Marriage Registration in Russia

• In the Russian Federation, marriages are registered by civil registry offices, known in Russian as ZAGS (an abbreviation for Zapisi aktov grazhdanskogo sostoyaniya).
• A marriage may be officially registered at a ZAGS office no earlier than one month after the date the marriage application is submitted and no later than 12 months after the marriage application submission date. Under special circumstances (pregnancy, birth of a child, immediate threat to the life of one of the parties, or other special grounds), however, the one-month waiting period may be waived and the marriage may be registered on the same date that the marriage application is submitted (Clause 1, Article 11 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation).
• Entering into marriage requires that the parties simultaneously fulfil the following mandatory conditions, as stipulated by Articles 12–14 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation:

1. The mutual voluntary consent of both persons—a man and a woman;
2. Both parties must have reached the age of 18 (in exceptional cases, with the permission of local authorities, the marriageable age may be reduced to 16);
3. Absence of other registered marriages;
4. Absence of close kinship between the parties (parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, full and half-siblings, adoptive parents and adopted children);
5. Neither prospective spouse must have been declared legally incompetent by a court due to a mental disorder.

Step 1: Submitting a Joint Application

A joint marriage application may be submitted in one of the following ways:

• In person by both applicants at any ZAGS office in the Russian Federation, at the discretion of the prospective spouses;
• In person by both applicants at a My Documents (Moi dokumenty) Multifunctional Centre for the provision of public services (this option is available only in certain cities, including Moscow);
• Online via the Gosuslugi (Public Services) digital platform, but in this case the bride and groom must both have their own verified user accounts on the Gosuslugi platform.

Main documents required for each prospective spouse:

1. Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation (commonly known as an ‘internal passport’);
2. If one of the parties was previously married, a document confirming the termination of the previous marriage (a divorce certificate, a court ruling declaring the marriage invalid, or the death certificate of the party’s former spouse);
3. If the bride or groom has previously changed their last name (surname), an official certificate confirming the name change.

When submitting a marriage application online via the Gosuslugi digital platform, the prospective spouse must indicate the other party’s SNILS number (Russian abbreviation meaning ‘individual insurance account number’) and email address, to which a notification (preliminary marriage registration date) will be sent. The other party must then complete their part of the application.

At the same time that you submit your marriage registration application, you must also pay the relevant state duty, which amounts to RUB 350 and is paid by only one of the prospective spouses.

Step 2: Marriage Registration Ceremony

• When: on the appointed date and time (which must be no earlier than one month and no later than 12 months after the application submission date, unless a valid reason exists to waive the one-month waiting period);
• Where: at the chosen ZAGS office, at a My Documents (Moi dokumenty) Multifunctional Centre, or at an outdoor registration ceremony (see ‘Outdoor Wedding Ceremonies’).

The marriage registration ceremony is performed with both intended spouses physically present, and a marriage certificate is then duly issued. While the presence of witnesses at the ceremony is permitted, it has no legal significance. If the newlyweds request it, a ZAGS official will affix marriage registration stamps on the relevant pages of their respective Russian internal passports.

Step 1: Preparing Required Documents for a Foreign National Spouse

A foreign national seeking to marry a Russian citizen must provide legalised documents confirming their right to enter into marriage (see below) together with a notarised translation into Russian of each such document, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary.

If the given foreign national is listed in the Register of Controlled Persons (known by the Russian abbreviation RKL), maintained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, an application to register a marriage between a Russian citizen and the controlled person may be denied.

Step 2: Submitting a Joint Application

The marriage registration application must be submitted in person by both applicants at any ZAGS office in the Russian Federation, at the discretion of the prospective spouses.

It is not permitted, however, to submit an application for marriage to a foreign national via the Gosuslugi digital platform.

Main required documents:

For the Russian citizen: the same as enumerated in ‘Marriage Between Russian Citizens.’

For the foreign national:

1. Their national passport accompanied by a duly notarised translation into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary;
2. Documents confirming that the given foreign national is lawfully present in the Russian Federation, i.e., a visa or residency permit (temporary or permanent), migration card, and registration slip;
3. Document confirming that the foreign national is not married and that there are no impediments to entering into the marriage.  This document may be obtained from the consulate or embassy of the foreign national’s home country of which he/she is a citizen. It may take the form of a certificate, letter, or extract from a register. The document must be duly legalised and accompanied by a notarised translation into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary;
4. If the foreign national was previously married, they must provide a certificate of divorce from their former spouse, or if they were widowed, the death certificate of their former spouse. The document must be duly legalised and accompanied by a notarised translation into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary.

At the same time that you submit your marriage registration application, you must also pay the relevant state duty, which amounts to RUB 350 and is paid by only one of the prospective spouses.

Step 3: Marriage Registration Ceremony

The marriage registration ceremony is performed at the chosen ZAGS office with both intended spouses physically present.

A marriage between a Russian citizen and a foreign national cannot be registered at a My Documents Multifunctional Centre.

An authorised ZAGS official will perform the marriage registration ceremony in Russian. If the foreign national requires interpretation services, the relevant legislation permits involving a qualified interpreter in the ceremony. The interpreter must bring their identity documents (the original and a copy of their Russian Federation internal passport) with them, as well as documents attesting to their professional qualifications (the original and a copy of their educational diploma as an interpreter that indicates the working language they are qualified to interpret from or into).

At the end of the ceremony, the newlyweds will be issued a marriage certificate in Russian, which they may have translated into any other language and certified by a notary.

If the Russian citizen spouse requests it, a ZAGS official will affix a marriage registration stamp on the relevant page of their Russian internal passport.

Step 1: Verifying Requirements and Preparing Documents

Two foreign nationals may register their marriage in Russia if both prospective spouses meet the legal requirements of their respective home countries for contracting a marriage, and where there are no impediments (e.g., legal incompetence or close kinship relations) as defined under Russian legislation.

Foreign nationals must provide legalised documents confirming their right to enter into marriage (see below) accompanied by notarised translations into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary.

If either of the foreign nationals seeking to register their marriage is listed in the Register of Controlled Persons (known by the Russian abbreviation RKL), maintained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, their application to register their marriage in Russia may be denied.

Step 2: Submitting a Joint Application

A joint application for registering marriage between two foreign nationals must be submitted in person by both applicants to any ZAGS office in the Russian Federation, at the discretion of the prospective spouses.

An application for registering a marriage between two foreign nationals in Russia cannot be submitted online via the Gosuslugi digital platform.

Main documents for each prospective spouse:

1. National passport with a notarised translation into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary;
2. Documents confirming that the given foreign national is lawfully present in the Russian Federation, i.e., a visa or residency permit (temporary or permanent), migration card, and registration slip;
3. A document confirming that the foreign national is not married and that there are no impediments to entering into the marriage. This document may be obtained from the consulate or embassy of the foreign national’s home country of which he/she is a citizen. It may take the form of a certificate, letter, or extract from a register. The document must be duly legalised and accompanied by a notarised translation into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary;
4. If one of the foreign national applicants was previously married, they must provide a certificate of divorce from their former spouse, or if they were widowed, the death certificate of their former spouse. The document must be duly legalised and accompanied by a notarised translation into Russian, performed in Russia by a duly licensed notary.

At the same time that you submit your marriage registration application, you must also pay the relevant state duty, which amounts to RUB 350 and is paid by only one of the prospective spouses.

Step 3: Marriage Registration Ceremony

The marriage registration ceremony is performed at the chosen ZAGS office with both intended spouses physically present.

A marriage between two foreign nationals cannot be registered at a My Documents Multifunctional Centre.

An authorised ZAGS official will perform the marriage registration ceremony in Russian. If one or both of the foreign nationals require interpretation services, the relevant legislation permits involving a qualified interpreter in the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the newlyweds will be issued a marriage certificate, also in Russian, which they may have translated into any other language and certified by a notary.

Article 157 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation also permits the registration of marriages between foreign nationals within Russia at the diplomatic missions and consular offices of the respective home countries of the intended foreign national spouses. In this case, however, the given foreign country of which the prospective spouses are citizens must have active diplomatic representation in the Russian Federation through an accredited ambassador or consul.

Applicants can locate the embassy or consulate of the relevant foreign country in the Russian Federation via this link.

In order for a marriage that was registered abroad to be legally recognised in the Russian Federation, the spouses must have their foreign marriage certificate duly legalised.

Civil and religious marriages (i.e., a so-called ‘church wedding,’ a blanket term referring to weddings performed in diverse religious establishments, including churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, etc.) have no legal status in the Russian Federation. Thus, the registration of a marriage only through a church wedding (without simultaneous civil registration in the same jurisdiction) performed in the United Kingdom, for example, will not be recognised as a legal marriage in Russia.

Step 1: Legalising a Foreign Marriage Certificate in Russia

• If the country where the marriage was performed is a party to the Hague Convention of 1961, the spouses should have the authorised government body of the given country affix an apostille to the marriage certificate.
• If the given country is not a party to the Convention, however, the spouses will be required to submit their marriage certificate for consular legalisation, which is to be performed successively by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country and by a consular office of the Russian Federation in the given country.
• If the document was issued by a country with which Russia has concluded a treaty that waives the requirement for any form of document legalisation, then neither affixing an apostille to the marriage certificate nor submitting it for consular legalisation is required.

The legalised marriage certificate must then be translated into Russian and duly notarially certified in the Russian Federation.

Step 2: Notifying a ZAGS Office of Civil Status Changes Abroad 

Such notification to a ZAGS office may be carried out by submitting the relevant notification form in person or by postal delivery. Notification must be made within one month after the date of registration of a marriage abroad.

If a government agency (a ZAGS office in Russia or a Russian Federation consular office abroad) independently obtains information about a Russian Federation citizen contracting a marriage abroad, the relevant data will be formally entered in the Unified State Register of Acts of Civil Status.

Step 3: Placing a Stamp in a Russian Federation Passport (Optional)

A marriage stamp may be placed in a Russian Federation internal passport at a My Documents Multifunctional Centre or a subdivision of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs (i.e., the ‘passport office’) at the Russian citizen’s place of residence.

Required documents:

1. Russian Federation internal passport of the citizen who has registered a marriage abroad;
2. Marriage certificate that has been duly legalised, translated into Russian, and certified by a duly licensed notary in Russia;

Request form for having marks (stamps) (concerning a marriage or divorce registered abroad) made in the internal passport of the given Russian citizen, which may be obtained and completed when visiting the relevant authority.

Russian Federation citizens wishing to get married have the option of having their state marriage registration ceremony performed outdoors at various locations in Moscow, including historical palaces located in city parks, the Moskvarium Aquarium at the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh), the Mayakovskaya metro station in the city centre, the Moskino Film Park, and other scenic or historic locations.

A list of currently available outdoor venues, as well as the terms and booking procedures for outdoor weddings, are available on the Mos.ru municipal services portal via this link.

For couples where one of the intended spouses is a foreign national, however, marriage registration ceremonies are performed only on the premises of a ZAGS office or ‘wedding palace.’ Photographs, descriptions, and booking rules for ZAGS wedding palaces in Moscow are available via this link.

In addition, the Durasov House on Pokrovsky Bulvar in Moscow offers the option of holding an unofficial wedding ceremony without a ZAGS official present.

The Durasov House is a historic urban estate built in the late 18th century by the nobleman Aleksei Durasov and his wife Agrafena. Today, it serves as an HSE University administrative building (Building A of the Pokrovka campus complex at 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar in Moscow). Large-scale reconstruction and restoration work was carried out at the estate in 2011–2018, during which many architectural details from past years were restored. A more detailed history of the estate is available in Russian and English on the HSE University website.

The website also provides Russian-language and English-language instructions on transport accessibility and infrastructure at the Pokrovka campus complex.

The HSE University Centre for Scholarships and Charitable Programmes provides support for those couples who wish to organise their wedding ceremonies free of charge at the Durasov House estate.

Terms:

1. Wedding ceremonies are held in the lobby of the Durasov House and are available to couples in which either the bride and/or groom are students (including those on an exceptional leave of absence), graduates, or staff of HSE University;
2. A couple can hold a ceremony at the Durasov House even if they already have a marriage certificate or have submitted an application to a ZAGS office;
3. The ceremony is intended for two people: the bride and the groom. The couple may invite guests to their Durasov House wedding ceremony but the guest list should be strictly limited to 10 external guests only due to limited space in the facility;
4. During their wedding ceremony, the newlyweds may perform a wedding dance, exchange rings, hold a photo session, etc.;
5. It is strictly prohibited to bring alcoholic beverages to University premises or consume them on University premises, including the Durasov House;
6. Ceremonies are held on weekends on a year-round basis;
7. Applications for holding a wedding ceremony at the Durasov House are accepted only if they are submitted using the following form.

If all parties to the wedding are Russian Federation citizens, the application must be submitted for approval at least one week before the planned date of the event.

If there are foreign nationals among the newlyweds or guests who are not affiliated with HSE University, the application must be submitted at least one month before the planned date of the event.