Citizenship based on marriage to a Russian citizen when the couple has a child together

Attention!
Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 821 “On the temporary procedure for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation and issuance of residence permits in the Russian Federation” has been in force since 05.11.2025. *

There are categories of foreign nationals who may be admitted to citizenship of the Russian Federation under a simplified procedure immediately after obtaining a residence permit (hereinafter, a residence permit), without meeting the requirements to prove proficiency in Russian, knowledge of Russian history, and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation. These foreign nationals include persons married to a Russian citizen permanently residing in the Russian Federation and having a child together, including an adopted child.

At the same time, the spouse who is a Russian citizen must permanently reside in Russia. This means that they must be registered at their place of residence.

Registration at the place of residence means registering a Russian citizen at their place of residence, that is, recording in the prescribed manner by the registration authority information about the Russian citizen’s place of residence and their presence at that place of residence.

This type of registration for Russian citizens is not limited in duration. For persons aged 14 and older, it is stamped in their internal Russian passport; persons under this age are issued a separate sheet (Form No. 8).

It is also important to note that the spouse must have Russian citizenship and be registered at their place of residence at the time the child they have together is born (or adopted).

Consider the following examples:

A citizen of Estonia entered into an official marriage with a Russian citizen registered at her place of residence in one of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (for example, Moscow Region). A child was born to them during this marriage. In this case, the Estonian citizen has the right to apply for admission to Russian citizenship after first obtaining a residence permit in Russia.

A citizen of Hungary married a citizen of Moldova in 2008. They had a child together in 2010. In 2015, his wife acquired Russian citizenship and registered at her place of residence. In this case, the Hungarian citizen cannot apply for admission to Russian citizenship on this basis, since his wife was not a Russian citizen when the child was born.

It is important to note that Russian citizens may have registration at their place of stay, which is generally limited in duration and issued on a separate sheet (Form No. 3). This type of registration does not confirm that a Russian citizen permanently resides in Russia. If the Russian-citizen spouse has only registration at their place of stay, the foreign national is not entitled to submit citizenship documents on this basis.

*Under Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 821 of 05.11.2025 “On the temporary procedure for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation and issuance of residence permits in the Russian Federation,” when foreign nationals and stateless persons who are able-bodied men aged 18 to 65 apply for citizenship on the following grounds:
• paragraph 5 of part 2 of Article 16 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (are married to a Russian citizen residing in the Russian Federation and have a child together, including an adopted child),

one of the following documents must additionally be provided:

a) an extract from the order dismissing the person from military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or rescue military units of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (hereinafter, military service) before February 24, 2022, on the grounds provided for in subparagraphs “a”, “b”, “c” and “d” of paragraph 1 of Article 51 of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of March 28, 1998, “On Military Duty and Military Service”;

b) a decision of the joint commission of the military contract service recruitment office and the military commissariat on the selection of candidates entering contract military service, or an extract from the minutes of a meeting of the military unit’s certification commission, drawn up at the contract military service recruitment office or military unit, if the foreign national or stateless person is found unfit for military service upon entering contract military service.

This requirement does not apply to citizens of the Republic of Belarus.

Document package

The current list of required documents in .pdf format can be downloaded here

List of documents for applying for Russian citizenship through marriage to a Russian citizen with whom the applicant has a child together, including an adopted child under 18

A foreign national or stateless person who has reached the age of eighteen, has legal capacity and permanently resides in the Russian Federation (regardless of the period of residence) has the right to apply for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation without regard to the requirements

1) to permanently reside in the Russian Federation for five years from the date of the decision to issue a residence permit in the Russian Federation until the date of filing the application for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation;

2) to be proficient in Russian;

3) to know the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation;

if the specified foreign national or stateless person:

• is married to a Russian citizen, residing in the Russian Federation, and has a child together, including an adopted child

The application and documents required to acquire Russian citizenship are submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia or its territorial body.

As of November 5, 2025, Decree of the President No. 821 establishes a temporary procedure for admission to Russian citizenship.

Able-bodied men who are foreign nationals or stateless persons aged 18 to 65 (except citizens of the Republic of Belarus) must additionally provide, in addition to the documents listed below, one of the following documents:

- an extract from the dismissal order from military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or rescue military units of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters before February 24, 2022 on the grounds provided for in subparagraphs "a", "b", "c" and "d" of paragraph 1 of Article 51 of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of March 28, 1998, "On Military Duty and Military Service"

- a decision of the joint commission of the recruitment office for contract military service and the military commissariat on the selection of candidates entering contract military service,

or

- an extract from the minutes of a meeting of the military unit’s certification commission, drawn up at the contract military service recruitment office or military unit, if the foreign national or stateless person is found unfit for military service upon entering contract military service.

1. Application – 2 copies (printed double-sided)

The application must be completed in Russian by hand using black, blue or purple ink, or using electronic means. The applicant must sign each page of the application in the designated field in the lower right corner. Handwritten text must be legible. Abbreviations and acronyms may not be used when completing the application, except for those in common use; corrections and erasures are also not permitted.

All mandatory fields in the application must be completed, except where the circumstances required to answer a question do not exist. In this case, the word "none" is entered in the relevant field, or the corresponding section is left blank. Answers to the questions in the application form must be exhaustive.

If there is insufficient space in a field of the application to provide all the required information, such information is entered on additional sheets attached to the application, which form an integral part of it (hereinafter, an addendum). In this case, the relevant field of the application must state "See addendum".

The addendum sheets must indicate the number of the field being supplemented and provide the required information. All addendum sheets must be numbered. The page number and total number of addendum sheets must be indicated in the upper right corner of each sheet. The number of copies of each addendum must match the number of copies of the application. The applicant must sign each addendum sheet in the lower right corner.

2. A document identifying the applicant.

If a foreign national does not have such a document, a copy of the conclusion establishing the identity of the foreign national, issued by a territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation

The document must remain valid for at least the application processing period when the application is submitted (we recommend at least 6 months). 

A document confirming the presence or absence of citizenship (a citizen’s passport, a stateless person’s identity document, a temporary identity document for a stateless person in the Russian Federation, a non-citizen’s passport issued by the relevant authority of a foreign state, or documents confirming that the applicant does not hold citizenship of a foreign state, issued by the competent authority of the foreign state in which the applicant was born).

3. Residence permit.

4. Migration card and detachable part of the notification form for the arrival of a foreign national or stateless person at their place of stay – migration registration.

In most regions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs requires a stamp of registration at the place of residence in the residence permit for an application to be submitted.

5. Applicant’s birth certificate.

6. Documents confirming changes to the applicant’s full name.

Marriage certificate, divorce certificate or certificate from the civil registry office in the event of multiple surname changes, or a certificate of name change.

7. Child’s birth certificate, adoption certificate if the birth certificate does not list the adoptive parent as the child’s parent, document establishing paternity (if paternity has been established),

- marriage certificate and

- a notarized copy, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, of the passport of the applicant’s spouse who is a Russian citizen and resides in the Russian Federation, bearing a stamp of registration at the place of residence.

If the passport of the applicant’s spouse, who is a Russian citizen, does not bear a stamp of registration at the place of residence within the Russian Federation, the applicant may provide the following documents as proof that the spouse resides in the Russian Federation, including based on the totality of the information they contain:

• certificate of registration at the place of stay,
• arrival (departure) address slip or address certificate issued by territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia,
• unified housing document,
• extract from the house register,
• copy of the apartment registration card,
• document containing information on military registration, military ID,
• employment record book and/or employment information prepared in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation,
• certificate from the territorial body of the Social Fund of the Russian Federation (Pension Fund of the Russian Federation) confirming the award of a pension,
• certificate of release from a place of detention,
• extract from the household register, in the form used before January 1, 2024.

If the above documents are unavailable, residence in the Russian Federation may be confirmed by an archival certificate, an extract from archival documents, a copy of a document from the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation and/or other archival documents, or a court decision establishing the fact that the Russian citizen resides in the Russian Federation.

8. Photographs (personal) 3 х4 cm – 3 pcs. (black and white or color).

The applicant’s (child’s, legally incapacitated person’s) image in the photograph must correspond to their age on the date the application is submitted.

9. Receipt for payment of the state fee.

All the documents listed must be submitted as photocopies, together with the ORIGINALS.

A copy made from the original document must be of good quality, easy to read, and contain all the information presented in the original. Copies must be made on standard A4 sheets and must not be cut to the size of the original.

The originals of the applicant’s identity document and other required documents submitted by the applicant must be returned. Copies of these documents are attached to the application; an official checks them against the originals and certifies them with their signature and the seal of the body responsible for matters of Russian citizenship, or the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

The period for providing the public service is 3 months.

The period may be extended for the time required to verify the documents submitted by the applicant and the information provided when filing the application, and to obtain additional documents and information provided for by this Federal Law, but by no more than three months.

An application will not be accepted for consideration and will be returned to the applicant together with the attached documents if:

a) the application and documents are improperly completed, including if they contain clerical errors, typos or other mistakes;

b) the documents required under this Regulation and attached to the application are incomplete.

If an application is refused acceptance for consideration, the official returning the application shall indicate, orally or in writing, the circumstances that formed the basis for the refusal and how they can be remedied.

At the applicant’s written request, the official shall communicate these circumstances and how they can be remedied in writing, including a list of missing documents.

All official documents issued by foreign authorities in a foreign language must be legalized, translated and notarized.

For countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention:

• The original document must be certified with an apostille in the country where it was issued.
• The document and the apostille affixed to it must be translated into Russian.
• The translation must be certified by a notarial endorsement from a notary in the Russian Federation.

                 For countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention:

• Documents must undergo consular legalization through consular offices of the Russian Federation abroad or the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

All documents not in Russian must be submitted with a translation into Russian. The accuracy of the translation or authenticity of the translator’s signature must be notarized in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The originals of translations into Russian of the above documents must be returned. Copies are attached to the application; an official checks them against the originals and certifies them with their signature and the seal of the body responsible for matters of Russian citizenship, or the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

If a document drawn up in a language other than Russian duplicates all entries in Russian, it does not need to be translated into Russian.

Under paragraph 5 of part 2 of Article 16 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ of 28.04.2023 "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation"

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 889 of 22.11.2023 "Matters of Citizenship of the Russian Federation" ("Regulation on the Procedure for Considering Matters of Citizenship of the Russian Federation", "Regulation on the Procedure for Taking the Oath of a Citizen of the Russian Federation")