Russian Federation: Resolution No. 1162 of 1998 on the Refugee Travel Document

In accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation 'On Refugees' (Bulletin of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation and of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, 1993, No. 12, p. 425; Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1997, No. 26, p.2956), the Government of the Russian Federation hereby decides:

1.The following attachments shall be approved:

Procedure for the Completion, Issue and Replacement of the Refugee Travel Document;

Specimen of the blank Refugee Travel Document and description of the blank Refugee Travel Document.

2.The Federal Migration Service of Russia shall ensure the placement of orders for producing blank Refugee Travel Documents.

3.The costs of the production of blank Refugee Travel Documents shall ve covered from the federal budgetary allocations for the implementation of the federal Migration Programme.

PROCEDURE for the Completion, Issue and Replacement of the Refugee Travel Document

1.

The Refugee Travel Document (hereinafter referred to as the Travel Document) is intended for the exit from and return (entry) into the territory of the Russian Federation 'On Refugees' (hereinafter referred to as 'refugee').

2.

The Travel Document may be used in lieu of a national passport as a document identifying the refugee in case of his/her exit from and return (entry)i into territory of the Russian Federation. in this case a refugee holding a Travel Document shall leave according to the procudure envisaged for foreign nationals and stateless persons temporarily staying in the Russian Federation and shall enter a foreign State according to the procedure established by that State. In the presence of a national passport the Travel Document shall be invalid.

3.

The Travel Document shall be valid for the departure of a refugee fromthe Russian Federation to all foreigh States except the State of his/her nationality or former habitual residence that he/she left in search of asylum and except States where the situation is unsafe for him/her and his/her family members.

4.

During his/her stay in the territory of a foreign State, the Travel Document shall not guarantee a refugee the protection of his/her interests by diplomatic missions or consular authorities of the Russian Federation.

5.

The blank Travel Documents shall be produced and designed according to a unified form throughout the Russian Federation.

6.

The Travel Document may be extended for a term not exceeding the term of the person's recognition as a refugee.

In case of the refugees' departure to a foreign State for residence the validity of the Travel Document shall not exceed three month from the date of issue.

7.

The TravelDocument shall be completed and issued to the refugee in the territory of the Russian Federation on his/her Written application filed personally with the territorial Migration Service authority at the place of his/her registration.

Besides the territorial Migration Service authorities, the Travel Document for a refugees' exit from the Russian Federation may also be completed and issued, on his/her written application, by the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation in the following cases:

a)the refugee's emergency departure is required for medical treatment;

b)the refugee's urgent departure to a foreign State for residence;

c)death of the refugee's close relatives (father, mother, spouse, son, daughter) residing in other States;

d)the refugee's exit for the Russian Federation due to a natural, man-made or other emergency occurring in the territory of the Russian Federation;

e)on written request by the official authorities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration or the relevant authorities of foreign States.

8.

Where the refugee leaves with his children or wards under the age of eighteen, they shall be entered on the Travel Document.

The refugee's children and minor wards shall leave the Russian Federation only in accompanied by a parent guardian (dustodian) possessing a Travel Document.

9.

When a Migration Service authority receives an application for a Travel Document, it shall explain to the refugee procudure for the completion and issue of the TravelDocument and the procudure for leaving and re-entering the Russian Federation.

10.

The application for a Travel Document shall be accepted upon production of duly completed Refugee Certificate with an entry concerning the refugee's registration in Home Ministry authorities at his/her place of Stay.

11.

To recive a Travel Document, the refugee shall submit the following document:

a)three copies of an application fo the form established by the Federal Migration Service of Russia;

b)a copy of the Refugee Certificate, to be attached to the application;

c)the chil's birth certificate, guardianship document or certified copies thereof;

d)four photos of him/herself and four photos of each childaged six or older leaving with him/her

e)copies of documents form his/her last place of work (studies ) confirming work (studies) in the Russian Federation.

12.

A refugee applying for a Travel Document due to departure from the Russian Federation for residence in another State shall indicate this in his/her application

In this case, in addition to the documents listed in Para. 11 of this Procedure, the refugee shall additionally submit:

a)a document (or copy thereof) confirming the willingness of a foreign State to receive the refugee for residence;

b)information on family members recognized as refugees and leaving the Russian Federation together with him/her;

c)notarized declarations of family members staying in the Russian Federation on the absence of maintenance claims on the departing person;

d)a notarized declaration of the lawful representative of the departing person's children under 18 who stay in the Russian Federation, confirming the absence of maintenance claims on the departing person.

Instead of the documents indicated in items b) to d) hereof, the refugee shall be entitled to submit a copy of a court decision that has entered into force, confirming his freedom of maintenance obligations owed to the said persons or recognizing them to be mission. In case of death of these person, a certified copy of the death certificate shall be submitted.

13.

The Migration Service authority receiving the refugee's application for a Travel Document shall conduct the necessary verification before deciding of the completion of the Travel Document.

To this end, queries shall be submitted to Home Ministry, Security, Tax Service and Court Marshals' Service authorities, which shall provide the required information within two months.

Additional checks shall be effected if necessary, in which case the examination of the application shall be prolonged for the duration of such checks not exceeding two months.

14.

The refugee shall bear responsibility as stipulated by Russian Federation legislation for the validity of the documents and information provided.

15.

The Travel Document shall be completed and issued within a period not exceeding three months from the date of the refugee's application.

The date of application shall be the date of submission of all the duty completed documents.

16.

Entries and records on the Travel Document not envisaged by this Procedure shall be prohibited.

17.

The refugee shall receive the Travel Document personally, entering thereon his/her fingerprint and signature.

An entry shall be made on the Refugee Certificate, indicating the series, number, date of issue of the Travel Document and name of the issuing authority; this entry shall be signed by the head of the Migration Service authority.

18.

When receiving a Travel Document to depart from the Russian Federation to a foreign state for residence, the refugee shall produce his/herRefugee Certificate with an entry indicating de-registration with Home Ministry authorities at the place of stay. Along with the entry confirming the issue of the Travel Document, an additional entry, 'Exit for residence abroad', shall be made on the Refugee Certificate. Thereafter, the Refugee Certificate shall be left in the care of the territorial Migration Service authority at the Travel Document holder's place of the registration and shall be sent to the Federal Migration Service of Russia after his/her departure.

19.

The holder of the Travel Document shall be entitled to apply for extension thereof:

during his/her stay in the territory of the Russian Federation – not later than one month before expiry;

during his/her stay outside the Russian Federation – where a good reason (illness, accident, natural, man-made or other emergencynecessitates the extension of the Travel Document.

20.

The validity of the Travel Document shall be extended by the territorial Migration Service authority at the refugee's place of registration. During the refugee's stay out side the Russian federation, the Travel Document shall be extended by the diplomatic mission or consular authority of the Russian Federation at the holder's place of stay for a period not exceeding six months.

In extending the Travel Document, the requirements of Paras. 6 and 23 hereof shall be observed.

21.

The Travel Document shall be replaced before expiry in the following cases:

a)when unusable for lack of free pages for foreign visas:

b)family name, first name or patronymic name, or information on the holder's date and/or place of birth duly changed;

c)the holder's description (external features) change;

d)Travel Document spoiled.

The replacement of the Travel Document shall be replaced according to the procudure stipulated for its issue.

22.

Where the Travel Document holder's family name, first name or partronymic name, or the information of the his/her date and/or place of birth aredyly changed, a certified copy of the document of changes in these data shall be attached to the application.

23.

The completion, issue and/or replacement of the Travel Document shall be suspended by the Migration Service authority,if the refugee:

a)has knowingly provided false information during the completion of documents for his/her exit from the Russian Federation;

b)has been duly detained being suspected of a crime or if criminal proceedings have been instituted against him/her – until his/her case is decided or until the court sentence enters into force;

c)has been convicted for a crime committed in the territory of the Russian Federation – until the completion (execution) of the penalty or relief thereof;

d)evades obligations imposed by court – until the fulfilment thereof or agreement reached between the parties;

e)fails to fulfil tax obligations envisaged by the legislation of the Russian Federation – until the fulfilment thereof.

24.

The decision to suspend the completion and issue of the travel document may be appealed by the refugee as stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

25.

In case of loss of the Travel Document, its holder shall promptly notify the territorial Migration Service authority at his/her place of registration.

In the application of the issue of anew Travel Document, the refugee shall indicate where, when and by whom the lost Travel Document was issued, data on the persons entered thereon, and the circumstances of loss.

26.

The completion and issue of the new Travel Document shallbe conditional on the return of the previously issued one or on the declaration of the previously issued Travel Document as invalid.

The date and place of the crossing of the Russian Federation State Border by the refugee shall be entered on the Travel Document. After the refugee's return (entry) to the Russian Federation the holder shall deposit the travel Document with the territorial Migration Service authority at his/her place of registration within 10 days.

The diplomatic mission or consular authority of the Russian Federation shall receive Travel Documents handed over to it by refugees or by the relevant authorities of the country of stay and shall forward them to the Federal Migration Service of Russia.

The recovered Travel Documents and those of defunct refugees shall e handed over to the territorial Migration Service autorities, or to the relevant diplomatic mission sor consular authorities of the Russian Federation of outside the Russian, Federation, for forwarding to the Federal Migration Service of Russia.

Migration Service authorities shall inform the relevant Home Ministry authorities of the unreturned Travel Documents.

30.

The Travel Document shall be withdrawn if the person loses refugee status, is deprived thereof, or in other cases envisaged by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

31.

The rules for accounting and storage of Travel Documents shall be established by the Federal Migration Service of Russia.

SPECIMEN OF THE BLANK REFUGEE TRAVEL DOCUMENT

DESCRIPTION
of the blank Refugee Travel Document

1.

The blank Refugee Travel Document (hereinafter referred to as 'Travel Ddocument',) shall be produced as a machine-readable document of a unified form, meeting international requirements and standards, with entries in both Russian and English

2.

The blank Travel Document shall be 88*125mm in size and shall contain 32 numbered pages (excluding the cover), sewn together with a thread along the whole bend.

3.

The series and number of the blank Travel Document shall be reporduced at the bottom of pages 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30 and 32 of the blank Travel Document.

On the back cover (inside), where the Travel Document holder's personal data are indicated, the series and number of the Travel Document shall be located in the upper right corner.

The series of blank Travel Documents shall be marked with two letters of the Russian alphabet.

The numbers of blank Travel Documents shall comprise seven digits

4.

The number s of pages 1 to 32 of the blank Travel Document shall be indicated in the upper corner next to the seam similar numbers (employing custom computer graphics) shall be duplicated at page bottom.

5.

The cover of the blank Travel Document shall be made from a blue wear-resistant material.

6.

At the bottom of each page, except the inside of the front and back covers, the following words shall be printed in one line:

Convention of 28 July 1951

7.

At the top of the front cover (outside) of the blank Travel Document, the following words shall be printed in two lines:

"RUSSIAN FEDERATION"

At the centre, the following words, shall be printed in two lines:

"TRAVEL DOCUMENT"

At the centre, the following words shall be printed in two lines:

"Convention of 28 July 1951"

8.

At the top of the front cover (inside), the following words shall be printed in two lines:

"RUSSIAN FEDERATION TRAVEL DOCUMENT"

At the centre, the following text shall be located:

"This Travel Document is issued with a view to providing the holder with a traveldocument which can serve in lieu of a national passport. It is without prejudice to and in no way affects the holder's nationality or citizenship.

This Travel Document is not valid if the holder has his national passport"

At the bottom, the following inscription shall be printed in two lines:

9.

At the top of Page 1, the name of the State and the title of the document shall be indicated in four lines:

Below, the following text shall be located:

"The holder is authorised to leave Russian Federation and to return (entre) to Russian Federation during the validity of this TravelDocument.

Should the holder take up residence abroad Russian Federation, he must, if he wishes to travel again, apply to the competent authorities of his country of residence for a new document. This Travel Document shall be withdrawn by the authority issuing the new document and returned to the authority of Russian Federation which issued it"

10.

Pages 2 to 27 are intended for foreign States' visas and for other service marks.

11.

At the top of Pages 28 and 229, the following inscription shall be printed:

"Validity of this Travel Document is extended"

Below, the following inscriptions shall be printed in two blocks:

"At the bottom of each block, a place for a paste stamp and a place for signature ("Signature") shall be designated.

12.

On pages 30 to 32, the inscriptions and entry lines shall run parallel to the bend of the blank Travel Document.

On Page 30, the following text shall be printed:

"Photographs of children"

Below, three numbered boxes, 35*45 mm in size, shall be located for photographs of children accompanying the holder of the Travel Document.

Under each photograph, at its lower right corner, a place for a paste stamp shall be designated "Stamp"

13.

At the top of Page 31, the following text shall be located:

"Holder of the document is accompanied by children whose particulars are as follows:

Surname, name Sex Date and place of birth Personal No"

If more entries about children must be made, a reference to another page of the Travel Document shall be typed at the bottom of this page::

"See page…"

At the bottom of this page, a place for a paste stamp shall be designated "Stamp".

14.

On Page 32, the following inscriptions shall be located:

The document or documents on the basis of which this Travel Document

is

issued";

This Travel Document is valid for the following countries";

"Special features".

At the bottom of this page, a fingerprint box shall be located, along with the following inscriptions:

"Finger-print";

"Signature of holder".

15.

The inside of the back cover is intended to indicate the Travel Document holder/s particulars.

the lower quarter of the page is the machine-readable zone, whose two lines contain a machine-readable record – an alphanumeric code reproducing, according to the international standard, the main information contained in the Travel Document;

the upper three quarters of the page are a zone containing a photograph of the Travel Document holder (35*45 mm in size), a place for a paste stamp and the following inscriptions, entries and the holder's personal data:

"TRAVEL DOCUMENT

Convention of 28 July 1951";

"RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Country code RUS"

"Document No"

"Surname";

"Given names";

"Citizenship";

"Sex";

"Height";

"Date of birth";

"Personal No";

"Place of birth";

"Date of issue";

"Date of expiry";

"Remarks

Page…":

"Authority";

"Signature".

16.

To ensure the safety of the entries and of the holder's photograph, and also to prevent their falsification, a 'hot' lamination film with visible holographic marks not hindering text reading may be sewn into the blank Travel Document between its Page 32 and the inside of the back cover..