Many of us are faced with the need to replace documents due to their damage. The reasons for this may be a lot. One of the most common cases is when, due to his own indiscretion, a person leaves a passport in the reach of a child, and he is unlikely to miss the opportunity to get to know an interesting little book closer. As a result, the main identity document loses its validity. If a child ruins a passport, how to change a document? Is it possible to restore it and what threatens a negligent attitude to the storage of the main identity document?
Passport Replacement
This procedure is considered mandatory if there are legal grounds for it. First of all, this is the achievement of age at which the old document changes to a new one, that is, at 20 and 45 years old. Also, the reason for the replacement of a passport may be its damage. If the document has become unusable, the citizen is required to issue a new identity card.
Which passport is considered damaged
All the nuances associated with obtaining a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation are prescribed in the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation in 1997. This main regulatory act approved the Regulation on the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation. In accordance with paragraph 12, the passport becomes unusable for further use due to wear, damage or other reasons that serve as the basis for replacing the document.
Other reasons include intentional damage to the form and making any entries, marks that are not provided for in the current Regulation. According to this document, the following stamps may appear on the pages of a Russian passport:
- on registration or deregistration at the place of residence;
- on registration and divorce;
- about military duty;
- the presence of minor children;
- on the issuance of identity documents, in addition to an internal passport, including a passport;
- about blood type and Rh factor;
- taxpayer identification number.
No other mark should be present on the pages of an identity document. Any entry made by hand or a stamp of a foreign state in the internal passport of the Russian Federation invalidates its legal force.
In more detail about unsuitability
Based on cases in practice, there are many other reasons for the presence of which the passport is invalid. So, in what cases is it better not to postpone its replacement?
Often people apply for a replacement when the document is very worn out, when the information on its pages has lost readability, the photo has faded, and stamps and seals become indistinguishable. According to such a passport it is impossible to establish the identity of a citizen, therefore he requires a mandatory replacement.
In the case of even the slightest mechanical damage, a document replacement procedure cannot be dispensed with. Is the form completely torn, its separate pages torn out, only a corner torn off? All these are the grounds for receiving a new document. It doesn’t matter how the person ruined the passport. How to change it, for example, after washing or getting wet? In the same way as with other spoilage options.
Regardless of how the passport form was damaged, you cannot live with such a document. When the passport is considered damaged and must be exchanged, you should not postpone this procedure. In addition, it does not take so much time and is not as complicated as it seems at first glance. However, the law establishes strictly limited terms in which you must meet it if you spoil your passport. Learn how to change a document.
By the way, it is necessary to apply for recovery even if a subtle but unnecessary element appears on one of the pages. For example, a small touch from a ballpoint pen. Even a small dash turns a passport into an invalid document, not to mention the “drawings” of the baby and serious violations of integrity. In case of minor damage and incorrect entries, do not delay, you need to get a new form as soon as possible.
List of documents to replace
In case of damage to the passport, it is necessary to prepare a whole package of documents. What papers will be required to exchange an unusable form for a new one? This list looks like this:
- damaged document or its remaining parts;
- check on payment of state duty;
- 4 photographs of the format 3.5 * 4.5 cm (two are required for issuing a passport, and two more for obtaining a temporary identity card);
- application for a new document.
If damage to the passport led to unreadability of the entries contained in it, passport office specialists will require other documents to be presented, for example:
- military ID;
- certificate of marriage;
- birth certificates of children under the age of 14;
- applicant's birth certificate.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the absence of the last document is not a reason for refusing to accept documents to replace a passport. If the applicant does not have a birth certificate, the inspector of the migration service is obliged to independently send a request to the registry office at the place of birth. The possibility of replacing a damaged passport on the basis of the above documents is prescribed in the abovementioned Regulation (paragraph 11).
Competent authorities
If you ruined your passport, how to change it? This is not the only question that arises. Where to apply for a new form, which structures? The state body that carries out the replacement of the passport is the Office for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to contact any department at the address of temporary or permanent registration. You can also draw up a new document through the My Documents Multifunctional Center or online, through the State Services portal. The latter method allows you to avoid queues and make an appointment in advance with a specialist from the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Now there should be no questions about where to change the passport if it is damaged.
How to write a statement
An empty application form can be taken directly from the migration service or the multifunctional center. The questionnaire form can also be downloaded on the website of the migration service, fill it out and go with the finished copy to submit documents.
You can apply for the replacement of a damaged passport at the MFC or directly at the office of the Office for Migration, without leaving your home - for this you should use the "State Services" portal. All information is transmitted to experts in advance. The system allows you to make an appointment to submit documents without queues and long waiting times. If the applicant needs to obtain a provisional identity card, this should also be indicated. On the website of the State Service, after submitting the application, you must pay the state fee and a fine for a damaged passport, if it is appointed by the inspector of the migration service. However, you can get the finished document only at the MFC or at the department of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation at the place of residence.
Filling in the paragraphs of the application on the website of the State Service, you should choose the unit that serves the area of residence of the applicant. When filling out the questionnaire, it is necessary to take into account some nuances. For example, the place for entering the series and passport number must be left empty, since in this case we are talking about the details of the new passport. As soon as he is ready, the service employee will enter the necessary data into the database.
The line on personal information must indicate the surname, name and patronymic (if any), then the date and place of birth. Information regarding marital status is also indicated: if the applicant is officially married, write the date of registration of the relationship, information about the spouse and the name of the authority that issued the certificate. If there are minor children, be sure to indicate their data (F. I. O. and date of birth).
Special attention should be paid to the column, which indicates the place of the planned application for the replacement of the passport form, and the reason for the unsuitability of the passport is necessarily indicated.
Step-by-step instructions for submitting documents at the State Services
Before using the Gosuslugi portal to apply for a passport replacement, you must register on the site and open your personal account. For those who do this for the first time, they must first verify their account. The whole procedure may take several days. To pass the identification on the "State services", a valid identity card is required. Thus, if the user does not have time to register and pass identification before the passport is damaged, this cannot be done with an unsuitable document.
Applying for a replacement document is easy. The step-by-step instruction looks like this:
- Select the section "Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation" in the service catalog.
- Find the tab “Replacing the passport of the Russian Federation due to unusability”.
- Choose one of the service options, that is, submit documents electronically, or make an appointment with the inspector. The second option is more preferable for those who wish to personally visit the unit of the migration authorities.
- When choosing "Electronic service" you need to fill in all the empty fields, entering personal data, and pay the state fee to replace the passport (1,500 rubles). By the way, if you pay through "State services", you can take advantage of a 30% discount.
- As soon as the application is considered, a notification or SMS message will be sent indicating the date when you can come and pick up the finished document.
Typically, an invitation to visit the passport office arrives within 2-3 days. To obtain a passport, it is necessary to present to the inspector all the documents specified in the application. If a citizen does not appear in the migration office within a month after submitting the application, she will be rejected.
For the period when a new passport will be made, the applicant will be given a certificate or a temporary identity card. The main purpose of these documents is to be protected from a fine for the lack of an identity document. And yet, the question of how to restore a damaged passport quickly remains relevant, because no certificate can serve as its full replacement.
How long to wait for the finished document
The next question that concerns the replacement of a document as a result of its damage is the timing. As soon as the passport becomes unusable, its holder is given by law 30 days to restore the document. At the same time, it is important to understand that during this period it is important not to get a new passport, but at least have time to file an application for its replacement.
With regard to the immediate deadline for the production of a new passport form, no more than 10 calendar days must elapse from the time of application. This period can be increased to 2 months if a citizen applies for the restoration of his main document to a migration service located outside his place of residence. And as much time will have to wait for citizens who apply at the place of temporary registration or in its absence. Up to 2 months, you will have to expect a new passport for those whose reason for replacement is loss (theft). In this case, a temporary identity card is indispensable. When applying for the replacement of a damaged form, the deadline is counted from the moment of presentation of the unusable passport to the migration service employees.
What penalty does a citizen of the Russian Federation face?
On the back, on the inside of the passport cover, is an extract from the Regulation on the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation. It says that every Russian should be careful about his document, and in case of damage or loss it can be brought to administrative responsibility. This is a direct basis for the imposition of a fine for damage to a passport in the amount of from 100 to 300 rubles. Most often, employees of the migration department make an oral comment to citizens. However, if the cases of damage or loss are repeated, people have to pay a fine.
In addition, in the issue of sentencing for neglect of a personal document, it is important to distinguish between two basic concepts - “loss by negligence” and “intentional corruption”. In the first case, it is a negligent and careless attitude or unsafe storage, which means only one thing: the citizen did not take measures to save it. Thus, the person did not fulfill his obligation prescribed by law.
Intentional damage is deliberate actions resulting in partial damage to the document form or its complete destruction. In cases where the employees of the migration department manage to prove that the passport was specially damaged, an administrative penalty is imposed on the citizen. However, in most cases it is practically impossible to provide evidence of intentional damage only if the guilty person himself pleads guilty. Consequently, the administrative protocol can be appealed in court and not pay a fine for a damaged passport.
The cost of a new document
So, how much does it cost to replace a passport if it is damaged? It is impossible to restore the previous damaged form, therefore, in such cases, citizens are issued a new document, with a new series and number. Those who receive it for the first time or change it due to the onset of a certain age (20 and 45 years), change of surname, appearance, gender, as well as due to errors and inaccuracies, must pay a state fee in the amount of 300 rubles. Issuance of a passport due to extreme deterioration or damage due to careless storage will cost 1,500 rubles. Moreover, it is impossible to submit documents without paying state duty.