Internal passport of Russia

The Internal Russian passport (officially in Russian: Паспорт гражданина Российской Федерации, commonly referred to as внутренний паспорт, общегражданский паспорт) is a mandatory identity document for all Russian citizens residing in Russia who are aged 14 or over. The Internal Russian passport is an internal passport used for travel and identification purposes within Russia, which is distinct from the International Russian passport used by Russian citizens to travel in and out of Russian borders.

Internal Russian passport
Cover of the Internal Russian passport
TypeInternal passport
Issued by Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
First issued2007
PurposeIdentification, proof of residence, proof of citizenship
Valid in Russia
and for travel to:
 Abkhazia
 Armenia
 Belarus (from Russia or by air from Kazakhstan)
 Kazakhstan
 Kyrgyzstan
EligibilityRussian Federation citizenship, and age 14+
ExpirationRenewed at age 20 and 45
Cost300 ₽, 1500 ₽ in case of loss or damage

After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet Union internal passport continued to be issued until 1997, when a new regulating decree was adopted by the government and when it was replaced by the Russian internal passport.[1] The current Russian internal passports were first issued in 2007.[2]

The Russian government is planning to replace the Internal Passport with a biometric, credit card size card. The Universal electronic card issued between 2013 and 2016 was planned to replace the Russian Internal passport as the sole national identity document for Russian citizens but was scrapped in early 2017.

History

Background

After the liberation of the serfs the peasant was declared by the law as attached to the former tax-paying estate or having a rural station (sel’skoe sostoianie). Membership in the peasant community, the legally mandatory reception of allotment land, arrears and collective responsibility characterized this rural station, and the passport system and residence permit enforced it. The internal passport was issued only in the local district office and was valid for the entire empire while the identification card (Russian: Свидетельство) was valid only within 30 Verst (approximately thirty kilometers) of the place of registration, were critical for obtaining work outside a farmer own district.[3]

Modern time

In 1992, passports – or other photo identification documents – became necessary to board a train. Train tickets started to bear passenger names, allegedly, as an effort to combat speculative reselling of the tickets.

On 9 December 1992, special pages were introduced which were affixed in Soviet passports, certifying that the bearer of the passport was a citizen of Russia. These pages were optional unless travelling to the other former Soviet republics which continued to accept Soviet passports; for other occasions, other proofs of citizenship were accepted as well. Issuance of the pages continued until the end of 2002.

On 8 July 1997, the currently-used design of the Russian internal passport was introduced.[4] Unlike the Soviet passports, which had three photo pages, the new passports only have one. A passport is first issued at the age of 14, and then replaced upon reaching the ages of 20 and 45. The text in the passports is in Russian, but passports issued in autonomous entities may, on the bearer's request, contain an additional page duplicating all data in one of the official local languages.

A deadline for exchanging old passports for the new ones was initially set at year-end of 2001, but then extended several times and finally set at 30 June 2004. The government had first regulated that having failed to exchange one's passport would constitute a punishable violation. However, the Supreme Court ruled to the effect that citizens cannot be obliged to exchange their passports. The Soviet passports ceased to be valid as means of personal identification since mid-2004, but it is still legal (though barely practical) to have one.

The propiska was formally abandoned soon after adoption of the current Constitution in 1993, and replaced with "residency registration" which, in principle, was simply record of one's place of residence.

Nevertheless, under the new regulations, permanent registration records are stamped in citizens' internal passports just as were propiskas. This has led to the widespread misconception that registration was just a new name for the propiska; in fact, many still continue to call it "propiska". This misconception is partly reinforced by the fact that the existing regulations for registration make it an onerous process, being dependent on the will and consent of landlords and which effectively prevents tenants from registering themselves.

Internal Russian passports are issued only inside the country. Russian citizens who live abroad can get internal passport only if they visit Russia, i.e., it is not possible to get internal passport in the Russian consulate abroad. In practice, Russian citizens who live abroad often do not get new internal passports at all, as the law allows them to prove their identity with an international Russian passport (travel document).

Description
The First page of the Passport
The bio data page / second page of the passport

Each passport has a data page and a signature page. A data page has a visual zone which contains a photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the holder:

  • Surname
  • Given name and patronymic
  • Sex
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth

Special records shall be made in the passport:

  • on the registration of a citizen within a community/at a specific address and on removal from the registration records;
  • on the military conscription of citizens who have by the time is 18 years old;
  • on the registration and termination of a marriage;
  • for children under 14 years of age;
  • for any previously issued basic identity documents of a citizen of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Russian Federation;
  • for the extradition of the main documents of identity of the citizen of the Russian Federation outside the Russian Federation – only about valid ones at the time mention is made.

At the citizen's request, the passport may also include:

  • the holder's blood type and the Rh factor (added by the medical facility where the citizen's blood type and Rh were tested, for example after a blood transfusion or donation);
  • the holder's tax identification number.

Replacement

Renewal of the Passport is regulated by a decree №828 of 1997-2018 issued by the government which was signed by V. Chernomyrdin.[1] According to the decree passports are due to be issued and replaced when the owner reaches certain age: at 14, 20, and 45 years old.[1]

Upon reaching age of 20 and 45, the passport must be replaced within 30 days after date of birth. While undergoing military conscription, the passport can be issued or replaced at their place of residence at the end of the set period of military service. If a citizen is imprisoned, administration of a penal entity should return passport or render obtainment of a new one upon completion of punishment.

Replacement with identity cards

In November 2010 the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the cancellation of internal passports with the aim of replacing them with plastic identity cards or driver's licenses by 2025. Country-wide replacement was postponed until 15 March 2018 not to interfere with 2016 Duma election[5] and then until 2022.

See also

References
  1. "Об утверждении Положения о паспорте гражданина Российской Федерации, образца бланка и описания паспорта гражданина Российской Федерации". pravo.gov.ru. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  2. "Russian passport history (PDF)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  3. Bradley, p. 107
  4. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation from 13.03.1997 N 232 ‘About main identity document of the citizen of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Russian Federation’ (Указ Президента РФ от 13.03.1997 №232 Об основном документе удостоверяющем личность гражданина Российской Федерации на территории Российской Федерации).
  5. Russian Federal Government Decree №315 from 16.04.2016 (Russian)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.