Russian passport

Russian passports are issued to citizens of Russia for the purpose of international travel.

Internal passport

The Russian internal passport is the primary identity document for citizens of the Russian Federation residing in Russia. It is initially issued to citizens at the age of 14 by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and has to be renewed at the ages of 20 and 45. Every citizen after the age of 14 who is a permanent resident of Russia is required to have a valid internal passport.

The passport contains the information about the full name of the citizen, his/her sex, birth date and birthplace and a picture of him/her. Also it contains remarks about his/her home address, military duty, marriage, children under 14, other internal and foreign passports issued by the Russian authorities, blood group (optional) and individual taxpayer identification number (also optional). All the data is filled in Russian. Any other remarks render it invalid.

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. Since the lack of an identity document can be grounds for temporary detention, many Russians, especially young people, carry their passport whenever going outside.

International passport

The Russian internal passport serves as an identity document only within Russia. To go abroad to most countries with current exceptions for some ex-Soviet Union countries, and to reside there while retaining Russian citizenship, Russian adults need a "passport for travel abroad" issued by Russian authorities (in _ru. заграничный паспорт, "zagranichny pasport"; sometimes translated as "international passport" or "foreign passport"), which is valid for only 5 years and is not granted by default. In addition to the standard "zagranichny pasport", there exist three special-purpose types of passports for traveling abroad: the diplomatic passport (issued to Russian diplomats), the service passport (issued to government employees going abroad on official business), and the seaman's passport. 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 detained as a suspect for a crime; is under investigation or is serving his/her term according to a court decision; disobeys obligations imposed by a court decision; or has provided false information in his/her application. Children under 18 can only go abroad by consent of both parents or when permitted to do so by a court decision.

Visa-free access for Russian passport holders

According to a study done by Henley & Partners [http://www.henleyglobal.com/citizenship/visa-restrictions/] , Russian citizens enjoy visa-free access to 60 countries and territories for short-term tourism visits. Russia is ranked 53 rd in the study in terms of international travel freedom. An agreement between the European Community and Russia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas [ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:129:0027:0034:EN:PDF] has been in force since June 1, 2007. It has unified the cost of visas, and made it easier to obtain visas for close relatives, journalists, official delegations, transport crew members and some other groups of visitors. Similar agreements have been signed, but not yet ratified, between Russia and Denmark, and Russia and Norway. Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy, and later Alexander Stubb, the Foreign Minister of Finland have started public discussions on the future possibility for visa-free travel between the EU countries and Russia. [RIA Novosti, [http://en.rian.ru/world/20080418/105424007.html Berlusconi wants EU-Russia visa regime to be scrapped] , 18.04.2008] [YLE News, [http://yle.fi/news/id91613.html FM: Visa Exemptions Beneficial to Finland and Russia] , 24.05.2008] Both the EU and Russia acknowledge, however, that there are many problems to be solved before visa-free travel is introduced.

Africa

Europe

Oceania

References and notes

ee also

*Passport system in the Soviet Union
*Propiska
*Wolf ticket (Russia)
*101st kilometre
*Closed cities

External links

* [http://www.nntu.sci-nnov.ru/RUS/zakon/pravilo/post8281997.htm Statute on the Russian federation citizen's passport] (in Russian).
* [http://www.votpusk.ru/doc/doc_n/52.doc Federal Law On the Entry in the Russian Federation and Departure from the Russian Federation] (.doc in Russian).
* [http://www.votpusk.ru/doc/doc_n/4.doc Federal Law On the State Border of the Russian Federation] (.doc in Russian).
* [http://www.travel.ru/formalities/visa/visa_rules.html Countries that citizens of Russia can enter easily or without a visa] (in Russian, appears to be current, tourist-oriented)
* [http://www.mid.ru/dks.nsf/mnsdoc/04.04.02 List of countries with simplified entry procedures] (in Russian, dated 15 July 2005)
* [http://www.mid.ru/dks.nsf/strinf Information for those going abroad from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs] (in Russian, dates unknown; some information is outdated)
* [http://www.visas.ru/info/novisas.html List of countries that the citizens of Russian Federation can enter without a visa] (in Russian, date unknown; some information is outdated)