Restoring a marriage registration certificate if lost

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A marriage registration certificate is a document that reflects information about both spouses and documents the fact confirming the official relationship. For various reasons it may be lost or damaged. It is possible that the wife has one copy, and the husband also needs a marriage certificate. In all these cases, the issue of obtaining and issuing a new sample is relevant. You can find out how a marriage certificate is restored, how much the fee costs, what documents are needed, what the deadlines are and much more in this article.

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Is it possible to restore a marriage certificate?

Art. 9 Federal Law “On Acts of Civil Status” No. 143 dated November 15, 1997. indicates that the marriage certificate can be restored again in cases where the original original was lost, or the form became dilapidated, as a result of which the text is unreadable, or the official seal was damaged.

Part 2 of the same Article 9 of Federal Law No. 143 indicates that a re-official copy can be issued:

1. One of the spouses in an official family relationship.
2. To a relative or representative of the deceased person.
3. Guardian of a married citizen declared incompetent.
4. To another person, if he acts on behalf of the spouse on the basis of a notarized power of attorney.

Thus, restoration of the marriage certificate is possible and, moreover, this right is provided for in Art. 9 Federal Law No. 143. It is granted to every person in a marital union, regardless of gender or status.

IMPORTANT

Restoration of a marriage registration certificate can only be carried out if the marriage relationship has not been dissolved. After a divorce, everyone has the right to receive a duplicate document on the dissolution of the marital union, but not on the conclusion.

The legislative framework

Recovery options

Currently, there are several ways to issue a second marriage certificate. Each of the options is enshrined in Part 5 of Art. 9 Federal Law “On acts of civil status”:

1. Through personal appeal to the registry office, which is enshrined in paragraph 1 of Art. 9 Federal Law “On acts of civil status”. This will be discussed in more detail below. The peculiarity is that it is advisable to apply at the place of marriage registration. Otherwise, the process may be delayed, because employees will make a request to another department of the registry office, which means the time frame for restoring the marriage certificate will increase.
2. Electronic appeal, which is issued on the State Services portal. It must be formed through an electronic application, attach the necessary documents and, at the appointed time, appear to receive the original at the registry office department that will be indicated in the notification.
3. Visiting the MFC - if for some reason it was not possible to come to the registry office, you can go to the “My Documents” department and fill out an application for restoration of the marriage certificate there. The advantage is that the choice of branch does not depend on the address of residence or registration of the marriage union. You can leave an application at any address, which will be more convenient and closer. As in the previous case, you will still have to contact the registry office to obtain a new duplicate.

For your information,
each method of restoring a marriage certificate has its own characteristics and processing time. You can choose the most convenient option for you.

Restoring the marriage certificate of deceased parents

If it is necessary to restore documentary evidence of the marriage of deceased parents, in addition to those indicated above, the package of papers must be supplemented with:

• confirmation of the death of mother and father;
• paper indicating the presence of family ties with the deceased;
• photocopies of parents' passports;
• documentation of receipt of inheritance, if restoration is related to its registration.

The procedure is carried out in a similar manner, no different from the above. The authority to which the applicant applied will submit a request to the archive and issue a new document upon receipt of a response.

What is needed to restore a marriage certificate?

Previously, the categories of citizens who have the right to contact the authorized bodies or through the State Services portal to submit an application for a duplicate were indicated. The applicant must not only express his intention, but also attach to it the necessary list of documents, namely:

1. Original and copy of your passport.
2. Original and copy of the second spouse’s passport.
3. Application for restoration of marriage certificate.
4. A receipt confirming the fact of payment of the state duty.

The list above is established by Order of the Ministry of Justice dated August 19, 2020 No. 194, fixing the list of documents confirming the right of persons to receive civil registration certificates. In addition, part 7 of Art. 9 of the Federal Law No. 143 is devoted to what the applicant must provide. Regarding the passport, you need to understand that the registry office employees are interested in the marriage mark; if it is not there or a copy of this page is not provided, a refusal will follow.

For your information

If you have a copy of the marriage certificate, especially certified by a notary, it is better to provide it too, then the registry office employees will no longer have any doubts and the process of issuing a duplicate will be reduced to the maximum.

Application form

The activities of civil registry offices, like many other government bodies, are regulated in detail by the provisions of the law. This also applies to the preparation of documents. You cannot contact employees with an application for restoration of a marriage certificate, written by hand in free form. Currently, Order No. 200 of the Ministry of Justice of October 1, 2020 is in force, which approves samples and forms of all applications with which citizens can contact the registry office specialists. Form No. 26 for the issuance of a repeated marriage certificate is no exception.

The structure of the form is as follows:

1. In the upper right corner the applicant's full name is indicated, as well as the registration address, passport details and contact telephone number.
2. A check mark is placed in front of the copy that must be issued; this could be a certificate of conclusion or termination.
3. Information about spouses.
4. The place where the marriage was registered and the date.
5. Civil registration number.
6. Reason why marriage certificate needs to be restored.
7. Date and signature of application.

In order to come to the registry office with a ready-made application, you can write it at home and not waste time filling it out there.

Applications for restoration of a marriage certificate can be found here.

The procedure for restoring a marriage registration certificate at the registry office

The algorithm of actions for restoring a marriage certificate in the registry office is simple and transparent; it is provided for in Art. 9 Federal Law No. 143. The sequence of steps in this procedure is as follows:

1. Contact the registry office at the place of registration of the marriage relationship or the MFC. You can also restore your marriage certificate at the civil registry office at your place of residence, but be prepared for the fact that the preparation time for the document will increase.
2. Fill out the application form that will be given to you. You can do this at home in advance by downloading the form from the link above. It is enough to contact the MFC or the registry office alone, without the second spouse, only his data is needed.
3. Check that the completed form is correct and attach all documents that accompany it. The list of applications was previously indicated.
4. Send the package of documents personally to the specialist. If we are talking about the registry office at the place of registration of the marriage, then the restored marriage certificate will be issued immediately on the same day. In other cases, employees will set a deadline for you to come and pick up the finished copy.

Attention:
The new marriage registration certificate will be marked with a separate number, therefore the previous document and its license plate are invalid.
Using an outdated form is prohibited by law; such an action will be regarded as criminal. In this regard, the registry office employees must make sure that the previous original is indeed lost.

Paper recovery in another city

There are cases when a couple moves to another region, depriving themselves of the opportunity to visit the registry office where the marriage was concluded.

Then you can get out of the situation in two ways:

Appear in person at the place of marriage registration, which takes more time and money

Use the services of the registry office at your place of residence by sending a corresponding request through it

Citizens most often use the second option. Employees of the organization accept the documents required to provide the service, and also ask you to fill out an application in the prescribed form and pay the state fee.

You will have to wait a certain time before receiving the certificate. The document will be sent by mail.

Sometimes the situation becomes more complicated due to the couple moving abroad. If you need to restore the lost paper, you will need to contact the consulate.

Restoring a marriage certificate through State Services

It was previously stated that a fairly relevant way to apply for the restoration of a marriage certificate is to submit an electronic application through State Services. In this case, you should adhere to the following algorithm:

1. Follow the link: gosuslugi.ru. Click on the “Personal Account” button, next to which there is a key.

   

2. In the new window, enter your phone number/SNILS, as well as your password, and then click the “Login” button. At the same time, pay attention to the nature of your entry; it must be confirmed, otherwise the application service will not be available.

   
   

3. In the search bar that opens on the main page, you must enter the phrase “repeated certificate of state registration of marriage”, click on the search button (magnifying glass), the system will return many results. Go to the "services" link to select the link you need.

   

4. You need to find the phrase “Issue of a repeated certificate of state registration or divorce”, this will be a link, which means you can click on it. In some regions, the service is simply called: “obtaining a repeated certificate/certificate.” A new page will open.

   

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5. On the page that appears, detailed information about the service provided will be indicated, and the blue “receive service” button will light up; click on it.

   

6. A new page will load with a form to fill out. Please remember that your information will be filled in automatically based on what was specified when registering your account. At the end, click on the blue button: “proceed to payment”. After this, there will be a transfer to a new page through which payment is made. That's all, in personal notifications you can track the status of the application and appear at the registry office at the appointed time.

   

Additional information
If you decide to create an electronic appeal to restore your marriage certificate through the State Services portal, you need to understand that this option is not available in every region. This information can be clarified in your account; if there is no “receive a service” button, you will have to appear in person at the MFC or the registry office.

Payment of state duty

The amounts of state duties for actions performed by the civil registry office are provided for in Art. 333.26 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Regarding the restoration of a marriage certificate, there is paragraph 6 of this article, according to which the cost is 350 rubles. The amount of the duty was fixed back in 2014 and so far no changes are expected.

IMPORTANT

Civil registry office employees do not have the right to charge additional payments and fees beyond what was specified in the law. Also, it is advisable to contact specialists in advance in order to find out the details of the institution, otherwise the funds will be transferred incorrectly and the marriage registration certificate restoration service will not be provided.

How long does recovery take?

The timing of the provision of services can be completely different, it all depends on the specifics of the situation. Let's look at the most common options:

1. When submitting an application for restoration of a marriage certificate to the registry office that registered the marriage, the original is prepared within 20-30 minutes. In rare cases, after 2 days you can come and pick up a copy.
2. When submitting an application through the MFC, the deadlines will be calculated from the moment the request is registered with the Civil Registry Office. This means that 2-3 days after submitting the documents, they will be transferred, after which the processing of the request and restoration of the marriage certificate will begin. The total duration does not exceed 30 days.
3. Through the Public Services portal, the service completion time is 63 minutes. The submitted application is registered within 5 minutes. The specified deadlines are fixed on the official website.
4. When an application for restoration of a marriage certificate is submitted to the registry office not at the place where the official relationship was registered, the processing time may increase to 2-3 months, in some cases you have to wait about six months. Specific deadlines depend on the remoteness of departments, the speed of processing documents and sending duplicates.

It is quite difficult to determine a clear time for the restoration of a marriage certificate; it all depends on external factors, so it is better to clarify the information with the specialist accepting the application. As a general rule, this service is considered quite simple and is provided quickly, so most likely you will not have to wait long.

Is the divorce certificate taken from the registry office?

Since the need for the document disappears, the question arises: upon divorce, is the marriage certificate confiscated? No.

The law provides for the need to provide an original document when filing an application for divorce. Without its presentation, a specialist from the district registry office will refuse to accept documents.

If the parties have lost the form, they must retrieve it by obtaining a recertification. To do this, you must submit an application for the issuance of a document and pay a state fee for loss. In 2020 it is 350 rubles.

The fee can be paid in the following ways:

• through a bank branch;
• through the terminal of the regional registry office (if available);
• via online banking;
• through the federal electronic service State Services;
• through the municipal service State Services.

Despite the fact that you can order the document via the Internet, you must receive it in person at any civil registry office selected when filling out the application.

The certificate is collected by a specialist when filing an application for divorce. On the day of official registration of the divorce, it must be returned. Traditionally, the marriage certificate is given to the husband for safekeeping. A divorce stamp is affixed to the document. Similar information is included in the civil passports of spouses.

Divorce is not a free procedure. Each party will pay 600 rubles. If a citizen initiates a divorce unilaterally, then he must pay 300 rubles.

Marriage certificate

How to restore a marriage registration certificate if the spouses have moved?

Quite often, a situation arises when newlyweds registered their marriage in one city, but then moved to another and there is no opportunity to return. What to do in this situation? It is necessary to contact the civil registry office at your place of current residence to restore your marriage certificate. Sequencing:

1. Take the application form and fill it out.
2. Pay the fee, take the receipt.
3. Collect the package of documents that was previously specified.
4. Provide everything to the registry office staff.
5. Wait for the duplicate to be issued.

IMPORTANT
If the spouses have moved, the difference will only be in the time it takes to restore the marriage certificate. The further the new city is geographically from the previous one, the longer the document will take to prepare. In general, the wait ranges from several weeks to several months.

Restoring a marriage certificate after divorce

Part 3 art. 9 Federal Law No. 143 provides for a category of persons who do not have the right to restore a marriage certificate after a divorce. These include citizens who have dissolved official relations, or those whose marriage union was declared invalid. In addition, the same paragraph of the law indicates that, at the request of these persons, they may be issued another document confirming the fact of marriage registration. For example, this is a certificate.

Thus, after a divorce or recognition of the marital relationship as invalid, the former spouses do not have the right to restore the marriage registration certificate.

How to restore my parents' marriage certificate?

According to statistics, not only spouses may need a duplicate document confirming their official relationship. Quite often this situation arises when it is necessary to restore the marriage certificate of the parents. This is possible in the following situations:

1. The parents died and the old marriage certificate was lost.
2. The parents were declared incompetent in accordance with the procedure established by law.

Part 2 art. 9 Federal Law No. 143 provides that a restored marriage certificate can be issued to those who are:

1. A relative of the deceased spouse.
2. Guardian of one of the parents declared incompetent.

Note:
Only for the specified categories of citizens, the registry office employees do not have the right to refuse to restore the parents’ marriage certificate; they will accept the application, and the procedure for applying is identical to the general one. The package of documents differs slightly; it will need to be supplemented with a birth certificate, which will confirm the relationship with the deceased or incapacitated. Evidence may also include a decision to establish guardianship or a will or power of attorney.

Obtaining a copy of the certificate by third parties

The law establishes the possibility of obtaining a new marriage document for other people, but only children who have confirmed kinship or proxies (guardians or trustees) can be recipients.

To apply, you need to prepare the following information:

• confirming the identity of the applicant - passport or other document;
• proving ties of kinship or guardian-ward relationship established over a person whose copy of the document must be obtained from the Civil Registry Office - birth certificate, act/decision of the state guardianship authority establishing guardianship;
• confirming the procedure for entering into inheritance;
• power of attorney certified by a notary.

In this case, a duplicate is issued within the same time frame as when the owners of a marriage registration certificate apply.

Restoring a marriage certificate if a spouse has died

Among the persons authorized to restore a marriage certificate are relatives of the deceased in respect of whom the entry was made. Part 2 of Art. speaks about this. 9 Federal Law “On acts of civil status”. The spouse of a deceased citizen has the right to contact the civil registry office to obtain a copy of the marriage certificate. In this case, the application procedure remains the same, the deadlines remain the same, however, the package of documents will be supplemented with a death certificate.

Subtleties of the process when contacting registration authorities

It is believed that after a divorce, the marriage certificate is taken away. This is not true. In order to clarify this issue, it is necessary to refer to Federal Law No. 143 of 1997. clause 4 art. 33 directly indicates the obligation of specialists from the district registry office to return the original document to the applicant. It is given to the man, and the divorce certificate is given to the ex-wife.

Let's consider the procedure for contacting the registration authorities for divorce:

• joint appeal of the parties;
• registration of form No. 8 (filled out jointly by the parties);
• payment of duty;
• providing documents to a specialist from the regional civil registry office;
• setting a date for the procedure;
• a visit to the department by applicants jointly or by one of the parties;
• receiving documents and stamping a civil passport;
• the other party may contact you at another time.

If on the appointed day neither party appears at the regional registry office, then the application is considered cancelled. Duty paid is non-refundable.

Restoration of marriage registration certificates of third parties

Some situations require the restoration of a third party's marriage certificate. Most often, the need arises in the process of accepting an inheritance, when it involves neither children nor the second spouse. The following have the right to receive a duplicate:

1. Citizens who have a power of attorney certified by a notary. This is a written authority that is issued to a third party for representation or exercise of certain rights of the principal, which is provided for in Art. 185 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
2. Guardians of citizens declared incompetent. Trustees can be completely strangers; the law includes representatives of educational and medical organizations as such. Art. speaks about this. 35 Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
3. Heirs in respect of whom property, funds or securities are transferred.

In the situations under consideration, to restore a marriage certificate, third parties can apply to the registry office or MFC according to the general procedure. However, your authority must be documented by:

1. A power of attorney that has been certified by a notary.
2. Decisions of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities on the appointment of a guardian.
3. Evidence confirming the fact of relationship, if they are relatives.
4. Documents indicating the right of inheritance of the deceased.

IMPORTANT
The timing and process for restoring a third party marriage certificate remains the same. The law establishes a closed list of citizens who have the right to re-receive the original document of marriage, this is stated in Art. 9 Federal Law No. 143.

Features of recovery in the MFC

The peculiarities of restoration in the MFC suggest that a citizen can apply for a duplicate personally, his relative to obtain a document in relation to the deceased, a legal representative or a citizen. MFC employees will not consider applications from stateless persons, foreigners, organizations and other interested parties. The service is provided on an extraterritorial basis, in other words, the person’s residential address is not important.

MFCs accept applicants either by appointment or in an electronic queue. To sign up in advance, you can visit the local MFC website (one for each city) or call the organization’s contact numbers.

Payment of state duty is mandatory. The procedure is carried out in the MFC terminal. You need to have with you a document that proves your identity and an application drawn up in Form No. 26. If the duplicate should be restored to a relative in relation to the deceased, then a birth certificate, adoption or adoption, a guardian’s document or a certificate of opening of inheritance is also provided. A death certificate is also required.

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After applying, the applicant will receive a receipt to track progress by visiting the site or calling the hotline. A duplicate will be issued within six days. In some cases, only a certificate, a notice of refusal to issue, or a notice of the absence of such a record may be issued.

Nuances

Life is replete with various situations, so the law is constantly updated with new norms regulating non-standard cases. These include moving to a foreign country. In general, the procedure for concluding and dissolving marriages involving foreigners is regulated by the provisions of Section VII of the RF IC. Art. 157.The RF IC establishes that marriages between citizens living in foreign countries are concluded in diplomatic missions or consulates of the Russian Federation. Thus, if a situation arises in which it is necessary to restore a marriage certificate, you need to contact the consular department of the Russian Embassy in the territory of the state in which the citizens currently reside. The package of documents will be the same, but the review time will increase significantly.

If your spouse is in prison, and you need to restore the marriage registration certificate, you must contact the registry office and unilaterally submit an application. This is not prohibited by law; the general procedure should be followed and a certificate of criminal record of the husband (wife) must be attached to the documents.