Why do you need SNILS
In Russia, SNILS is understood as both a direct set of code numbers belonging to a specific person, and the insurance certificate itself, which actually proves that the account exists, and the account number that will be used for accruals.
The operation of SNILS is regulated by the Federal Law “On Compulsory Pension Insurance in the Russian Federation” (No. 167-FZ of December 15, 2001). SNILS includes 11 digits and is assigned according to a special algorithm that eliminates duplication and counterfeiting.
The front side of the certificate contains:
- directly the number;
- Owner's full name;
- time and place of his birth;
- date of registration in the pension system of the Russian Federation (it does not necessarily coincide with the time of actual receipt of the certificate).
A person receives an insurance number once in his life. It remains valid and does not require replacement. Registration in the pension insurance system is mandatory for both Russians and foreigners who are officially employed in the Russian Federation.
SNILS is necessary for the formation of various social privileges and benefits entitled to a citizen. Also, without it you cannot register on the State Services web resource. The document allows government agencies to quickly search for the necessary information in databases.
It is planned that in the future it will be SNILS that will become the main “citizen card”, which will allow you to find out all the necessary information using one number: passport details, place of work, data on marital status, children, and so on.
In addition to the fact that the document is necessary for the purpose of calculating a pension, it is directly involved in the formation of a base of citizens who have the right to receive benefits or various social services.
What information is contained in SNILS and to whom is it issued?
The SNILS number is only one of the elements contained in the pension certificate; in addition to it, the following information is indicated:
- Initials of the insured person (indicated in full);
- Gender;
- Date and place of birth;
- Date of receipt of the certificate.
It is issued to absolutely all persons registered in the PFRF system, including the unemployed, military personnel and children from birth.
Where and how to apply
You can register in the system only through the Pension Fund itself, or more precisely, in its division located at the citizen’s place of residence or at the location of the employer.
How to issue a certificate:
- In case of official employment, the employer is responsible for registering SNILS;
- Unemployed citizens should go to the Pension Fund department on their own. You must have a passport with you;
- Individual entrepreneurs who are engaged in private practice (lawyers, notaries and others) and pay insurance premiums on their own are registered in the compulsory pension insurance system in parallel with registering themselves as an insurer;
How to get SNILS for a child is described in detail in this video:
- For children under 14 years of age, parents or a legal representative/guardian receive an insurance number. The presence of the child is not mandatory;
- Teenagers 14 years of age and older obtain a certificate independently;
- When a child attends a kindergarten or general education institution, the administration takes upon itself the issuance of an insurance certificate;
- In some regions there is a “pilot” project under which a newborn is automatically registered in the pension insurance system. When registering a child at the Civil Registry Office, the information is entered into the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation database.
How long does it take to obtain a certificate?
According to the rules, the registration period is no more than one month.
- If you submit an application to the Pension Fund unit yourself, the processing time will be no more than 2 weeks;
- When applying through an employer or the administration of an educational institution, the period may be extended by another week.
Who has the right to request a document
This document includes confidential information, so it can only be used for pension purposes and for obtaining health insurance.
A citizen must provide a certificate upon request:
- When receiving services in PFRF branches, both state and non-state;
- When serving in medical institutions;
- When applying for a job.
Only the relevant services of the Pension Fund and the citizen personally have the right to receive classified information about the state of an individual personal account.
Receiving SNILS when changing your last name.
How does SNILS stand for?
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Explanation of SNILS - Insurance Number of a citizen’s Individual Personal Account in the compulsory pension insurance system. The corresponding number can be found on the insurance certificate. The latter looks like a green card, which every employed citizen has.
Each SNILS number is unique and belongs to only one person.
Is it possible to refuse a certificate?
Not all citizens like having an identification number, so some individuals try to refuse to receive a certificate. If the document is drawn up for the first time, there will be no problems, since no one can force a person to register in the pension insurance system, and this does not happen automatically for adults.
Important! In some regions of the Russian Federation, several years ago they began to issue a certificate and assign identification numbers automatically, but only to newborns. This innovation is designed to free young parents from visiting government agencies in the first months of a child’s life.
The legislation does not provide for the practice of refusing to use a certificate.
Article on the topic: The concept of insurance certificate of state social insurance of the Republic of Belarus
When and for what period is it issued?
Today, citizens can receive SNILS almost immediately after their birth. To do this, the parent needs to contact the Pension Fund or MFC, providing a passport and birth certificate of the child. You can contact any structure – both at your place of registration and at your actual residence.
When applying to the Pension Fund, SNILS is issued immediately if the application form has already been filled out. When received through the MFC, the process takes about 5 days. This procedure is relevant for persons under 14 years of age. Teenagers who have already reached this age can contact the relevant structures themselves, having a passport with them.
For adult citizens, the following methods of obtaining SNILS are provided:
- When applying for a job. If an employment or civil contract is concluded with a citizen, the employer must send information about him to the Pension Fund no later than within 14 days. Within 5 days, they will issue an insurance certificate and assign an identification number, then send it to the employer, who will hand it over to the direct owner.
- On one's own. To do this, you need to contact a branch of the Pension Fund or MFC. The algorithm will be the same as above. After filling out the form at the Pension Fund, the certificate will be received immediately, and if you contact the MFC, it will be received within 5 days.
The certificate can be obtained not only by the citizen himself, but also by his representative. This requires the execution of a notarized power of attorney. The person submits documents on behalf of the applicant, and then takes the SNILS in finished form.
The insurance certificate is issued for life and does not require replacement. The only exception is the change of personal data. If, due to certain factors, a citizen has lost it, he can obtain a duplicate by contacting the Russian authorities.
SNILS must remain with the citizen. The employer does not keep the original - he can make a copy and rewrite the certificate number. All data contained in the account of a person insured in the system is confidential and cannot be disclosed to third parties without the consent of the owner. They can only be used for medical or pension purposes.
Registration of SNILS
Currently, this document must be completed not only for adults, but also for every newborn child. What documents are needed for SNILS in order to receive it immediately after the birth of the offspring? This can be done by any of the parents with their passport and child’s birth certificate. You can get a green card for your baby at any Pension Fund or multifunctional branch. Moreover, you can contact any of these institutions both at the place of permanent registration and at the place of actual residence.
What does it take to get SNILS for an adult? It is worth noting that in this case it will not be difficult to collect a package of documents, since to issue a card you will only need a passport with permanent registration, and in its absence, a certificate of registration at the place of residence. Foreign citizens, in addition to their passport, must present the detachable part of the notice of migration registration and a migration card.
By contacting the Pension Fund of Russia, a citizen will be able to immediately receive a completed insurance certificate. Through the MFC, the process of registering SNILS takes longer. It usually takes five business days.
If at the time of employment a citizen does not have SNILS, then the employer will handle the paperwork. After concluding an employment contract, he is obliged to send the citizen’s data to the Pension Fund within the next two weeks, where the individual will be assigned an individual personal account number. If a person does not have the opportunity to personally apply for SNILS, an authorized person can submit documents and receive a certificate for him.
Features of obtaining SNILS for migrants
A foreign citizen officially working in Russia must also have an insurance certificate. It can be issued by both the migrant himself and his employer. You also need to contact the Pension Fund.
Along with the application form, the foreigner must present a document that proves his identity and a document confirming his legal stay in the territory of the Russian Federation.
If the document that serves as an identification document is entirely in a foreign language, it must be translated and notarized.
How to restore SNILS if lost
If the “green card” is lost, the insurance certificate number itself does not disappear. It still belongs to the same person, and the account will continue to take into account the length of service and all deductions.
However, it is recommended to restore the card itself. This is done quite simply. If you work officially, just visit the HR department and write an application to the Pension Fund to receive a duplicate.
Individual entrepreneurs, notaries or lawyers need to independently contact the Pension Fund and fill out an application. Unemployed citizens need to do the same. If you do not live at the place of registration, you do not have to go anywhere - the law allows you to submit an application at your place of residence.
There is another way. Relatively recently, a service for obtaining a duplicate online began to operate on the Pension Fund website. In your personal account, you can submit an application and then pick up a ready-made card at the PFR representative office.
What are the consequences of not having SNILS?
In accordance with the law, obtaining SNILS is mandatory for all employed citizens, both Russians and foreigners. Despite the fact that the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not have direct instructions on the attitude of government agencies towards citizens, taking into account the absence or presence of certain documents, in everyday life without a “green card” it can be quite difficult.
- First of all, a citizen without SNILS will face difficulties if he wants to officially get a job. In accordance with the Law “On Compulsory Pension Insurance”, both the employee and the employer must register any changes in the insurance period of employees in the relevant system. If this is violated, the employer may face fines.
- Since 2021, the accounting statements of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities related to personnel records management are clearly linked to the numbers of employees’ insurance certificates. In the absence of SNILS, it will simply not be possible to receive wages.
- The absence of an insurance certificate will not make it possible to obtain the required benefits. Also, without it you cannot register on the State Services website. This makes life much more difficult for a citizen: he will not be able to remotely make an appointment with a doctor or put his child on the waiting list for kindergarten. You will have to visit each authority with a package of paper documents.
- If you do not have an insurance number, you may encounter serious problems if there is a need to restore your insurance record and contributions to the Pension Fund in the past. In this case, it will be necessary to spend a lot of time visiting archives, searching for enterprise records and re-registering pensions.
- Quite often, SNILS acts as a second document after the passport, which is required by banks issuing loans. Even if representatives of the financial institution do not require the presentation of this document, its absence will alert them, and they will check such a borrower more carefully.
Thus, SNILS is one of the main documents for every citizen of the Russian Federation and a foreign person officially employed in the Russian Federation. There is a lot of important information attached to it. The absence of SNILS is fraught with serious difficulties for a person in the future, so it is recommended to issue it in a timely manner. This is done quite simply and quickly, and the document is valid for an indefinite period.
How can you find out your SNILS?
Losing SNILS is a serious problem, since the need to use it may arise at any time. It will not be possible to clarify the required numbers via the Internet (website of the Russian Pension Fund, Gosuslugi) - the services do not provide such functionality for individuals, even with full identification on the portals and entry of passport data.
Important! SNILS can be found through the State Services website, but under one condition - it was entered by the user on the website earlier in the appropriate section. If the numbers were not entered yourself, they will not be available automatically.
If the green card has been lost, the number can be clarified in the following places:
- make an appointment and come at the appointed time to the Russian Pension Fund department with your passport;
- visit the MFC, where, based on your passport, employees also have the authority to announce the required number;
- contact the HR department of your organization (if you previously submitted a photocopy of the SNILS card, then they can show it by taking it out of your personal file).
It is almost impossible to find out anything about a specific individual using the 11-digit SNILS number alone. Government websites and portals do not have functionality that allows you to receive any information after entering the required number. According to SNILS, the person who applied to the Multifunctional Center or branch of the Russian Pension Fund has the opportunity to find out detailed information on his other documents. But this requires proof of identity.
Unlike a passport, driver's license and other documents, the SNILS number does not change when the last name and other data about an individual change. You can refuse to receive it, but difficulties arise in the future with registration of government services. The certificate is used to perform almost all operations on a specific person in the field of pension insurance.
Related article: Replacing SNILS through “Gosuslugi” when changing your last name
