Russian passport
Russian passport | |
---|---|
![]() The front cover of a contemporary Russian biometric passport. | |
Type | Passport |
Issued by | ![]() |
First issued | March 1, 2010 |
Purpose | Identification |
Eligibility | Russian Federation citizenship |
Expiration | 10 years after acquisition (for 2010 version) |
Cost | 2500 RUB (biometric) / 1000 RUB (non biometric)[1] |
Russian passports are of two types: domestic passports issued to citizens of the Russian Federation for the purpose of certifying identity, international passports are issued for the purpose of international travel.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/USSR_external_passport_1929.jpg/220px-USSR_external_passport_1929.jpg)
This kind of document is a passport in the world normal meaning of this word - 'a document valid for crossing the border, with pages for visas and border stamps'.
Two types of passports are currently issued in Russia: old type passports and new type biometric passports. Old type passports are currently valid for only 5 years, biometric passport issued before March 1, 2010 are also valid for only 5 years. Contemporary biometric passports issued after March 1, 2010 are valid for 10 years and they also have an increased number of pages to 46 (from 36 for the old type passports).
Fees are applicable: for a 10-year valid passport fees are 2500 RUR (~62.5 EUR) and 1200 RUR (~30 EUR) for children under age of 14, for a 5-year valid fees are 1000 RUR (~25 EUR) and 300 RUR (~7.5 EUR) accordingly.
Due to the exclave position of Kaliningrad Oblast, which makes a passport an essential document in any age, citizens residing there are exempt from any fees for passport issue.
A citizen can be denied a passport for travel abroad, and hence the right to leave Russia if (s)he:
- had, in order to get access to classified information, signed a contract with the government that included a provision restricting his/her right to leave the country;
- has been conscripted to the military or alternative civil service;
- is a defendant under criminal prosecution or convicted by court (with unspent conviction);
- is in breach of a court order;
- has outstanding tax debts;
- provided false information in his/her application.
Children under 18 travelling without both parents must have written consent of both parents allowing their departure from Russia. When a child travels with one of his parents, the consent of another parent is assumed to exist unless that parent makes a formal declaration that he or she objects that his or her child may departure from Russia. In the latter case the matter can be resolved by court. See articles 20 and 21 of the Federal Law On the Entry in the Russian Federation and Departure from the Russian Federation for exhaustive information. These rules govern only departure from Russia and have nothing to do about with the requirements of other countries regarding entry to these countries. For example, many countries require the consent of both parents certified by a notary as a necessary condition for entry (usually required when child's visa is issued, not in the port of entry), even when child travels with both parents. This must be checked on a case-to-case basis.
In addition to the standard zagranichny pasport there are three special-purpose types of passports for traveling abroad: diplomatic passport, service passport (issued to government employees going abroad on official business) and seaman's passport.
Data page and Signature page of the International passport
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Russian_Biometric_International_Passport_Data_Page.jpg/220px-Russian_Biometric_International_Passport_Data_Page.jpg)
Each passport has a data page and a signature page. A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder:
- Photograph
- Type [of document, which is "P" for "passport"]
- Code [of the issuing country, which is "RUS" for "Russian Federation"]
- Passport Series and No.
- Surname
- Given Name(s)
- Nationality [which is "Russian Federation"]
- Date of Birth
- Place of Birth (lists only the city and "USSR" for people born before 1992 or "RUSSIA" for people born after 1992)
- Sex
- Date of Issue
- Date of Expiration
- Authority
- A facsimile of holders signature, scanned from the application form - only in electronic passports.
At the bottom of a data page is the machine-readable zone, which can be read both visually and by an optical scanner. The machine-readable zone consists of two lines. There are no blank spaces in either line. A space which does not contain a letter or a number is filled with "<".
The first line of a machine-readable zone of a passport contains a letter to denote the type of travel document ("P" for passport), the code for the citizenship of the passport holder (e.g., "RUS" for "Russian Federation"), and the name (surname first, then given name or names) of the passport holder.
The second line of a machine-readable zone of a passport contains the passport number, supplemented by a check digit; the code of the issuing country (e.g., "RUS" for "Russian Federation"); the date of birth of the passport holder, supplemented by a check digit; a notation of the sex of the passport holder ("M" or "F"); the date of expiration of the passport, supplemented by a check digit; and, at the end of the line, one overall check digit.
A signature page has a line for the signature of a passport holder. A passport is not valid until it is signed by the passport holder (except for passport holders under age of 14).
Visa free travel
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Visa_requirements_for_Russian_citizens.png/450px-Visa_requirements_for_Russian_citizens.png)
Visa requirements for Russian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Russia. In 2013, Russian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 95 countries and territories, ranking the Russian passport 41st in the world.[2]
See also
- Visa requirements for Russian citizens
- Identity Card of the Russian Armed Forces
- Internal Passport of Russia
- Passport system in the Soviet Union
- Migration card
- Propiska in the Soviet Union
- Wolf ticket (Russia)
- 101st kilometre
- Closed cities