Everything you have to know about the Russian Passport

russian passport requirementsTechnical Requirements for Passport Registration of the Citizens of the Russian Federation

Legal Framework

  1. The Russian Federation Presidential Decree from March 13, 1997 №232 “On the main identity document of the citizen of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Russian Federation” and
  2. The Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation from July 08, 1997 №828 “On Approval of the Regulations concerning the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation, the blank form and the description of the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation”.

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What does Russian Passport number mean

1. The Numbering Description of the Passport Blank of the Citizen of the Russian Federation.

The Numbering of the Passport Blank of the Citizen of the Russian Federation consists of three groups of numbers. It can be seen at the top of the pages 2, 3, 18, 19 and at the bottom of the pages 5, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 16.

The first group represents passport serial number, consists of two signs and refers to the code assigned to the appropriate area (region) of the Russian Federation.

The second group of numbers also consists of two signs and indicates the year of passport issue.

The third group of numbers refers to the passport serial number and consists of six signs.

For instance, on the passport blank there are the following numbers “45 02 573482” where:
Numbers “45” – code of the Moscow city
Numbers “02” – 2002, the year of passport issue
Numbers “573482” – passport serial number.

Numbering Description of the Passport Blank of the Citizen of the Russian Federation

2. The Description of the Official Inked Seal of Russian Passport

The official inked seal is designed for putting inked prints on the second page of the passport blank of the citizen of the Russian Federation. It has a form of a circle 31 mm in diameter. The seal image is divided into 4 parts: the outer ring, the middle ring, the inner ring and the central part.

The Outer Ring

The outer ring is split in half by five black pentagonal stars on a white background, which are strictly horizontally oriented.
At the top half of the ring, in relation to the number of the Passport and Visa Division, there is a white lettering on a black background “The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation”. At the bottom half of the ring there is a black lettering with white edges on a grey background.

The Middle Ring

In the upper two thirds of the middle ring there is an inscription “Passport and Visa Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation”. The inscription is in black lettering on a white background.
In the lower third of the ring there is a number, which refers to the Division code of the Passport and Visa Service, which is recorded on page 2 of the passport blank.
The number is black on a safety net background and is separated from the inscription by the octagonal grey stars.
The safety net consists of three horizontally separated parts. The size and configuration of its upper and lower parts are equal. The middle part represents a thumbnail image of both upper and lower parts.

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The Inner Ring

The inner ring is formed by two inscriptions, written by means of micro-text and separated from each other by five pentagonal stars, as follows: “The seal of the main identity document of the citizen of the Russian Federation”.

The Central Part

In the central part of the seal there is a halftone image (at least 6 halftones) of the State Emblem of the Russian Federation (without shield).
Description of the Official Inked Seal in Russian Passport

3. The Description of the Official Inked Seal Number of Russian Passport

The number of the official inked seal refers to the Division code of the Passport and Visa Service, which is recorded on page 2 of the passport blank.
The number of the official inked seal consists of two groups of numbers (three numbers in each group) separated by a dash.
The first group represents a code assigned to the specific subject of the Russian Federation. The third number of the first group refers to the level of Passport and Visa Division in the Internal Affairs System. 1 – PVS MIA, CIAD, IAD of the Russian Federation (Passport-Visa Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Central Internal Affairs Division, Internal Affairs Division of the Russian Federation); 2 – PVS of the regional department of the Internal Affairs Division; 3 – PVS which provides service on the territory of the city/village police station.
The second group of numbers refers to the number of the specific Passport and Visa Division, based on Order of the MIA, CIAD, IAD.

Russian passport and Photoshop

4. Equipment Requirements for Getting the Passport of the Citizen of the Russian Federation.

When using technical equipment for getting the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation, the general rules, laid down by the Instruction for the Regulations of the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation, should be observed.
When filling in the information on passport pages 2, 3, 16 and 17 the usual electric typewriters, suitable for the execution of documents that have a form of a book with a minimum thickness of 2 mm, special flat-bed cylinder units with a petal printer (standalone or with access to a PC), dot-matrix flat-bed cylinder printers (e.g.: PA55 BOOK, BOOK PK1MT, etc.) can be used having the following technical characteristics:

– the number of needles – at least 18;
– fonts – ROMAN, OCRB (in Russian);
– the fonts quality – DRAFT, LQ;
– interface – CENTRONICS, RS 232;
– positioning – mechanical /optical.

While filling in the passport details with the use of technical means, the capital letters should be used. The date should be written as follows: date – two numbers, then a full stop, then (without a space) a month number, then a full stop and, without a space, four numbers of the year (e.g.: 12.12.1998).

The citizen’s personal photograph is glued with special glue.

The laminate film (self-adhesive) is applied to the fully completed page 3, after the phased (cut based) removal of the paper backing from its adhesive layer. Moreover, the outside surface of the film should be rolled or smoothed by the ruler edge of the sufficient width starting from passport binding towards its longer edge. The non-self-adhesive laminate film is applied to the passport completed page by passing the closed and wrapped passport.

5. The Security Elements of the Passport of the Citizen of the Russian Federation.Security Elements of the Passport of the Citizen of the Russian Federation

The passport blank of the Russian Federation has the following security elements.
1) The paper of the blank pages include:
– 3-tone watermark by means of letters “RF” (visible when holding up to light or at an angle of 5-10ᵒ );
– 3 types of security fibers (in normal light they are red and in ultraviolet – light-green or yellow).

2) In the seal of the blank pages there are several security elements:
– in ultraviolet light the ink of the front flyleaf frame is yellow and green, as well as the word “PASSPORT” on page 2, the word “Russia” on page 3, and the word combination “Place of Living” on pages 6, 8, 9 and 12.
– the phrase “Passport of the Citizen of the Russian Federation”, on the title page, and the guilloche pattern on page 20 are done by metallographic printing.
– an embossed net;
– an iris seal on all blank pages (the smooth transition from one colour to another);
– the micro-text is used to fill in the lines on pages 2 and 3;
– the word “Russia” can be seen in the guilloche pattern on page 20 at an angle of 5-10ᵒ (when looking at the pattern from the long side of the blank there will be light letters on a dark background, when from the short side – dark letters on a light background).

3) The blank is sewn by a thread which combines 2 colours: red and yellow. The yellow thread has a yellow colour in ultraviolet light.

4) Between the pages 2 and 3 there is a special protective transparent (laminate) film (self-adhesive or non-self-adhesive). At places of the film adhesion on the left and upper edges of the photograph and on both sides from the passport binding on the inner side (the closest one to page 3) of the laminate film there are typographic images made by a special red ink. In ultraviolet light there is a pattern of pink glow which consists of wavy lines repeating the abbreviation “The Russian MIA”.
Other security elements are controlled by the experts of the Association “Gosznak” (National Mark) of the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Forensic Divisions of the Internal Affairs Agencies.

Russian Passport photo specifications

6. The Requirements for the Personal Photograph of the Passport of the Citizen of the Russian Federation.

The personal photograph for the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation should meet the following requirements:
1) The personal photograph must be black and white.
2) The main parameters of the personal photograph are:
– the photograph size must be 37×47+2mm;
– the final size of the personal photograph (after trimming) must be 35×45 mm;
– the size of the face image must be 12+1mm (the distance between the chin bottom and a relative horizontal line drawn through the pupils);
– the image is placed on the personal photograph in such a way that, the head edge, free from image, above the head must be 5+1mm.
3) The characteristics of the personal photographs:
– the face on the personal photographs must be photographed strictly full-face, with facial expression, which does not distort its features, and without a hat. It is advisable to make photographs in a plain dress (suit);
– it is not allowed to make photographs of faces wearing tinted glasses;
– the general or partial blur of the photograph and the presence of the blurred spots of light in the eyes’ image are unacceptable;
– the photographs can only be made using the retouch of the negative image; the distortion of the facial characteristic features is unacceptable.
– the image must be clear, of the medium contrast, with soft light and shade effect; the background must be smooth, without any stripes, spots, foreign objects and it must be brighter than the facial image.
– the personal photographs are made on photo paper up to 0.3 mm in thickness. The photo paper type is set by the Passport and Visa Office of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the Forensic Science Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
– the photographs must not have any breaks, scratches, damages in the photographic layer, streaks, spots, fuzziness, signs of positive retouching, including chemical, and other technical defects.

What does the code on the seal of Russian passport mean?

7. The Description of the Code of the Passport and Visa Division.

The code of the Passport and Visa Division is located in the middle ring of the heraldic (official) inked seal under the State Emblem of the Russian Federation.

The code consists of two groups of numbers (three numbers in each group). The first two numbers of the first group refer to the specific subject of the Russian Federation. The third number of the first group refers to the level of the Passport and Visa Division which issued the passport: in the Internal Affairs System. 1 – PVS MIA, CIAD, IAD of the subject of the Russian Federation; 2 – PVS of the district (municipal) department of the Internal Affairs Division; 3 – PVS which provides service on the territory of the city/village police station.\

The second group of numbers refers to the code assigned to the Passport and Visa Division by the MIA, CIAD, IAD of the subject of the Russian Federation.

For instance, the heraldic inked seal of the Passport and Visa Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Altai Republic has the code “041-001”; Rybnovsk District Department of Internal Affairs of Ryazan region – “622-045”; Drezna Police Department of Orekhovo-Zuyevo Administration of Internal Affairs in Moscow region – “503-089” (the last three numbers in all codes serve only as an illustrative example).

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