Consular registration of the children adopter from Russia Foreign citizens (or Russian citizens permanently residing abroad) must register their children adopted from Russia at the corresponding consular office of the Russian Federation in the country of their residence. The registration must take place within three (3) months from the date of child’s entry into the adoptive parents country of residence.

In order to register your adopted child with the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco, please prepare and submit (either in person or by mail – specify on the envelope “Attention: Adoption Registration”) the following documents:

• Application for consular registration of the adopted child.
• Consular registration form filled-out in the child’s name and with the child’s passport-size photo attached in the designated area.
• Child’s original Russian passport for international travels.
  (Once the Consulate General receives all required documents a registration stamp will be placed in your child’s passport as a confirmation of registration with the Consulate General. After that the passport will be returned to you).
• Notary certified copy of the Russian Court Decision on adoption.
• Notary certified copy of Child’s Birth Certificate (issued after adoption).
• Notary certified copy of Adoption Certificate.
• Copies of Travel Passports of both of child’s adoptive parents.
• Copies of State ID cards of both of child’s adoptive parents.
• Two money orders (one for $50 - for registration; and the second one for $20 - for return mail) or a self-addressed and prepaid FedEx envelope (so we can mail it back to you).

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To request documents from Russian archives To request documents from Russian archives, it is necessary to fill out two copies of the application (click to download. A special program called "Adobe Acrobat Reader" is needed to open the file.) on each document and to attach $50 money order (addressed to the Russian Consulate) for each requested document ($110 if foreign citizen) that does not exceed more than five pages (if it does – plus $15 for each additional page).

To request information about the absence of convictions in Russia, please fill out the application (click to download. A special program called "Adobe Acrobat Reader" is needed to open the file.) and enclose a money order of $50 (if Russian citizen) and $110 (if foreign citizen).

We do not process request for such documents as military identifications, labor books, driver’s licenses, inquiries of family status, evaluations, and personal cases from Russian institutions. We do not process requests for documents if they are not in the inquirer’s name or not valid at the present time. (For example, you cannot request a birth certificate of a person who is deceased or a marriage certificate of someone who is divorced).

To request duplicates of documents from educational institutions we recommend that you address your inquiries directly to those institutions. If it is an inquiry regarding military educational institution, those questions can be answered by the Office of the Military Attaché at the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC.

If the petitioner makes a request directly at the Russian archives, the Consulate General will collect the above-mentioned fee from the petitioner upon receiving the requested documents.

You will be notified about the result of your request examination.

The consulate will not refund any fees acquired even if the documents or requested information are not found.

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In case of death of a Russian citizen... In case of death of a Russian citizen, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation seals the casket (the urn) for transportation of the remains to Russia.

The following documents should be presented to the Consulate General:

The documents mentioned in points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 must carry > Apostilles. The translation of the documents into Russian must be attached.

• The death Certificate;
• The sanitary Certificate confirming that death did not result from any communicable decease and no unusual occurrence of decease is evident in the State;
• The Certificate of absence in the casket (urn) of extraneous objects;
• Local authorities permission for shipment of the deceased from USA to Russia;
• The Certificate of cremation (in case of cremation);
• Application in Russian (click to download. A special program called "Adobe Acrobat Reader" is needed to open the file.);
• Passport of the deceased;
• There is no consular fee if the casket (urn) is sealed in the Consulate. But it is required to pay transport expenses and hotel accommodation if a consular representative seals a casket (urn) out of San Francisco.

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Legalization of U.S. documents for presenting in the Russian Federation In accordance with the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, in which both the Russian Federation and the United States of America are participants, documents authenticated by an Apostille of a participant country are exempted from validation (i.e., from verification of the authenticity of the signatures, the authority of the persons signing, and the authenticity of the seals and stamps) by the consular establishments of other participant countries. Documents with Apostille do not require any further legalization

The Apostille is a stamp established by the Hague Convention, placed in documents by a competent authority of the country in which the document was issued. In the USA, the Apostille is placed by a Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State contact information and fees information are available at:
www.travel.state.gov/law (State Authentication Authorities Section).

The following documents are considered official documents in accordance with the Hague Convention (documents for public use), and an Apostille may be placed in them:
-Documents issued by organizations or officials associated; with courts or state tribunals, including documents issued by a public prosecutor, court secretary, or bailiff;
-Documents of administrative (executive) authorities;
-Documents certified by a notary public;
-Official validating endorsements, placed on documents signed by individuals acting in a personal capacity, such as official certificates of the registration of a document or of its existence on the date indicated, as well as official and notarial verifications of signatures.

The Hague Convention does not cover the following documents:
-Documents issued by officials of diplomatic missions or consular establishments;
-Documents of administrative authorities that have direct bearing on commercial transactions or customs operations;
-IDs.

Please be advised that according to the established common practice, official organizations in the Russian Federation may not accept foreign corporate documents if they are not legalized by consular offices of the Russian Federation in the countries where the documents originated. Furthermore, due to the different forms of execution of Apostille in Russia (seal) and in the United States (certificate), receiving organizations in Russia may ask for additional proof of proper legalization.
In view of the above, it is advised that the corporate documents intended for use in Russia must be certified as to proper legalization at the consular offices of the Russian Federation.

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