Have you mutually fallen in love with a foreigner and are planning a future together? What documents will a foreign citizen need to register a marriage in Russia? What difficulties might you encounter? How to submit correctly, collect the necessary documents and submit an application? We will answer these questions in our article.

In Russia, legal marriage is controlled by the Family Code and is carried out in accordance with Russian legislation. In addition, foreign citizens will have to document that the future marriage also complies with all laws and regulations adopted in his country.

For example, in some countries there is an age limit for people getting married and this figure is different from Russian laws; confirmation of the local commune, diaspora, written consent of parents, etc. is required.

If a foreigner has dual citizenship(Russian and other countries) confirmation of these possible restrictions is no longer necessary. If he has several citizenships and does not have Russian citizenship, then he himself decides which state’s laws to follow.

Consider the situation when a foreigner has no citizenship in any country. If you have permanent residence (permanent residence) in the Russian Federation, the marriage is regulated by Russian laws and all possible restrictions are lifted.

In the case of the absence of any citizenship and the presence of permanent residence in another country, as well as the presence of restrictions on marriage in a given country, attention is paid to them, and it will be necessary to document that there are no obstacles.

A very important point that women who marry men from Africa or the Middle East need to pay attention to. If, according to the laws of the country of a man marrying a citizen of the Russian Federation, polygamy is allowed, and the Russian citizen is not the first wife, then such a marriage not considered legitimate in the Russian Federation.

Required documents for a foreign citizen

Along with the application for marriage, a foreign citizen should submit to the registry office the documents necessary for marriage. Here is a detailed list of all required documents:

  1. Passport and its copy
  2. Confirmation from the embassy of his country (see paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2) that the citizen has no obstacles to marriage
  3. Visa or residence permit - to prove the legality of a foreign citizen’s presence in Russia. This does not apply to citizens of a number of visa-free countries.
  4. If a foreign citizen has already been previously married, he will need to present a certificate of divorce from that marriage.
  5. Certificate from place of residence
  6. Receipt for payment of state duty.

A prerequisite is that all documents must be translated into Russian, certified by a notary and have a special mark (apostille). Citizens of the republics of the former USSR do not need an apostille.

Submitting an application to the registry office for marriage with a foreigner

After you have collected all the necessary documents, you can safely go to the registry office and submit an application for marriage registration.

The application must be submitted at least 1 month before the scheduled wedding date. In practice, it is better to submit an application 2-3 months in advance. In some cases, the period may be significantly reduced. All the details about the deadlines: when is the best time to submit an application, what are the reasons for reducing the waiting period?

Here you can look. There you can download a blank application form and fill it out in advance at home in a relaxed atmosphere.

In case a foreign citizen does not speak Russian, then he must fill out the application in his native language. At the same time, it is imperative to translate the document into Russian and have the translation and signature notarized. In addition, you will have to invite a professional translator during the application process and marriage registration. The translator must have documents confirming his qualifications.

The application procedure is described in detail in this article -. From this article you will learn about how and where this procedure takes place, what restrictions there are for newlyweds and what to do if one of the future newlyweds cannot appear at the registry office on time.

In addition, you will have to choose in what setting you want to register your marriage: .

Before submitting your application, you should definitely find out more about the rules for concluding a marriage in the country with a citizen of whom you are planning a future. It is necessary to study in detail information about possible restrictions in this country. This information is provided in full by the consulate of a foreign citizen.

Can you register a marriage with a foreigner in every registry office of the Russian Federation?

According to the laws of the Russian Federation, a marriage with a citizen of foreign origin cannot be registered in any wedding palace. This procedure can only be carried out in the central registry offices of the city. In Moscow, marriages with foreign citizens are registered in the Civil Registry Office No. 4.

Marriage between Russian citizens and residents of other countries is becoming more and more common. And if the procedure for registering relations between two Russians is simple, then in this case there are some nuances. What features characterize marriage with a foreigner, and what additional documents will need to be provided to government officials?

To have legal force, the voluntary consent of both parties and the absence of reasons preventing the conclusion of the union are required.

  • one of the newlyweds is incapacitated;
  • the future spouse is already in a family relationship;
  • the newlyweds are close relatives;
  • the union cannot be concluded between the adoptive parent and his ward.

To confirm that there are no obstacles to the conclusion, the citizen will need to provide the relevant documents.

Registration of relations with a resident of another country is regulated by the Family Code. Between residents of states that signed the Minsk Convention in 1993, marriages are concluded according to a simplified scheme.

Where to go to register a marriage with a foreigner.

According to Art. 10 of the Family Code, registration of relations is carried out in the registry office at the place of residence of one of the spouses.

A marriage between two foreign citizens is registered at the Embassy or Consulate of the country of which they are residents.

If one of them has dual citizenship (including Russian), then he is not considered a foreigner, and the relationship must be registered at the registry office.

If the marriage is between a resident of Russia and one of the CIS countries, then the application can be submitted to any branch of a government agency.

Documents for registering a marriage with a citizen of another state are accepted only in the central city registry offices.

Registration of a marriage: step-by-step instructions.

To register a marriage with a citizen of another state, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the procedure.

To register a relationship, you must follow the following algorithm:

  • collect ;
  • submit an application to the registry office;
  • set a date for the ceremony;
  • on the selected day and time, arrive at the registry office and receive a certificate of union.

The wedding date is set no earlier than one month after submitting the application. However, there are exceptions when the waiting period is due to valid reasons.

These include:

  • expiration of the residence permit in the country;
  • bride's pregnancy;
  • serious illness, etc.

If a foreign citizen cannot visit the registry office in person to fill out an application for registration, then he is allowed to fill it out separately, but at the same time have it certified by a notary.

List of documents for marriage with a foreigner.

To marry a foreigner, you will need the following:

  • ID card;
  • application form (filled out in the presence of civil registry office employees);
  • receipt of payment of state duty.

In addition, a citizen of another country must prepare the following documents:

  • grounds for staying in Russia (visa, residence permit, etc.);
  • a certificate from the embassy that there are no reasons for the impossibility of concluding a marriage;
  • certificate of divorce from a previous marriage (if it was registered earlier).

All documents must be translated into Russian and certified by a notary office. The certificates are affixed with a special “Apostille” stamp, which legalizes the papers on the territory of Russia.

Registration of relationships.

On the appointed wedding date, the newlyweds must come to the registry office, where they submitted an application, to officially register their union.

If the bride or groom does not speak Russian, then the services of a professional translator will be required so that they can understand what is being said and give their voluntary consent.

The stamp on the conclusion of the union is affixed only to the passport of a Russian citizen. A resident of a foreign country will have to complete documents in his home country.

The newlyweds will be issued a document confirming their marriage. Based on it, the newlyweds will be able to affix a stamp in their country of residence.

How to confirm a marriage in another country.

Statistics on marriages with foreigners show that there are more and more of them every year.

At the same time, in the homeland of a citizen of another country, the registration of relations must be confirmed. Otherwise, the marriage will not be considered valid in that state.

If the bride or groom are residents of a CIS country, then legalization of relations is not required.

In other states, you must provide a marriage certificate to the registration authority. The document must have an apostille. Another way to confirm the authenticity and legal force of a paper is consular legalization.

The document must be translated and certified by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a notary office. Afterwards, the certificate is submitted to the foreign consulate.

To legalize a marriage concluded in Russia on the territory of another state, additional documents may be required, depending on the legislation of the country. The procedure lasts from several months to several years.

Registry offices in Moscow, where marriages with foreigners are registered.

In Moscow, since June 2019, three more sites have been opened for registering marriages with foreign citizens - these are the Meshchansky, Medvedkovsky and Gagarinsky Registry Offices.

Before this, there were two venues in the capital - only in the Wedding Palace No. 4 and in the Shipilovsky registry office.

But since the demand is great, and two registry offices could not cope with the flow of applicants, the Moscow authorities opened additional places.

About 10% of marriages in Moscow are with foreigners.

Conclusion.

Marriage with a foreign citizen in Russia has its own characteristics. Registration is carried out in special registry offices.

The presence and voluntary consent of both parties is required.

Additional documents are attached to the paper, including those confirming the right to early registration of relations (earlier than a month from the date of application).

Marriage with a foreigner.

Correct legislative registration of a marriage union is very important, since it directly determines what rights and responsibilities the spouses will receive.

And if no special issues arise with the procedure for registering a marriage between Russian citizens, then if one of the parties has foreign citizenship, difficulties may arise.

Therefore, it is worth considering in more detail what the specifics are when dealing with a foreigner, what is required for this, and what is the established procedure for carrying out this procedure.


The most important rule when concluding a marriage between a Russian citizen and a foreigner is the priority of the legislation of the Russian Federation during this procedure. This requirement must always be met, regardless of what legislative features or customs are accepted in the foreigner’s country.

In particular, the main requirements include:

  1. Personal presence of the parties at the ceremony. For Russia, this rule is mandatory, although in some countries (for example, Spain) the groom can send his representative in his place.
  2. Monogamy. Russian legislation allows marriage for a man or woman with only one partner. In some countries, polygamy is allowed.
  3. . In the Russian Federation, it is the same for both parties and starts at the age of 18, in exceptional cases - at the age of 16. In some other states it can be either lowered or increased.
  4. Official registration. For this, only one body is used - the registry office. All other methods of marriage (including various religious rites) are unacceptable and have no legal force.

The procedure for registering a marriage takes place entirely in accordance with the Family Code of the Russian Federation. The only difference is the list of documents that the foreign participant must provide. Read more about what papers you may need below.

Required documents

Below is a general list of documents that are needed to register a marriage, which includes both standard papers and those that are needed only for foreigners:

Statement of intent to formalize an alliance

It has a standard form, the same for everyone, and is filled out at the registry office. It is worth noting that both future spouses must be present. If one of them cannot bring the application in person, it can be certified by a notary and sent separately.

Passports of both parties

Or other identification documents. As for a foreign citizen, he must also provide a Russian translation of his identification document, certified by an authorized body.

Such a body could be:

  • consulate or embassy of the state he represents;
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
  • notary.

At the same time, it is important that the translation is carried out exactly on the territory of Russia.

Certificate stating that the foreigner is not in another registered marriage

You can also get it at the embassy or consulate of your state. It can be either in Russian or in a foreign language, but in the latter case you will need a certified translation. Its validity period is 3 months.

Document on the termination of a previous marriage

Required only if the foreign citizen was previously married. This may be a death certificate of a former spouse or, as well as a corresponding court decision.

If this document is not in Russian, a duly certified translation is required.

Receipt for payment of state duty

This fee is charged regardless of who gets married, and its amount is the same in all cases and amounts to 350 rubles.

Certificate from the place of residence of a foreign citizen

And also a document confirming the absence of obstacles to marriage. Their form will depend on the rules and requirements of a particular state, and can also be obtained at a consulate or embassy.

A visa confirming the right of the bride or groom to stay on the territory of the Russian Federation

This requirement applies only to representatives of those countries for which A visa is a prerequisite for entry into Russia. Citizens of a number of other states (for example, Ukraine and Belarus) are not required to provide this document.

It is worth noting that a marriage concluded under Russian law and with the provision of these documents can be recognized in other states (including the one where the foreigner is from). This is due to the fact that in these countries there are different requirements for this procedure and the necessary documents (for example, sometimes permission from the parents of the bride or groom must be available).

Therefore, the parties must take this factor into account and take appropriate measures. For example, after registering a union in Russia, they can go to the homeland of one of their spouses and repeat this procedure there.

Marriage procedure

The procedure for formalizing relations between a Russian and a foreigner, in principle, does not differ significantly from the usual procedure. Conventionally, it can be divided into the following stages:

Preparation of necessary documents

Since in most cases a foreigner needs to obtain some additional documents from the embassy or consulate, it is better to apply for them in advance.

Submitting an application

With the documents collected at the first stage, the parties go to the registry office and fill out an application form, which they can receive there. It is worth considering that not every registration authority provides services for registering a marriage with a foreigner - this issue must already be clarified on the spot.

Waiting within the specified period

As in other cases, the bride and groom are given a minimum period of one month after submitting the application in order to have the opportunity to change their decision or further strengthen their decision.

This period may be extended, since it often depends on the workload of a particular registry office.

After this, the parties only have to appear in person at the registration authority on the appointed day and take part in the marriage registration procedure, as well as receive the documents required in this case.

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