In order to travel abroad, Russian citizens must first issue a foreign passport. From 2021, every child must have his own passport, regardless of what age he is and who is accompanying him. The presence of a photograph of the child in the travel document of one of the parents is a confirmation of kinship, but not a basis for obtaining the right to travel outside the Russian Federation. Therefore, when planning a joint trip abroad, it is necessary to make the child a passport.
At what age should a passport be issued for a child
The need to issue a document proving the identity of minor citizens of Russia on the territory of a foreign state is stated in the text of the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 19.01. 2021 No. 13. Such a document is a foreign passport, the presentation of which when leaving the Russian Federation has become a mandatory requirement for both adult Russians and minor children and even newborns.
Until 2021, parents were allowed to transport a very young child across the border if his photo was pasted into the old-style passport of his mother or father - for this, a separate page was even allocated in the document.
Now there is no such possibility, and it is not enough to simply enter the child in the parent's passport.
Another thing is that records about children must be present in the parents' general civil passports - they will pay attention to this when crossing the border. In addition to this, they will be required to present the baby's birth certificate. Its presence is also the only prerequisite for obtaining a passport for a child of any age.
Many families do not know about the change in the procedure for parents with children traveling abroad, and therefore doubt whether a one-year-old child needs a passport to travel abroad. Needed: today, the child will not be released from the country without a travel document, but if there are no plans to travel abroad, then the law does not require it.
Having a personal passport, a child will be able to travel abroad with a second parent, in whose foreign passport there is no information about him, as well as with third parties: in both cases, in addition to a foreign passport, a notarized consent for the departure of a minor from another parent or immediately from both (if the family is complete), respectively. That is, a personal passport opens the child the opportunity to travel independently, without being accompanied by parents.
There are other advantages of issuing your own foreign passport for a child:
- The mother of the children will not need to obtain the written consent of their father to apply for a visa for a joint trip abroad with the child. To enter information about the children in her passport, the father's permission will be required.
- If the family plans to move to another country, the residence permit for the child will be issued on the basis of a Russian passport as an identity document outside the home country.
Russian legislation does not prescribe at what age a child needs a passport - it all depends on whether the parents are going to travel abroad with their children or not.
The possibility of obtaining a foreign passport for a child is provided to families from the date of his birth. However, in most cases, newborns are not taken with them on trips abroad due to the high demands of the infant in care, the associated inconveniences, the fragile health of the baby and the need for frequent visits to the pediatrician. Therefore, it is often inappropriate to draw up a document before the child turns a year old, and the use of a passport obtained at an early age will become difficult in the future: the appearance of a newborn in the first year of life changes rapidly, therefore the customs service will have questions and parents will be subject to lengthy checks and inspections during passing control.
Families are advised to refrain from issuing a child passport until a real need arises, that is, it is better to submit documents immediately before a planned trip abroad.
When deciding on the time of registration of the travel document, it is worth paying attention to the fact that when the child reaches the age of majority, the replacement of the passport is not required - it remains valid until the expiration date.
It is necessary to take into account the nature of the child who will have to be taken to the department of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the fingerprinting procedure, if it is decided to issue a biometric passport.
The older the child, the easier it will be to go through border control even after his 18th birthday, since the facial features will be quite recognizable and the ownership of the photo to the owner will not be in doubt.
Registration of a passport for a newborn and children under the age of 1 year
Some parents plan to travel abroad immediately after the birth of their child to rest after pregnancy and childbirth or to show a new family member to relatives living outside of Russia. Before thinking over the most convenient option for traveling with a newborn, parents think about whether it is difficult to get a passport for an infant. In this regard, there is no need to worry: the procedure for obtaining a foreign passport for a child is no different from the procedure for obtaining an travel document for an adult citizen of the country.
Moreover, it is even easier and faster to issue a passport for an infant than for an adult due to the absence of the need for several checks carried out by different departments. Formal procedures are simply irrelevant for babies due to their age. Therefore, the passport is issued 3 times faster - in practice it takes only 10 days instead of the usual thirty.
The main condition for issuing a passport for a child is confirmation of Russian citizenship. If both parents appear in the birth certificate as citizens of the Russian Federation, additional proof is not required.
But in the event that the father or mother are not Russian citizens, you will have to apply to the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to stamp the birth certificate, indicating that the child belongs to the citizenship of the Russian Federation.
A similar procedure is established for parents registered and permanently residing in Russia, whose child was born on the territory of the Russian Federation - if the country of which the mother and father of the baby are citizens refuses to accept the newborn as citizenship, he becomes a citizen of the Russian Federation and receives the right to registration international passports.
Registration of a passport for a child under 14 years old
When a child turns one year old, parents are more bold to take him on trips, including overseas. And in this case, you will also need a Russian passport for a child under 2 and 5 years old. If the registration of the document for children of the specified age is scheduled for 2021, it means that they were born later than July 1, 2002. In relation to them, the law requires affixing a stamp of citizenship or obtaining an insert of citizenship of the Russian Federation. A similar rule applies if a foreign passport is issued for a child of 3 and 4 years old, as well as children under 16 years old, since they were born later than the specified date.
Older children may need a travel document, for example, for school trips with the class teacher and other students or for taking foreign language courses.A special feature of the registration of a passport for children under the age of 14 is a dash in the application form for obtaining a document at the place of the recipient's signature - children of this age do not have the right to sign the documents. But if the validity of the passport has not yet expired at the time the minor turns 14, it is allowed to put a signature over the dash.
Issuing a passport for minors aged 14 to 18
Despite the fact that minor children over the age of 14 already have a civil passport, a passport for minors under 18 is still issued through a legal representative - one of the parents, adoptive parent, guardian or guardian.
When the child becomes an adult, it is not required to replace the passport - it will be valid for 5 or 10 years for an old and new travel document, respectively, without reference to the child's age.
Despite the fact that a child before the age of 18 was issued a foreign passport on the basis of a “child's” package of documents, it will not be necessary to bring any additional papers upon reaching the age of majority. When a citizen becomes an adult, he will be able to independently, without the help of legal representatives, obtain a new travel document after the expiration of the old one.
What documents are needed to obtain a passport for a child
To obtain a passport, a child will need the following set of documents:
- Application form for a foreign passport for a child in a single copy. Application forms and samples can be downloaded and printed from the official website of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or obtained from the department of the authorized body when submitting an application. You can also download these forms on our website.
- Photos of the established sample: when drawing up an old-style document - 4 photos for pasting into a passport, when receiving a biometric passport - 2 photos for pasting into a questionnaire.
- Russian passport of a child with a photocopy of the main spread and a page with a registration stamp (for children over the age of 14).
- Birth certificate of a child with a stamp or insert on the citizenship of the Russian Federation and a photocopy.
- Passport of the representative of the child indicated in the application, with a photocopy.
- A document confirming the authority of the child's legal representative to apply for a passport, if the applicant is an adoptive parent, guardian and trustee.
- Previously issued international passport, which has not expired (if any), with a photocopy of the first page.
- Receipt for payment of state duty.
- A document confirming the change in the child's personal data (if the parents, due to some circumstances, managed to change the surname, name or patronymic of the minor).
A similar package of documents is needed to make a passport for a child under 1 year old - from the list, due to the early age of the baby, only the passport of the Russian Federation and the old passport with an expired date are excluded.
The procedure for filling out the application form
It depends on the correctness and accuracy of filling out the application form whether the employees of the authorized body will accept the documents for issuing a passport or ask to enter the data into the form again. It is allowed to make entries in the questionnaire by hand (legibly, in block letters, black or blue ink) or using a computer.
The document is filled in from both sides. If the application contains corrections by strikethrough or the use of corrective means, it will not be accepted.
An application for a passport for children under 14 years old and minors from 14 to 18 years old is filled in as follows:
| Block number | Specified information | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Personal data of the child: last name, first name, patronymic (if any) in accordance with the information from the birth certificate (for children under 14 years old) or from the Russian passport (for children over 14 years old). | Surname: IVANOV Name: VASILY Middle name: AFANASIEVICH |
| 2 | Mark the child's gender with a tick or cross in the square box. | "M" or "F" |
| 3 | Specify the date, month, year of birth of the child in the format dd.mm.yyyy. | January 1, 2010 |
| 4 | Indicate the place of birth of the child (city), as it is written in the birth certificate or passport of the Russian Federation. | MOUNTAIN. VLADIVOSTOK |
| 5 | It is necessary to put a tick or cross in the box next to the word "YES" if the child changed his personal data before applying for a passport, or "NO" if he did not. If the surname, name and / or patronymic of the child have been changed, you will need to indicate all the previous information, the date and place of their change. | Surname: PETROV Name: VASILY Middle name: AFANASIEVICH Place of change: KHABAROVSKY REGION OF MOUNTAINS. KHABAROVSK Change date: 10.02.2011 Place of change: KHABAROVSKY REGION OF MOUNTAINS. KHABAROVSK Change date: 10.02.2011 |
| 6 | It is necessary to provide the address of the living quarters in which the child is registered, and the date of registration in the appropriate columns (if the newborn was registered). | Locality: GOR. VLADIVOSTOK Lenin Street House: 123 Building 1 Building: 2 Apartment: 109 Date of registration: 10.01. |
| 7 | If the child receives a passport at the place of registration, this block is not filled out. If the child is issued a travel document at the place of actual residence (tick or cross) or stay (tick or cross), it is necessary to indicate the address of his location. If the applicant has marked the entry "Place of temporary residence", you must indicate the registration period. | Locality: GOR. VLADIVOSTOK Street: Petrovskaya House: 123 Building 1 Build: 66 Apartment: 99 Registration period: from "05/15/2014" to "05/14/2019". |
| 8 | It is necessary to provide the details of a birth certificate (for children under 14 years old), a Russian passport (for children over 14 years old) or a Russian foreign passport (for children living abroad), as the main identity document of a child. | The passport: Series: 08 12 Number: 111222 Date of issue: 02.02.2015 Issued by: DEPARTMENT OF THE FMS OF RUSSIA FOR THE KHABAROVSK REGION IN THE KHABAROVSKY DISTRICT OF THE MOUNTAINS. KHABAROVSK Birth certificate: Series: I-MJ Number: 123456 Date of issue: 08.01.2010 Issued by: DMITROVSKIJ DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRY OFFICE OF MOUNTAINS. MOSCOW |
| 9 | It is necessary to indicate the details of a valid foreign passport, if the child has one. In the absence of a document, the columns remain empty. | - |
| 10 | The personal data of the parent (adoptive parent, guardian, trustee) of the child applying (according to the passport of the Russian Federation) are provided. | Surname: IVANOV Name: ATHANASIUS Middle name: PETROVICH |
| 11 | Put a cross or a tick in the box near the letter "M" or "F", depending on the gender of the child's representative. | - |
| 12 | The date, month, year of birth of the child's representative is reported in the format dd.mm.yyyy. | August 5, 1980 |
| 13 | Place of birth of the child's representative according to the passport of the Russian Federation. | MOUNTAIN. VLADIVOSTOK |
| 14 | Address of the place of residence of the child's representative (where permanent registration is issued), date of registration. If a citizen does not have a permanent place of registration, the columns are not filled in. | Locality: GOR. VLADIVOSTOK Lenin Street House: 123 Building 1 Building: 2 Apartment: 109 Date of registration: 15.08.1980 |
| 15 | This block is intended for applicants who do not have a permanent place of registration, or who are registered at the place of stay. It is necessary to mark the required field ("Address of the place of stay" or "Address of actual residence") with a cross or a tick, indicate the address and the period for which the registration is made (in the case of registration at the place of stay). | Locality: GOR. VLADIVOSTOK Street: Petrovskaya House: 123 Building 1 Build: 66 Apartment: 99 Registration period: from "05/15/2014" to "05/14/2019". |
| 16 | The phone number of the child's representative. | 79098883366 |
| 17 | Email address (optional). | [email protected] |
| 18 | Details of the passport of the Russian Federation of the child's representative. | Series: 08 12 Number: 999888 Date of issue: 06.08.2000 Issued by: DEPARTMENT OF THE FMS OF RUSSIA FOR THE KHABAROVSK REGION IN THE KHABAROVSKY DISTRICT OF THE MOUNTAINS. KHABAROVSK |
An application form for an old-style passport is filled out in the same way. In paragraphs numbered 1-9, information about the child is indicated, in columns 10-18 (on the back of the sheet) - about his representative.
It is necessary to inform about the presence (absence) of reasons why the travel document may not be issued (as a rule, when issuing a passport for a child, there is nothing to report in these points):
| Column number | Specified information |
|---|---|
| 11 | About obtaining access to information constituting a state secret, under the heading of "special importance" or "top secret" in the past - during training, work, service. |
| 12 | On the presence of contractual or contractual obligations that would be an obstacle to travel outside the Russian Federation. |
| 13 | Details of a valid foreign passport (if any). If it is not there, the field is not filled. |
| 14 | Information about places of work for the previous 10 years, including training in Russian universities and military service. |
| 15 | About the applicant's desire to enter information about children under the age of 14 in the passport (the application is filled in). |
You can right now familiarize yourself with a sample application for issuing an old-style passport,
as well as with a sample application for a new type of passport.
By clicking on the link, you can download the application form for an old-style passport
or download an application form for a new passport.
Forms and a sample application for a passport for a child for your convenience will open in a new window.
Requirements for a child's photo for a passport
To issue an old-style foreign passport, parents need to take photographs of the child in a photo studio or at home and attach them to the set of documents when submitting an application. The same stringent requirements are imposed on children's photos as to photographs on the passport of adult citizens.
The procedure for obtaining a biometric document includes photographing the child by the employees of the authorized body, and in this case, the parents have nothing to worry about: the specialists know the requirements, and the equipment is already configured according to the necessary parameters. True, when applying for a new generation passport, two photographs of the baby will be needed, but they are needed only for pasting into the questionnaire, and therefore the requirements for the photographs are not so severe.
Parents who did not take their child to a photo studio and decided to take a photo on their own should take into account that it is necessary to take care of:
- the right background,
- lighting, the absence of foreign objects and any facial expressions on the baby's face, the size of the picture,
- distance from the edge of the photo to the crown and ears of the child,
- and also about the paper on which the finished image will be printed.
If you do not study all the correct parameters of the image, documents for a passport will not be accepted due to inappropriate photographs.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Passports of Different Generations
When parents are going to issue a foreign passport for a child, they begin to think about which option will be more convenient - issuing an old-style passport or obtaining a new generation document. Both of these ID cards have their advantages and disadvantages in the case of a document for a child. The choice will depend on the age of the minor traveler.
To make a decision, you need to weigh the pros and cons.
| Type of foreign passport | Advantages | Flaws |
|---|---|---|
| Old sample | Low cost - the state fee is 1000 rubles. Over the period of validity (5 years) of the document, the child's appearance will not change so much. The presence of the child is not required when drawing up the document. The photo can be taken in a photo studio or at home. | Short term of validity. |
| Biometric (new generation) | The document is protected from counterfeiting by a microchip. A microchip with fingerprint information allows you to verify that a document belongs to a specific child when a photo is in doubt. Passage of migration control is accelerated due to the use of the latest technologies for reading data from a microchip. Long term of validity - 10 years. | The high cost of registration - the size of the state duty is 1,500 or 3,500 rubles. The personal presence of the child is mandatory when drawing up the document due to the need for fingerprinting and photographing on special equipment. A child's appearance changes significantly over 10 years, and therefore it is necessary to change the passport before its expiration date. |
It turns out that it is better to postpone the receipt of a new type of passport until the time when the child becomes older and his face stops rapidly changing. For newborns and children under one year old, an old-style foreign passport is more suitable, since identifying their identity from a photo will become problematic in 1-2 years.
You can learn about all the distinctive features of foreign passports from our detailed material on how the biometric passport differs from the usual one.
Where to apply for a passport for a child
Several institutions are authorized to issue and issue foreign passports at once - there are 4 options where to issue a passport for infants and minor children of older age:
- You can apply to the visa center or diplomatic mission (consulate, embassy) of Russia on the territory of foreign states.
- There is an opportunity for a child to receive a passport at the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (FMS) at the place of residence or at the place of actual residence (the place of registration of the child does not matter when drawing up the document).
- Also, applications for the issuance of children's passports are accepted by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Applicants who are going to issue an old-style passport can contact the multifunctional center. When issuing a biometric document, one way or another, you will have to visit the department of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs twice.
- Finally, documents for obtaining a foreign passport for a child can be submitted in electronic format through the State Services. The service of the official Portal of public services can only be used by registered users. After filling out an online application form and uploading electronic copies of documents to the site, a letter will be sent to the e-mail, which will indicate on what day you need to appear at the UVM department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the originals of the papers.
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Terms of registration and cost of a passport for a child
If the parents are planning a trip abroad with their child, you should worry in advance about obtaining a travel document, since the time for producing a child's passport is at least 1 month from the date of submission of documents.
An old-style foreign passport will be ready for issuance faster, a biometric one takes much longer because of the need to record personal data on a microchip and apply a photo with a laser.
How long it takes to make the travel document also depends on the place of application.
You can find out about the time frame for issuing a passport in each specific case by reading the material about how long it takes to get a passport.
The cost of obtaining a foreign passport for a child differs from the price of an travel document for adult citizens - it is significantly lower. Again, the amount of the state duty varies depending on the type of passport being issued and the age of the child.
Terms of validity and the possibility of renewal
The validity period of children's foreign passports does not differ from the period of use of foreign passports of adult citizens.In the case of obtaining an old-style travel document, the validity period is 5 years.
If you issue a biometric passport, it will last twice as long - 10 years. When children reach the age of 14 and 18, the document does not need to be changed - it is necessary to replace it only after its expiration date.
The procedure for replacing passports for children under the age of one year does not differ from how to change a passport for a child under 14 years of age and older. The presence of a valid old-style travel document in a child does not deprive him of the opportunity to obtain a new generation passport.
We talk about the procedure for replacing a foreign passport for children and adults, the necessary papers and the deadlines for the preparation of the document as part of a separate topic about how the passport is replaced.
Why may they refuse to issue a passport for a child
It is not always possible to obtain a foreign passport for a child - there is a list of circumstances established by Russian laws in which the authorized bodies are forced to refuse to issue a travel document:
- The minor is not a citizen of Russia or the fact of belonging to the citizenship of the Russian Federation was not established in the manner prescribed by law: the corresponding stamp was not affixed in the birth certificate, and an insert was not received that would confirm the citizenship of the Russian Federation.
- The parents or legal representatives of the child (one of them or both at once) object to the child's departure abroad, and their disagreement is documented in the manner prescribed by law.
- The application form for obtaining a passport contains deliberately false information. An employee of the authorized body, when accepting papers, is obliged to check the correctness of filling out the questionnaire and point out errors. However, if in the process of studying the documents, data is found that have been deliberately distorted, the issuance of a passport will be refused.
- The minor does not fulfill the duties imposed on him by the court. This can happen if the child's parents or relatives have registered any property for him. This happens even with children under the age of one. Despite the fact that the child is not guilty in such cases and does not even suspect what is happening, according to the law, they will not be able to issue him a foreign passport.
- A criminal case has been opened against the child, or he is suspected of committing or participating in a crime.
- The child was convicted of a criminal offense and is serving a suspended sentence.
In any of these cases, employees of the authorized body must send a written notification indicating the reasons for the refusal to issue a passport for the child and the timing of the temporary restriction on travel abroad. The text of the document will also spell out the conditions under which documents for registration of a foreign passport can be accepted for consideration again.
The procedure for leaving the country with a child
Having his own passport does not give a child the right to travel outside Russia without being accompanied by at least one of the parents or legal representatives. The text of the Federal Law of 15.08.1996 No. 114-FZ "On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation" states that the mother or father of the child has the right to travel with him abroad without first obtaining a notarized consent to leave the child from second parent. However, often this document is still required at the border, and therefore it is better to prepare it in advance. In any case, such a certificate will be needed when obtaining a Schengen visa.
When children travel with third parties, consent will be required from both parents (if the child is under 14 years old) or the consent of one of the parents (if the child's age is between 14-18 years old). If the child's mother or father objects to his traveling abroad with a second parent or with third parties, you can submit an application to the Border Guard Service.
For detailed information on the procedure for traveling abroad with a child and on the establishment of restrictions on the foreign travel of the second parent together with a minor, you can find out from our material "Permission for a child to travel abroad in 2021".
Conclusion
One of his parents or legal representatives - an official adoptive parent, guardian or curator - can apply for a foreign passport for a child under the age of 14. Third parties, even with family ties or a notarized power of attorney, are not entitled to submit an application. The documents must be presented by the parent (legal representative) who is indicated as the applicant in the application form. The general set of papers must be accompanied by a document certifying that the applicant has the authority to represent the interests of a minor and issue a passport for him.
Children aged 14 and over are eligible to apply for a passport on their own.
When asked whether the presence of a child is necessary when submitting documents for a passport, it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer: it will depend on the type of travel document being drawn up. To obtain an old-style foreign passport, you do not need to take a child with you to an authorized body, and when applying for a biometric passport, you will need to take a photo using special equipment that is not available in photo salons, as well as undergo fingerprinting, so in this case, parents will have to take with them baby.
If all the conditions for applying for an exit document are met and an employee of the authorized body has accepted the papers, the applicant will only have to appear on time and pick up the finished passport, having previously checked the correctness of the information entered into it.
If an error is found in the child's personal data, the document must be reissued. Only the parent or representative of the child who previously applied for the passport should appear for a passport - the presence of the child himself is not required.
It should be noted that if the documents were submitted for registration of a children's passport not at the place of permanent registration, but at the place of actual residence (in another region), then the period for processing and issuing the document may increase to 2-4 months. Therefore, if you need to make a passport for a child quickly, it is better to contact the authorized body located at the place of registration.
