Renewing the Russian Passport

Remember that your child will not need the Russian passport if he goes to any country EXCEPT Russia. He can use a U.S. passport, since he is a U.S. citizen via the automatic citizenship process. He just needs to get visas for the countries he will be visiting, if they require visas. Russia, however, requires a Russian-born adopted child to travel to that country on a Russian passport. It will not allow the use of a Russian visa in an American passport, because it considers the child a Russian citizen unless he makes a renunciation of that citizenship, in person at a Russian Embassy or Consulate, once he is at least 18 years old. You can probably find instructions for renewing a Russian passport on the website of the Russian Embassy in the U.S. Most likely, you will fill out a form and send documents such as your child's birth certificate, adoption decree, and Russian passport to the Embassy or a Russian Consulate. You can sometimes go in person if you live near one or have a courier hand-carry the documents for you, to make sure that you get things like your adoption decree returned to you safely. With a U.S. passport, you can usually keep a old one. The U.S. Passport Office just makes little holes in it to signify that it is no longer valid. Whether the Russian Embassy will do this, I don't know, but I understand your wish to keep the original one for sentimental reasons. Good luck to you. Sharon

From some old forum threads I found, it would seem that you have to appear at the Russian Consulate in person with the child to renew the passport. It makes sense... to obtain/renew a passport for a minor in the US you have to appear in person at a passport agency. Unfortunately the Russian Consulates are rather few and far between! We're interested in this as well, since Jack's passport expires next year. Perhaps I can find out more when we travel in February.... Take care, Kim

We just did this recently, although when I went to pull up the link I noticed it now says the documents have to be completed in Russian, which was different then earlier this year in which we did the following: filled out the application for a new Russian passport; sent old passport two identical passport size pictures money order for $100 payable to the Embassy of Russia (cash or personal checks will not be accepted); prepaid return envelope Express Mail or FedEx. This is what I see now: [url=http://www.russianembassy.org/CONSULAT/adoption.htm]Adoptions[/url]

Thanks for the information. One of the places we MIGHT be transferred to is IN Russia so we need to be prepared.

Our son's Russian passport expired already. We need to get a new one. The best processing site I have found that is close to us is the one in Chicago. I would like to know the average processing times. You do not have to appear in person to the Russian consulate, is that right?? I have heard conflicting stories. thanks

REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUANCE OF NEW PASSPORTS TO ADOPTED RUSSIAN CHILDREN In accordance with the Russian legislation expired Russian passports may not be renewed. Once expired these passports must be immediately replaced. An adopted child must be registered with the Consulate. To obtain a new Russian passport for a child adopted parents should submit to the Consulate the following documents in Russian: for children under 14 years old - Оформление заграничного паспорта детям до 14 лет; for chidren from 14 to 18 years old - Оформление заграничного паспорта детям от 14 до 18 лет для ПМЖ ; If the passport is lost you should also submit police report. The Consular Division no longer accepts applications filled in English. Applicants unable to submit such documents may be referred to the following passport agency: ISC Group USA Inc., Russian Passport Service United States Office: ISC Group USA Inc., 2816 N.Lincoln Ave., Ste. 203 Chicago, IL 60657, USA Tel. (773) 687-9392 Toll free 1.800.801 7005 Fax. 1.773.687.9389 E-Mail: elena@russianpassportservice.com or use the services of Russian translators. Please, include prepaid return envelope “Express Mail” or “Fedex” in your set of documents. For further information please contact Passport Section at: phone: (202) 625-0765 (Monday and Thursday from 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.) fax: (202) 939-8909 Our mailing address: Embassy of Russia Consular Division Attn.: Passport Section 2641 Tunlaw Road, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007 [url=http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Consulate/adoptions.html]Embassy of Russia to the USA, Washington[/url]

We are using ISC Group USA, Inc that's mentioned above to process our paperwork for our son's Russian passport. Actually, I'm mailing out all our documents to them tomorrow morning. They have been great to answers all my questions. The reps there are all Russian and have a thick accent....but they repeated everything back to me as many times as I needed to hear it. I would not want to use any other service, especially since all the forms have to be in Russian now.

So I'm confused... one of the posts said children adopted from Russia must be registered with the consulate. We did this when we adopted our son 5 years ago, but I am sure his passport is expiring soon as well. If we don't plan to travel to Russia with him, do we actually need to get a new Russian passport? I don't remember hearing anything about this before. Our agency has closed since our adoption, so I can't ask them. He has his citizenship papers for the US, a SS card, an American (foreign born) birth certificate, etc. He does not have a US passport as we do not travel internationally. Can someone tell me if we are required to have a current Russian passport if no travel to Russia is planned? Thank you, Shawna

You do not have to have a current Russian passport if no travel to Russia is planned. I was told by ISC that if you wait past the expiration date, the process to get a Russian passport can take many months. Instead of it being like a passport renewal, it is like getting a passport for the very first time.

what if it is just a renewal and the passport is not expired yet?

I recommend calling the Russian Passport Service, ISC Group USA, that's listed above and speak to Elena. This is the only company that the Russian Embassy allows to assist in processing passports. They will definitely be able to answer your questions. If your child is currently registered, I believe you still have to complete paperwork and send in the requested documents. Good Luck