In connection with the simplified entry of Belarusian citizens into the territory of the Russian Federation and vice versa, international married couples are quite often formed. People meet during business and tourist trips, visiting relatives and in many other situations. As relationships develop, many couples think about registering their marital status legally, and then a completely understandable question arises: how to register a marriage with a Belarusian in Russia. I would like to immediately note that when getting married on the territory of the Russian Federation, Belarusians have a number of advantages compared to other foreigners.
How to marry a foreigner in Russia
Any adult citizen of Russia has the right to start a family with a foreign national and legalize this relationship on the territory of the Russian Federation. Marriages of foreigners with minor Russian citizens are also possible, but to enter into such a union there must be compelling reasons, one of which could be, for example, pregnancy.
The procedure itself is practically no different from standard registration, with the exception of the list of documents presented by the foreign citizen. We should not forget about the mandatory translation into Russian of all documents compiled in the original in a foreign language.
Read in more detail about how to register a marriage with a foreigner in Russia.
Let's go to the registry office
The civil registry office is the “civil registration” body. This is the place where marriage, birth of children and death of Belarusian citizens are registered.
List of documents
List of documents required for the civil registry office in Belarus:
- application of those entering into marriage (drawn up at the registry office). It is needed from both;
- document confirming payment of the state duty. The state duty is 1 basic unit. For May 2021 - 24.5 rubles, ~ 10 euros;
- passports of those getting married. The passport of a foreign citizen must be translated into Russian and notarized in Belarus;
- a legalized document confirming the absence of marriage, as well as its notarized translation into Russian. Translation and certification are performed in Belarus. The validity period of this document is 6 months from the date of issue;
- if you were previously married - a legalized document confirming its termination. You will also need a notarized translation into Russian. Translation and certification are performed in Belarus;
- a document confirming the legality of a foreigner’s stay on the territory of Belarus (registration of temporary stay, temporary residence permit, temporary residence permit).
At the registry office
You must come to the civil registry office (registry office addresses in Minsk) in person with your future spouse and provide the documents specified above. You will be given a choice of available dates and will be asked whether you want a ceremony or not. Usually, marriage registration is possible no earlier than three days and no later than three months from the date of filing the application.
If you have only a temporary stay in Belarus, but you plan to stay for more than 90 days, then marriage with a Belarusian citizen will become the basis for issuing a temporary residence permit for up to 1 year with the possibility of further extension. We wrote earlier how to obtain a temporary residence permit and residence permit.
After marriage registration
When getting married in Belarus, keep in mind that internal affairs bodies (police, district police officer) can check whether the marriage is real. For example, they can come to the address where you are registered and see whether you live together with your spouse or are running a joint household. By a court decision, a marriage may be declared invalid. For example, if it is proven that it was concluded solely to obtain a temporary or permanent residence permit in the Republic of Belarus.
If you have any questions about marrying foreigners in Belarus, please contact our legal reception by email: or call our reception +375 44 562 38 42
Interstate agreement on the inclusion of marital status notes in citizens’ passports
The agreement of January 28, 2010 between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus allows these states to make marks in the passports of citizens of both countries, depending on whose territory the marriage is registered. Thus, when entering into a marital union with a foreign citizen, in this case a Belarusian, each of the newlyweds will receive the appropriate marriage mark in their general passport. Thus, a Belarusian does not have to visit his country to sign a mark on joining a family union, which cannot be said about foreign citizens of other countries.
It is worth noting that the dissolution of a marriage both in Belarus and in Russia will also be reflected in the passports of both former spouses. Special authorized bodies are responsible for entering information regarding marital status; in Russia, this body is the Civil Registry Office. An important point is that marks in both countries are affixed in Russian.
Notification of another state about the fact of marriage of its citizen occurs through diplomatic channels. Also, both parties have a list of competent authorities of another state performing marriages, and samples of notes on entering into a marriage union are also provided.
Collecting documents
If you decide to get married on the territory of Belarus, you will first need to obtain some documents in the country of your citizenship and permanent residence, if they differ. For example, if you are a citizen of one country, but permanently reside (and have a residence permit) in another, then you will have to obtain documents in both countries.
Certificate stating that you are not married
First of all, you must obtain a certificate stating that you are not married. If you are in Belarus, then such a certificate can be obtained from the embassy of your country. You will need to provide a passport and pay a small fee. In different countries, such certificates may have different names. For example, “certificate of family composition”, “certificate of marital status”, “certificate of absence of marriage”, etc. In the CIS countries, such certificates are issued at civil registry offices.
If you were previously married, you may also be required to provide a court decision on divorce or a document confirming that the previous marriage was terminated.
Legalization
Before bringing such a document to Belarus, do not forget to legalize it. Each country sets its own legalization requirements. Usually, you need to contact the local competent authority and have the document certified there. For example, this could be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Justice. Then you need to re-certify the document at the consulate of the Republic of Belarus located in your country. After this, the document is ready for notarized translation into Russian or Belarusian. You should do it already in Belarus.
If your state is a party to the 1961 Hague Convention, then such documents can only be affixed with an apostille instead of consular legalization. Therefore, before applying for legalization of a document, check whether your state is a party to this Convention. Unlike consular legalization, apostille takes less time. In different countries, different government agencies can affix an apostille on documents. When receiving a document, immediately check whether the issuing authority can issue an apostille. Remember that the apostille is only placed on original documents. Most often, this is a small stamp that is placed either on the document itself or on a separate sheet.
Where can you register a marriage with a Belarusian?
You can marry a Belarusian and officially register your relationship at the civil registry office at your place of registration. Before this, it is necessary to clarify the list of documents and collect all the papers by the time the application is submitted. It is worth noting that if there are special valid reasons, the period for consideration of an application for marriage may be reduced.
You must contact the registry office in person, as you will have to sign. Due to the massive concentration of diplomatic missions of various countries in Moscow, it would be more advisable to marry a foreign citizen in the capital.
This choice is due to the more convenient and practical way of obtaining some documents necessary for a foreign citizen to get married in the territory of another state. This approach does not oblige the foreign national to leave the Russian Federation and allows the issue to be resolved at the place of stay.
Read in more detail about the intricacies of registering a marriage with a foreigner in Moscow.
Is it possible to have Russian and Belarusian citizenship at the same time?
I would like to immediately note that there is no agreement on dual citizenship between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. However, it is still possible to acquire two passports at once, although each state will consider the holder of two citizenships as exclusively its citizen.
If a person with Russian citizenship decides to obtain citizenship of the Republic of Belarus, then he will definitely have to part with his Russian passport. But to obtain Russian citizenship, Belarusian citizens will only need a copy of the application for the purpose of renouncing citizenship. It is worth noting right away that such an appeal may not be satisfied: thus, the person never renounced Belarusian citizenship, but acquired Russian citizenship.
If you are seriously interested in acquiring citizenship of both countries, it is worth studying in more detail how to obtain dual citizenship of Russia-Belarus.
The dangers of a fictitious marriage
A fictitious marriage is a marital union concluded not to create a family, but for the purpose of other mutual benefit of both parties to the agreement. In Russia, strict rules have not been established aimed at identifying the fraud of a marriage, as, say, in the United States of America, where deceivers face severe punishment, including deportation and a ban on entry.
Russian legislation is more tolerant of such phenomena, but tries to stop them whenever possible. Some Russian women want to make money in this way and enter into a fictitious union for the purpose of personal enrichment. However, the loss caused in the event of a divorce with division of property may be several times greater than the amount received from the foreigner.
A similar situation can occur if a Russian woman acquires any valuable property or real estate during her marriage. Under such circumstances, this property will be regarded by law as jointly acquired and divided in half. Of course, the fictitious spouse may turn out to be decent and not demand his share, but who can give a guarantee?
Before you decide to take an adventurous step, you need to study all the possibilities and responsibilities that a fictitious marriage with a foreigner imposes.
For what purpose do Belarusians enter into a fictitious marriage?
As is known, citizens of Belarus have the right to a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship if they have close Russian relatives. One of these relatives may be the wife. This is why Belarusian citizens strive to marry Russian women.
Another “advantage” of a Russian wife is the opportunity to obtain a residence permit. Many citizens of a neighboring country, before entering into a fictitious marriage, first study information about whether a wife can register a Belarusian husband and, having received a positive answer, boldly look for a candidate for the role of a fictitious wife.
Other possibilities for obtaining Russian citizenship by a Belarusian
Despite the existing opportunity to acquire fictitious relatives in Russia, it is better to first consider other options for obtaining citizenship - more legal ones. Moreover, for citizens of Belarus there are enough grounds for a simplified procedure for accepting citizenship of the Russian Federation.
One of them may be fluency in the Russian language, on the basis of which a Belarusian can be recognized as a native speaker of the Russian language.
How to file a divorce from a Belarusian
Of course, when concluding a marital union, all couples, except fictitious ones, want to live happily ever after, but sometimes life makes its own adjustments and the question of divorce arises. It is especially important for international families to prepare for this procedure, since in this case a number of difficulties may arise with recognizing the validity of the divorce.
Russians and Belarusians will not have to face much difficulty: in their case, divorce can be carried out in both countries of their choice and will be recognized as valid both in Russia and in the Republic of Belarus.
To get a divorce stamp, you also don’t need to contact the competent authorities of your state: everything you need will be stamped in your passport directly in the country where the family union was dissolved.
To avoid unnecessary problems when concluding an international marriage, it is better to immediately find out how a divorce from a foreigner will occur.
A resident of Kazakhstan marries a Russian girl, does he have the right to Russian citizenship?
The main advantage is that you can bypass the stage of obtaining a temporary residence permit in the country. This is a complex process; in order to obtain a temporary residence permit, you must first acquire quotas, which are allocated in limited quantities, especially if we talk about cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow. Watch the video: a list of necessary documents to obtain a quota for a temporary residence permit. Is it possible to obtain citizenship by marrying a citizen of the Russian Federation? To avoid unnecessary problems when concluding an international marriage, it is better to immediately find out how a divorce from a foreigner will occur. Back to content Marriage with a foreigner.
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To obtain Russian citizenship, you will need to collect a set of documents and go through a number of procedures. It is not easy to do this on your own; therefore, a thorough knowledge of all the nuances and laws, as well as competent advice from experts, is your chance to avoid some problematic circumstances and legally stay in the territory of the Russian Federation.
