Russian Passport - Internal Passport

Internal Passport

The Russian internal passport is the primary identity document for citizens of the Russian Federation residing in Russia. It is initially issued at the age of 14 by the Russian Federal Migration Service, and has to be renewed at the ages of 20 and 45. Every citizen over 14 residing in Russia is required to have a valid internal passport.

The passport contains the full name, sex, date and place of birth and a photograph of the bearer. It also contains remarks about the holder's registered home address, military duty, marital status, children under 14, other internal and foreign passports issued by the Russian authorities, blood type (optional) and individual taxpayer identification number (also optional). Any unauthorized remarks render the passport invalid. All the data is filled in Russian.

The Russian police will sometimes do random ID checks to look for draft dodgers, illegal immigrants, people who don't have the proper registration, etc.

The Russian internal passport is also a valid identity document in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, in addition its holder is free to enter the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (read more in 2008 Ossetia War). Passport for travel abroad (in Russian: заграничный паспорт, zagranichny pasport sometimes translated as international passport or foreign passport) is required for travel abroad to all other countries.

• Domestic Passport front page

• Domestic Passport Data and Signature page

In November 2010 Federal Migration Service had made an announcement of possible cancellation of internal passports with a replacement with plastic ID-cards or drivers licenses.

As of October 2012 this information has been confirmed. Starting from the 1st January 2013, so called Universal e-Cards (Russian: Универсальная электронная карта) are going to be issued. By the year 2015 they are to fully replace old internal passports.