Registering a child born in Russia to foreign parents

How foreign parents register a child's birth at a Russian registry office (ZAGS), which of their documents must be translated and notarized, and what comes next — the child's passport and migration status.

A child born in Russia is registered at a Russian registry office (ZAGS), whatever the parents' citizenship. The registry office issues a Russian birth certificate, which the parents then use to get the child a passport from their own country and to arrange the child's stay in Russia.

Documents for the registry office

Usually:

• the medical certificate of birth issued by the maternity hospital;
• passports of both parents with notarized Russian translations of the data pages;
• the marriage certificate, if the parents are married — a foreign certificate with an apostille or legalization and a notarized translation;
• if the parents are not married — a joint application to establish paternity, filed at the same time.

The birth is registered within one month of the child's birth. The child's name is written into the Russian birth certificate from what the parents state, and the parents' names are copied from their passport translations.

Why the spelling matters now

The child's Russian birth certificate becomes the source for the child's passport in your home country, and for every later Russian document. If the parents' names in the passport translations differ from their names in the marriage certificate translation, the registry office may refuse to record the father, or record names that do not match your documents.

Order the passport and marriage certificate translations together and check the spelling before you go to the registry office.

After the registration

• get the child a passport or include the child in a travel document at your embassy or consulate — the consulate may need the Russian birth certificate with an apostille and its own translation;
• arrange the child's migration registration at your address and, if needed, a residence permit or RVP for the child together with the parents.

What we need

Scans of the parents' passports and the marriage certificate with its apostille. The notarized translations are ready in 1 business day; we keep the spelling the same across all of them.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change; check the current list with your migration office before filing.