate. If the document was received after July 1, 2002, no additional marks on it or other documents are required. Before this, a special stamp was either placed on the birth certificate or an insert was issued confirming that the child had Russian citizenship. This procedure has been significantly simplified since the introduction of the stamp in 2007.
Not all parents understand why Russian citizens must prove their children’s citizenship. Of course, one can indulge in long and empty discussions about how things could be done better, but it is easier to understand that these are the requirements of Russian laws and their compliance is mandatory for everyone. Parents have certain responsibilities to the child, including the registration of his belonging to the citizens of Russia.
The procedure for confirming the civil status of the Russian Federation for a child
If you need to confirm your child’s citizenship status, but the documents listed above are not available, the question arises of how and where to confirm the Russian citizenship of the child.
Russian legislation does not divide citizens by gender, age or other characteristics, therefore, to confirm the presence of Russian citizenship of Russia, whether a child or an adult, you need to contact:
- within Russia - to the territorial divisions of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation;
- abroad - to diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation (consulates).
Relatively recently, multifunctional centers began to operate in the Russian Federation. The answer to the question whether it is possible to confirm the citizenship of a child at the MFC is positive. By contacting there, after the checks have been carried out, you will receive the necessary stamp on the child’s birth certificate.
Naturally, no matter where you apply, in difficult situations the child’s Russian citizenship will have to be proven. Use direct evidence, and if there is none, then indirect evidence - in a word, everything that you can collect.
Proof of citizenship
All residents registered on the territory of the Russian Federation became citizens of Russia at the moment the citizenship law came into force (February 6, 1992).
Passports can serve as proof for adults: civil, foreign, diplomatic, sailor's passport, military ID. In these cases, you do not need to obtain a certificate.
But many residents who were on Russian territory but did not have registration or moved from place to place are now forced to prove that they are citizens of the Russian Federation . Cases when a certificate is required:
- The citizen was permanently registered in Russia as of February 6, 1992, but he does not have a general passport or other documents confirming his citizen status.
- The child was born between February 6, 1992 and July 1, 2002, his parents are Russian citizens, but there are no documents confirming citizenship.
- A Russian citizen permanently residing outside the country whose foreign passport has become invalid and does not have an internal passport.
A certificate of receipt of Russian citizenship may be required when restoring lost documents and certificates. You can obtain a certificate from the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the place of registration. To do this, you must submit an application in one of the following ways:
- personal visit to the competent authority;
- application through the State Services portal;
- request via Russian Post;
- application on the website of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia;
- access through the city services portal.
To obtain a certificate, you must fill out an application and attach the necessary documents. The application should indicate: personal and contact information, passport data, purpose of requesting a certificate . The time frame for checking citizenship information is not established by law. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately answer the question of how long the certificate takes.
Typically, the application review period does not exceed 10 working days. The answer will be to issue a certificate or refuse to issue it. There are online services on the website of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs where you can view the results of the check. This eliminates the need to visit the facility in person.
Issues of confirming Russian citizenship in the Republic of Crimea
Russian legislation applies throughout its territory, so the answer to the question of what documents are needed to confirm Russian citizenship for an adult in Crimea is simple: a Russian passport is required. In order to obtain it, you should contact the territorial office of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and submit documents there according to the established list.
The Russian Federation considers all permanent residents of the Republic of Crimea who had Ukrainian citizenship at the time of annexation as Russians.
If a person has dual citizenship
If a person has two citizenships, then the application will have some features, namely:
- it is necessary to indicate the information of both passports in the application;
- additional information about obtaining foreign citizenship is indicated;
- the reasons for providing the certificate are indicated.
The amount of state duty paid when receiving a certificate confirming Russian citizenship will most likely be higher than usual. If you lose two documents at once, then the Main Directorate for Migration Issues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia will issue you a certificate stating that the application has been accepted, and will also provide you with a temporary identification document. If your passports are lost, you will have to provide the following documents to the Main Directorate for Migration Issues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to confirm information about you:
- SNILS;
- TIN (if available);
- military ID;
- driver's license;
- birth certificate;
- children's birth certificates;
- marriage or divorce certificate;
- international passport;
- other documents confirming the person’s identity
The period for consideration of an application for a certificate confirming dual citizenship is 10-14 calendar days.
Confirmation of civil status when abroad
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is responsible for protecting the interests of Russians abroad, and, if necessary, solving their problems. It is to the representative offices of this organization (embassies and consulates) that you should contact. Naturally, you will need to confirm that your claims are justified.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs represents the interests of Russia and its citizens throughout the planet. If there are no embassies and consulates of the Russian Federation in a remote country, it means that these functions are performed by the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation in a neighboring country, or the interests of Russia are represented by a mission of another state under an agreement with our country. Find out which organization you need and contact them for help.
How to check if Russian citizenship is ready
The overwhelming majority of residents of the Russian Federation are regular Internet users. This allows you to quickly resolve pressing life issues, including those arising during the procedure for obtaining citizenship. However, there may be no connection, or the person may not have the necessary skills to use the Internet. In such conditions, checking the readiness of Russian citizenship online is impossible. What should I do? How to find out whether Russian citizenship was granted or not after submitting documents?
What to do after receiving Russian citizenship? If the decision is positive, the future citizen of the Russian Federation remains to prepare to receive a new passport and get used to new realities. Can a citizen of the Russian Federation be deprived of citizenship? A citizen of the Russian Federation cannot be deprived of citizenship, nor the right to change it at will.
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