Archive is a government agency that ensures the safety of documents, favorable conditions for their use, provides information to authorities state power And local government, and also satisfies the information needs of the population. And obtaining the information necessary to protect the personal interests of citizens is our inalienable right. Let's consider the stages that a person goes through when applying to the archive.
What kind of requests are there?
There are three types of requests:
- thematic- requests for information on a specific problem, topic, event or fact. For example, a biographical request, which establishes the information necessary to study the life of a particular person, and clarifies the facts of his biography;
- genealogical- requests expressing the need for documentary information establishing kinship, family ties of two or more persons, family history, clan;
- socio-legal- requests of a specific person or organization related to ensuring their rights and legitimate interests. They are divided into three groups:
- of an official nature from legislative and executive authorities;
- from physical and legal entities;
- requests from Russian and foreign citizens and stateless persons living abroad, the so-called consular ones.
For us, the most interesting will be social and legal requests from individuals and legal entities. According to the Rules for organizing the storage, acquisition, recording and use of documents of the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation, social and legal requests include requests for confirmation:
- length of service and salary,
- services in military units and formations,
- about health status,
- awarding, awarding titles,
- getting an education,
- the use of repression,
- on acts of civil status, etc.
Example 1
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For example, after analyzing the work record of an employee hired for a managerial and responsible position, the enterprise will want to make sure that the employee actually had experience in large company. If the company was liquidated in accordance with the procedure established by law (including as a result of bankruptcy proceedings) or was transformed in a way that implied the transfer of documents on personnel to the archive, the employer can contact the archive with a corresponding request.
It is not uncommon to have troubles with preparing documents related to the assignment of pensions to employees.
Free and paid services
The archive fulfills all social and legal requests free of charge. But there are exceptions:
- if you need to fulfill the request urgently (within 1-5 days from the date of application);
- issue a duplicate or reissue an archival certificate to replace the one lost or damaged due to the applicant’s fault (except for accidents documented);
- produce several copies of the archival certificate at the request of the applicant;
- make a request about work experience and wages for a period of more than 5 years (60 consecutive months);
- make an inquiry about property rights.
There is no charge for services in the archive reading room (except for services not provided for in the User Rules in reading rooms state archives Russian Federation).
The range of paid works and services performed by archives is established by the Federal archival service Russia. On this basis, the archive can develop a more detailed list, which is approved by the director. In addition, the archive can independently determine the categories of legal and individuals(pensioners, disabled people, orphanages, etc.), for whom work and services are provided on preferential terms.
Request deadlines
According to the Basic Rules for the Operation of Archives of Organizations (approved by the decision of the Board of Rosarkhiv dated 02/06/2002) the deadline for fulfilling requests of a socio-legal nature based on archive documents should not exceed 30 days from the date of registration of the request. With the permission of the archive management, this period may be extended if necessary, but not more than 30 days with mandatory notification of the applicant. If, after the expiration of the established deadlines, no response is received, you must contact the archival management body of this region with a request for what reason the sent request was not executed.
Fulfillment of requests is carried out in accordance with the procedure for using documents from the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation, established by Federal Law dated October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation”, Federal Law dated February 20, 1995 No. 24-FZ “On Information, Informatization and information protection."
If your request is considered non-core, then its forwarding according to its affiliation to other archives or organizations must be carried out within 5 days from the moment the request is received by the archive, and you must be informed about this.
Where to contact?
Firstly, which archive you should contact depends on the scale of the organization you are interested in: if you need information about a person who works (has worked) in a federal institution, you should contact the federal archives; republican, regional, regional subordination - to the state archives of the corresponding region; city and district subordination - to municipal archives.
Example 2
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If you need to request information about a person who worked at a liquidated state enterprise in Moscow, then you need to contact the Central State Archive of Documents on Personnel of Liquidated State Enterprises, Institutions, and Organizations in Moscow.
If a person worked at a municipal enterprise or in a non-governmental organization, then the search for documents should begin with the archives of the city or district. WITH commercial organizations There are difficulties associated with the lack of legal mechanisms for requesting the transfer of documents to state storage.
To find out which archive to contact, you can use the website www.rusarchives.ru. There is also an online guide to Russian archives www.guides.rusarchives.ru, which allows you to search through 31 federal and 49 regional archives and includes about 140 thousand archival funds containing socio-political, historical, military, economic and others documentation.
How to make a request?
There are no strict requirements for the request; the application is drawn up in free form, but addressed to the director of the archive. The following information must be provided, regardless of the type of request:
- surname, first name, patronymic of the person of interest at the present time and necessarily the surname during the requested period (indicate the year of the surname change, if this took place);
- the address to which the archive's response should be sent;
- your contact number;
- what information is requested and for what purpose.
Here are the most common queries and explain what needs to be specified in each of them in order to make it possible to execute such a query:
In general, some archives accept not only social and legal requests drawn up on paper, but also sent by e-mail, and some even by telephone.
Example 3
sample application for obtaining an archived salary certificate
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Example 4
Sample letter of request from a legal entity ( approximate form)
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Archive transcript
Most often, the applicant receives a response to the request in the form of an archival certificate, less often - an archival extract or a copy of a document.
According to GOST R 51141-98 “Office management and archiving. Terms and Definitions" archive transcript - this is an official archive document containing information from archival documents related to the subject of the request, indicating the addresses of the documents.
Let's look at several certificates that are issued for the most popular requests.
The archival certificate confirming work experience includes data for the time for which information is available in the archive documents: the exact name of the position held by the citizen and the period of his work are given (see Example 5). Personnel registration sheets, questionnaires, autobiographies, personally compiled by a citizen, on which there are no marks on the verification of the information contained in them on the basis of the submitted original documents or certificates, cannot serve as the basis for issuing archival certificates of work experience (if necessary, this information is provided in writing) . As documents confirming work experience, only orders for the main activity, personal accounts, paybooks, and trade union membership cards are used.
The certificate for assigning or recalculating a pension includes information in the manner determined by the body providing pensions to citizens. Information about earnings is included in the certificate as they are set out in the archive documents. Data are presented separately for each year without summation within the year. The archive does not calculate average monthly and average annual earnings. In the absence of documents on wages, the official salary can be established on the basis staffing table organization for the corresponding period, other payments - on the basis of orders for personnel issues or by main activity.
In the certificate of education, if there is no information in the documents about the citizen’s graduation from an educational institution, it is indicated in which course or class he studied.
When executing repeated requests or drawing up, at the request of a citizen (organization), a certificate similar to a previously issued one, the archive checks the compliance of the information included in this certificate with those available in the documents, and if additional information is found, includes it in the re-issued archival certificate.
Example 5
Sample archival certificate
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If there are no documents in the archive necessary to fulfill the request, a response is drawn up on the archive form outlining the reasons for the absence of documents containing the requested information, and the necessary recommendations are given. When preparing “negative” answers, archivists try to avoid formulations like “no documents were received for storage in the archive”; usually the applicant is given recommendations for searching necessary information or the reason for the absence of archival documents on the topic of the request is explained. In case of documented facts of loss of archival documents containing the requested information, the archive may (but is not obligated) to issue a certificate about the reasons for their loss, if necessary, certified by the seal of the archive.
It should be noted that the text in the archival reference is given in the chronological sequence of events; in some cases, it reproduces quotations from archival documents. After the text of the certificate, the search data of the documents that served as the basis for its compilation are indicated (numbers of funds, inventories, files, sheets of the document). It should be noted that the text in the archival certificate is given in the chronological sequence of events, in some cases it reproduces quotations from archival documents. After the text of the certificate, the search data of the documents that served as the basis for its preparation are indicated (numbers of funds, inventories, files, sheets of the document).
In general, it is quite difficult to unify the form of an archival certificate, as well as the form of writing a request. However, there are Recommendations for the preparation of archival references and responses to standard requests of a socio-legal nature issued by archival institutions of the Russian Federation (Rosarchive letter No. 6/486-K dated March 14, 2005). The Recommendations provide 12 samples of archival information on several different situations.
Copies of the archival certificate (without a stamp or seal) are certified by the head of the archive and remain in the archive's records management.
Note that archival certificates differ in the name of the document type “ARCHIVED REFERENCE” from other certificates, which are simply called “HELP”.
Commercial companies also have the right to issue archival certificates and archival extracts, but on the condition that they have an archive in the form of a separate division. Otherwise, they will be limited to ordinary certificates, extracts and copies.
According to the Basic Rules for the work of archives of organizations, approved by the decision of the Board of Rosarkhiv dated 02/06/2002 and mandatory for all non-governmental organizations, the archive is created as an independent structural subdivision an organization or division within the documentation support service of management (clerical work) that receives and stores archival documents for the purpose of use. Certificates, archival copies and extracts identical to the original are certified by the signature of the head of the organization or a person authorized by him (the head of the unit that includes the archive) and the official seal of the organization.
Archival extract and archival copy
On the archival extract and archival copy, the corresponding designations are made - “ARCHIVED EXTRACT” or “ARCHIVED COPY”. They are compiled on archive form, but when making xero- and photocopies of archival documents, the archive form is not used.
When preparing an extract, the name of the original document, its number and date are reproduced in full (see Example 6). The content of the archived extract of the document must meet the request. The coherence of the content and the exact meaning of each document extracted from the text should not be violated. An ellipsis is placed at the beginning and end of each extract from the document, as well as in places where individual words are missing. One archival extract can contain extracts from only one document.
Attention! Individual words and expressions of an original document that raise doubts about their authenticity must be qualified with the words: “so in the document.”
Archival copies and extracts are certified by the signature of the head of the archive and the official seal of the organization.
Example 6
Sample archival extract
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After the text of the archival extract, the archival code and sheet numbers of the storage unit of the archival document that served as the basis for issuing this extract are indicated (see Example 6).
The archival copy completely duplicates the requested document. On the back are the archival codes and sheet numbers of the storage units of the archival document.
All sheets of the archival copy or extract must be stapled, numbered and certified at the places of the staples by the head of the archive.
Information documents, archival copies and extracts prepared by the archive are sent to the applicant by regular mail.
If you have transferred documents for storage to a third party
Let's say your company has transferred its documents for safekeeping to a third-party organization that professionally provides such services. Such services are provided not only by commercial archives, but also by state/municipal archives. The owner of the documents continues to be the company on whose territory the documents are no longer located. In this case, who has the right to issue archival certificates: the custodian or the owner?
According to Article 892 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation dated January 26, 1996 No. 14-FZ, the custodian does not have the right, without the consent of the bailor, to use the thing transferred for storage, as well as provide the opportunity to use it to third parties, except in cases where the use of the stored thing is necessary to ensure its safety and does not contradict storage agreement. Therefore, if you want to transfer to the custodian the authority to issue certificates on social and legal requests and save your time, then stipulate this condition in the outsourcing agreement. Otherwise, the owning company will deal with the documents itself: if necessary, it will have to request previously exported documents to the office, deal with them and draw up an archival certificate, since the issue of confidentiality of information is still a priority.
Footnotes
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Of course, they go to the archives. True, to do this, it is important to know what kind of archive you need and how to make a request to the archive. This is exactly what we will talk about in this article.
A little about the archives
Let's start with the fact that the archive is a public (less often private) institution in which official documents are stored under certain conditions that guarantee maximum security. At the same time, the archive is engaged not only in responsible storage, but also provides available information to both government authorities and citizens.
Nowadays, archives are funded on a regional and departmental basis. This means that the documentation stored in them, which is handed over to organizations, and information relates to a specific territory (region, city, district) or department, for example, the Ministry of Defense (which also has central and regional archives).
- federal, government, state, current, historical;
Both individuals and organizations, as well as authorities (such requests, as a rule, are of an official nature) and persons living abroad (such requests are called consular) can make a request to the archive to obtain this or that information.
Often, when planning to request some documents or information from the archive, people do not know where exactly they need to go. It all depends on what specifically interests you. For example, you can obtain general civil information (date, place of birth, death, marriage) in the archives of the district registry office. But here you need to take into account that documents are stored in the district archive for a maximum of seventy-five years, so if you are interested in earlier information, you will have to contact the regional registry office archive, where all documents from the districts are transferred. If we're talking about about the restoration of records in work book, then you need to contact departmental archives, for example, the Russian State Military Archive (if we are talking about military personnel or civilian personnel) or territorial archives in those localities or regions where the enterprise where the person worked is located. To obtain information about sailors, you should contact the Central Naval Archive. If you are looking for information about someone, but do not know where to start searching for information, then it is better to contact the district or city archive at the place of this person’s intended stay or work.
As for archive requests, they are all divided into:
- thematic - these are requests for information that relate to a specific event, fact or topic; By making such a request, you can establish information that clarifies the facts of the biography of a particular person;
Archival requests are executed in accordance with the established procedure, which is clearly stated in Federal Law No. 125-FZ “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation.” This means that thirty days may pass from the moment the request is received and registered until the response is received. This period may be extended by decision of the archive management, but not more than another thirty days. In this case, the archive staff who received the request are obliged to notify the applicant about the extension of the deadline for fulfilling the request.
To make a request to the archive, you need to make an application in free form, since there are no strict requirements for this (although some institutions offer applicants their own form). But there are a number of points that must be reflected in the document. So, in the “header” (it is written in the upper right corner of the sheet) we indicate:
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- to whom the request is sent (you can indicate the name of the organization and the full name of its head);
- what the request is about (here it is important to clearly, specifically and understandably state the essence of the question, as well as indicate the time and territorial framework, which are very important, for example, when searching for relatives);
How to submit a request?
A request to the archive can be submitted in several ways: in person (bring an application and register it, providing your passport), send by registered mail with notification, via the Internet (in the latter case, a notification from the archive will be sent to your email address about the receipt of the request).
In response to a request, the archive issues either an archival certificate containing information related to the subject of the request, or an archival extract extracting the contents of the original archival document, or an archival copy of the requested document.
How to make a correct request to the archive about ancestors
If you want to know how to make a request to the archive about relatives or ancestors, then this publication is definitely for you. Requests from the population are divided into three types: socio-legal (certificates of work experience, etc.), thematic (biographical information about a person) and genealogical. Separate materials are provided for the first two types, but here we will consider in detail the question of how to make a request to the archive about ancestors. A link to free download of samples of several forms is at the end of the article, but before submitting, we recommend that you read the explanations to increase the likelihood of a positive response with information about ancestors from a government agency. For those readers who want to save time and nerves, we suggest ordering a genealogical request to the archive about relatives in our family research bureau. As part of this service, for a nominal fee, we will compose a competent text and provide the exact coordinates of the archives where the application must be sent. Next, read the interesting nuances of relationships with employees of reading rooms and document storage departments, since, in most cases, they are the ones who work with requests about relatives that come from citizens.
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Before making a request to the archive about ancestors, pay attention to the important psychological factor when communicating with representatives regional organizations, where documents over a hundred years old should be transferred from the civil registry office. The founders of the website livemem.ru searched for relatives in more than fifty regions of the country and, taking into account these statistics, it was revealed that the majority of the staff of state archives are educated and intelligent people. According to employees, it is not in their interests to delay the process of processing archival requests, since the sooner they help the applicant, the sooner they will begin their immediate duties. It is also worth considering the fact that income from solving problems regarding requests for relatives (and this is a paid service) goes to the treasury, and not to any specific performer. Due to the fact that responses to requests to the archive about ancestors do not relate to the main activities of employees, your application may be rejected without explaining the reasons for the refusal or with the provision of a formal reply. On some Internet resources of federal institutions it is written: “the archive does not process requests of a genealogical nature about relatives due to the heavy workload of specialists.”
With the civil registry office (civil registry office), things are different. They are obliged to respond to a request to the archive about relatives. Applications vary radically, some are interested in marriage or its dissolution between older family members, others are looking for a birth or death certificate of a relative. Legislation changes periodically, which is why the exact procedure for executing requests to the archive about ancestors should be found out at the time of application. The institution may require proof of relationship with the person or a death certificate. For example, during one of the family studies, an employee of the document storage department at the civil registry office clarified that it is only permissible to request information about the deceased, and only children can do this without additional permission. People are expected to restore certificates personally or through authorized representatives. That is, a grandson, with living parents, will not receive a positive result on a request to the archive about third-generation relatives (grandparents). If the father or mother cannot search for data, then they must issue a power of attorney from a notary in the name of the executor, who can be anyone. However, as already mentioned, the actual algorithm of actions becomes known in specific situation during the period of its occurrence and depends on the degree of relationship of the citizen sending a request to the archive about ancestors with the person in question. IN strict rules there is logic. Few readers will be happy with the fact that someone else is freely “digging” into the biography and relationships of their relatives or conducting a study of family history, trying to find incriminating evidence for selfish purposes.
How to make a request to the archive about family relatives
Having explained the basic concept of the approach to communicating with archivists, let's move on to the essence of the topic of publication on the genealogy site Livemem. How to make a request to the archive about relatives so that it is not ignored and fulfilled as soon as possible? First, determine which city archive or registry office you need to contact with your application to find an ancestor. The choice of institution to send a request for relatives depends on the type of task (recovery of certificates or obtaining information) and the date of the event (birth, marriage or death). According to the standards, if a hundred years have not passed since the creation of the document, then it must be kept by the territorial registry office. But from the practice of our family research bureau, it is known that “younger” civil status records are also found in the repositories of regional archives. That is, when you are interested in family documents of Soviet origin, then you should send a request about relatives to the civil registry office at the place of the event, and if they have already been transferred to the federal archives, then you will be informed about this in a response letter. Government services are developing a centralized electronic database with relevant information about citizens, therefore, it is possible that it will soon be possible to send requests about ancestors to local organizations.
Considering a case with a request to search for facts about relatives from church metric books (predecessors of books with civil status acts, which were an official document
until 1917), it is worth paying attention to the fact that it is necessary to do the opposite. Initially, request information about ancestors from the federal archives, depending on the region where the event occurred, and if the records were not transferred to them for storage, the applicant will be redirected to the registry office. Let us note the confusing confusion with the areas where, within the framework of the administrative-territorial division, the boundaries sometimes changed. There are ambiguous situations when a village (village, city) and the parish of its church, for example, in 1850 belonged to one province, and even to another. This means that church registers with family history ancestors for a given locality may be located in two regional archives. There is a possibility that the citizen will not be informed about this, and the request will be answered with the classic reply “not found.” If you have doubts about the thoroughness of processing a request to the archive about relatives, duplicate the letter to institutions in neighboring cities, where books with records of ancestral rituals in the disputed territories could be sent.
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Now we will directly explain the procedure for filling out an archival application to search for information about ancestors with writing the correct text support. Let's consider the situation using the example of a genealogical request to the state archive, since in the case of civil registry offices, the actions are quite similar, and the forms we prepared via the link for free download at the end of the publication do not need additional explanation. A request to the archive about relatives can be divided into three blocks (as in the example in the first photo): where the request is sent, its essence and by whom it was sent. Let’s say right away that all parts are required to be filled out; if at least one is missed, then with a 99% probability your application will be rejected. Before making a request to the archive about ancestors, go to the institution’s website or check by phone whether the employees are engaged in their execution in principle. And if work is underway with citizens’ appeals on the topic of searching for data about relatives, find out in what way it will be more convenient for the archive to accept the application - by e-mail or traditional letter. When requests are processed only on physical media (in writing), it would be a good idea to include a second envelope with the package. Alas, according to archivists, sometimes precisely because of the lack of their own means of forwarding, requests for relatives can be ignored (the smaller the archive, the more modest the budget for communication about the family’s ancestors).
As for the contents of the document, you need to know the following nuances. The archive, where the request about the ancestors of the family is sent, and the sender are located in a visually single space - in the upper left corner. In this case, the application must be sent to the director. You will find the exact name and current director on the institution’s website. This part of the request for information about relatives looks something like this: “To the director of the state archive of such and such a subject of the Russian Federation (region, republic, territory, etc.), his last name, first name, patronymic (on a new line).” Next, indicate your full name on the form. the applicant, his actual residence address (where you can receive correspondence), as well as contact details (telephone number or email, or better yet both options). Anonymous requests to the archive about family relatives and appeals without indicating funds feedback for obvious reasons, employees are not accepted for execution.
How to write the text of an application to increase the chances of a positive result? We consider it necessary to refute the widespread myth that says: “the more detailed the essence of the request to the archive about ancestors is stated, the higher the likelihood of receiving a response with information from relatives.” This approach is relevant when interacting with private genealogists or specialized organizations like our family research bureau “Keepers family secrets" But with government agencies, everything should happen exactly the opposite. The clearer and more concisely the task is formulated, the greater the chances of getting the archive to resolve the issue and consider the request for relatives in a short time. You should not write an essay about respect for ancestors; indicate only the exact facts: place with date of birth, locality, name of a relative, degree of relationship, and type of record. You can write approximate data, but this will increase the cost and time of executing a genealogical request to the archive about ancestors, and in some cases will make searching for information about relatives impossible. At the end of the archival request, note that your interest is related to the restoration of the pedigree, and you agree to pay for the work. Try to fit the essence into 3-4 lines.
A competent appeal to the archive with a request to restore the history of ancestors looks something like this: “I ask you to find in the registry register a record of the birth (or death) of my great-grandfather so-and-so (his last name, first name, patronymic) for X year in a village (village, city) N. In the absence of metrics, I would be grateful if you could inform me about the safety of audit tales, confessional statements and other genealogical sources for the specified period. If you successfully search for a relative, I would like to issue an archival certificate (make an extract, photocopy or photograph of the page). I’m ready to pay for the services.” When you are interested in the marriage ceremony of your ancestors, simply replace the phrase about birth with the corresponding text about marriage. Archives employees do not welcome vague wording and large-scale requests about relatives in the form of “conduct genealogical research of the family” or “I want to know the pedigree of my family name.” Solving such problems is quite difficult, and the archive is unlikely to undertake them, since family genealogy is not a core area of its activity. In informal conversations, archivists note that polite and cultural communication additionally motivates high-quality work, which, in principle, is quite natural. On some institutions’ websites, in the section with the rules for processing applications, they write: “requests to the archive about relatives containing obscene language will not be considered.” It’s scary to imagine what kind of population we have to deal with. Don’t lose face, don’t discredit the memory of your ancestors and behave with dignity!
Place the date at the bottom of the form and sign. That is, you need to print the document, sign and scan it (if we are talking about sending it by email). We draw the attention of readers to the fact that there is no point in duplicating sending a request to the archive about relatives, since a new request will go to the end of the queue and create an extra burden on employees. Better, send a question to the institution: “Please clarify the stage of execution of my request from date Y, the applicant is such and such.” Regarding the timing, we highlight the fact that completing the work by the archive can take either a few days or several months. There are confirmed cases on the Internet where you had to wait 10 months for a response. However, in fairness, we note that for archival queries about ancestors prepared by livemem.ru specialists, the result usually arrives within 1-2 weeks, which once again confirms the importance correct design and a clear statement of the task. Taking into account all our advice when preparing an application, you will be able to make a correct request to the archive about relatives and obtain information about family members. By the way, we recommend ordering from our genealogical bureau detailed plan conducting research that will significantly facilitate the search for ancestors, as well as increase the efficiency of the time spent and funds invested in restoring the pedigree.
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If you have any additions, please let us know in the comments and we’ll do it useful resource together!
Genealogy portal: Sample documents
Material from Rodovod.
[edit] Letter of request to the archive about searching for information in metric books
To the director "Archive name"
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"Last name and initials of the director"
from a citizen "Full Name",
registered at:
"address of permanent residence",
e-mail, home and mobile phone numbers)
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I ask you to provide information about the surname, first name and patronymic, age, occupation and place of residence of the parents according to the entry in the metric book of the birth certificate “last name, first name, patronymic”, who was born on “date, certain years” in “name of the locality”.
The person indicated is mine (indicate the degree of relationship).
With respect and hope for your help,
[edit] Letter to the Search and Information Center of the Russian Red Cross Society
To the Search and Information Center
Russian Red Cross Society
Free legal advice:
Kuznetsky Most, 18/7
Moscow, Russia
Please send your answer to:
« exact address with index»
Please check the file of evacuees stored in your Center to see if there is information about the stay of my family members in evacuation during the Great Patriotic War.
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My details:" FULL NAME. at the time of evacuation»
Year and place of birth:
Address where he lived before evacuation:
When and where was he evacuated?
Who was evacuated with:
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Mother:" Full name, year of birth" Father:" Full name, year of birth" Children:" Full name, year of birth"Other relatives:" Full name, year of birth»
[edit] Request to the registry office for birth
Residing at:
Due to family needs, I ask you to issue a birth certificate according to f. 24 of mine " ».
If possible, please indicate in the certificate according to the birth certificate: date and place of birth, citizenship, nationality, place of residence, and occupation of the parents. If possible, please send the certificate to my address (listed above) or through the registry office:
Free legal advice:
[edit] Request to the registry office for death
Residing at:
Due to family needs, I ask you to issue a birth certificate according to f. 34 of mine " family connection (grandfather, grandmother, etc.)».
If possible, please indicate in the certificate according to the death certificate record: date of birth (age), place of birth, place of residence, occupation (place of work), nationality, cause of death of the deceased, last name, first name, patronymic, place of residence of the person to whom the certificate was issued death certificate. If possible, please send the certificate to my address (listed above) or send it through the registry office:
To prove the relationship, I attach copies of the following documents:
[edit] Request to the registry office for marriage
Residing at:
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Due to family needs, I ask you to issue a marriage certificate for my relatives " family ties (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.)».
The marriage was concluded:
If possible, I ask you to indicate in the certificate, according to the record of the marriage act: Full name before and after marriage, date and place of birth, citizenship, nationality, place of residence of those entering into marriage, as well as the date of marriage, date of preparation and registration number of the marriage certificate, place state registration marriage, date of issue of the marriage certificate. If possible, please send the certificate to my address (listed above) or send it through the registry office:
To prove the relationship, I attach copies of the following documents:
[edit] Request to the military registration and enlistment office
To the archive department of the city district military registration and enlistment office “the city or area where the vacancy office is located”
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Address: "address of the military registration and enlistment office"
Residence address: "applicant's residential address"
Telephone: "applicant's phone number"
Please provide information about conscription and service (military unit number, military rank, VUS) my “family connection, for example, grandfather”, about which the following is known:
I guarantee payment for the execution of the request in the prescribed manner.
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How to make a request to the archive
Briefly about the archives
Archives of our days
Historical, current, state, government, federal.
Where and how to make a request to the archive
Types of archive requests
Genealogical - to establish kinship, clarify the history of the clan or family;
Thematic – a request to the archive regarding a specific fact, event or topic.
Making a request
Address and full name of the applicant;
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His contact number;
If the request is submitted by a legal entity, then the outgoing application number, details of the organization and address.
Explain why and why information is needed;
Email or postal address to which to send the response;
The applicant's signature and seal, if the request is made by a legal entity.
Free legal advice:
Example of a request to the archive:
How to submit a request
What to get in return
Download sample:
Genealogy for the whole family
“Studying the history of one’s ancestors is the most interesting science” (A.S. Pushkin)
How to make a request to the archive?
Hello, dear readers! Last month I published a whole series of articles devoted to the history of the formation of the Russian archival system. Enough theory! Today we will practice a little. Let's say you set out to get some information about your ancestors or past events. But where can I get it? After all, contemporaries of events that took place a century or more ago cannot be found. Even about the lives of contemporaries it is not always possible to learn from a personal conversation.
The reasons may vary. But there is a way out - you can make a request to the archive. Unfortunately, archival workers do not always answer them. One of the reasons is an incorrectly composed request. Let's figure out how to do it right.
Deciding on the type of request
Free legal advice:
- Do you want to get acquainted with the biography of an ancestor? historical information and so on. - you need a thematic query.
- If you are interested in the history of an entire family or clan, or if you want to find out if a person is related to you or not, we will create a genealogical query.
- If you need material to ensure the legitimate interests or rights of someone - a social and legal request (official; from an individual or legal entity; consular - from foreigners to Russian archives, from Russians - to foreign ones).
- We are writing to the director of the archive.
- We indicate information about ourselves or the organization on behalf of which the request is being created.
- We indicate the return address and contact phone number. Otherwise, where will they answer you?
- Let us formulate the question clearly and concisely in free form. The more specifically you define the essence of the task, the greater the chance of getting exactly the information you are counting on. And you will receive an answer sooner.
- In order to speed up the work of the archive staff and obtain the necessary information, we indicate the most exact time and place as possible. In what territory did people live or events that interest you took place? What time was this?
Now you need to decide where to send your request.
- If you need to find out the date of birth, death or marriage, contact the district registry office. But only on the condition that no more than 75 years have passed.
- If you need to establish the exact date since which more than 75 years have passed, we send a request to the state regional archive.
- If you want to find out about a relative’s work, achievements, awards, merits, contact the archives of the organization where he was a member. If your relative was a military man, contact the Russian State Military Archive, if a sailor, contact the Central Naval Archive.
Why is there no answer
If you haven't responded within 3 months, it's possible that your language was too vague and the archivists just can't seem to finish the job of passing your request on from department to department. Or he's just lost. In any case, you can submit your request again.
Features of cooperation with archives
Making a request to the archive will be useful not only when you are looking for relatives. This will be useful if you are writing a diploma, doctoral dissertation or any other scientific work. To access historical documents, your academic institution must submit a “Relationship” to the archive, which will indicate the organization that referred you to the archive and the subject of the request.
Free legal advice:
If you apply on your own initiative, they will only ask for your passport. You will receive the application form to fill out on site.
Some services can only be obtained for a fee, for example, scanning, photocopying, printing. Sometimes you have to pay extra for the urgency of preparing documents.
When collecting information about events and people of the past, we sometimes encounter difficulties. But the more difficult the path we have covered, the more satisfaction we will receive from the result.
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9 comments on “How to make a request to the archive? ”
Despite the fact that I have already sent requests several times, it was interesting to read in the archive. By the way, in St. Petersburg I received answers to requests 6-8 months after sending. So you can wait a very long time for answers.
Lena, do you have experience sending requests to other countries that used to be our republics? Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, etc.? After all, our people have traveled around the country so much that very often we need to turn to the former fraternal republics. I sent a request to Belarus - no one responded. =((
Free legal advice:
Hello, Inga! You are right, sometimes you can wait more than 6 months for answers to requests. It is better to send by registered mail, so at least you will be sure that the request was received by the archive. It took me 3 months for a letter to arrive by our mail. I have not had any experience with requests to other countries yet; now I am preparing a request to State Archives Chernigov region of Ukraine (as it turned out, my ancestors moved to Far East from the Chernigov province at the end of the 19th century), I will definitely tell you on the blog what comes of it. The archives were also dedicated last number our magazine.
Thanks for the info! Just the other day I was thinking about the origin of my last name and my ancestors! Your blog was very helpful!
I have never gone to the archives before, but the desire arises more and more often, because there are too many “blank spots” in the history of our family. Thanks for the advice))
Tell me how to write the same genealogical request - what is the structure of writing it, what information should be included there about yourself and your relatives so that the request is not ignored? I live in Ukraine, and most of my roots are in Russia (Novgorod, Tver regions).
The idea of drawing up such a request has been around for a long time, but I don’t know how to implement this in practice (especially in another state - there may be other requirements).
I would be grateful if you at least tell me where this information can be found.
With sincere wishes of all the best to you and your family!
Hello, Victoria! There is no clear structure for requests to the archive. There are general rules: clear formulation of the question, indication of the source data (time, place where the events of interest to you occurred or known data about the ancestor), guarantee of payment if necessary, availability of a return address where the answer will be sent. Many archives' websites have special request templates. If not, you need to write in free form. I saw approximate templates for genealogical queries only here www.zaporozhskie.ru/load/. arkhivy/Have a look, maybe they will fit.
Hello! Can you help me? I just don't know who to turn to. The fact is that I had a great-grandfather on my mother’s side. According to the stories of my grandfather, who is no longer alive, his father (my great-grandfather) was from Moscow, at least he lived there before the revolution, his parents owned a shoe factory, and he himself served in tsarist army, had awards, but we don’t know where he served, by whom. After the revolution, he went to Siberia, hid there, married a simple woman there, worked as a simple shoemaker, and died there. So, my question is, can I find out something about him through the archive, but I know almost nothing specifically, neither his date of birth, only approximately, nor the exact place of birth, only Moscow, I don’t know anything about his parents, only his father's name and the fact that they owned a shoe factory. I also know the year of birth sister great-grandfather, but I don’t know anything else. Well, it is also assumed that he participated in the First World War, and then served in the Trans-Baikal Territory, the city of Verkhneudinsk, now renamed Ulan-Ude, and it seems he remained there when the revolution occurred. So, please tell me, is it possible, based on these data, without knowing the exact dates, to contact the archive? Will they search? or is that not enough? I would like to know when and where my great-grandfather was born, and if possible, his parents. Find out where they lived, and at least something about them. And where should I go in this case, which archive should I write to? I don’t live in Moscow. Will they require proof that I am a relative, I can only show my grandfather’s birth certificate, there are no other documents. Sorry if I wrote a lot. Thank you.
Hello Maria! When working in archives, they usually require confirmation of kinship; sometimes an exception can be made if more than 100 years have passed and the information is not classified. I would start with your grandfather’s birth certificate; you can contact the registry office that issued it. After all, not all information is written on the birth certificate; the birth record must indicate the dates of birth of your great-grandparents, place of birth, as well as place of residence at the time of birth registration. To apply to the registry office, it is advisable to have your birth certificate and your mother’s birth certificate + the birth certificate of your grandfather, which you mentioned. If this registry office is not in your city, contact yours, they should forward your request to the desired registry office, and also give you an answer when it arrives. Knowing the date and place of birth of your great-grandfather will make it easier when accessing the archives. Having also received this information, you can go further to the place of birth of your great-grandfather and his exact date birth, it will be possible to find out the names of his parents, most likely through the birth registers, but this is the next stage. Regarding your ancestor’s participation in the First World War: SVRT is implementing a global project dedicated to the participants of the First World War 1914.svrt.ru Maybe you’ll find something there. Another good clue is the shoe factory that your ancestors owned, but you need to find out first of all the data that I mentioned above. If you find out everything you can through the registry office and the Internet, write to me, we’ll think about where to go next.
Hello, Inga. Can you tell me if I don’t know where my grandmother was born, I just know where and when she died, where can I make a request to find out her parents, probably by raising the metric record. I know everything about my grandfather’s sister and her husband, and that there was a child who now lives in Tallinn, but I don’t know his name and date of birth, only his surname Renwald, how can I find it? What can I try in my hopeless situations?
What difficulties did you encounter when receiving electronic services provided by government authorities?
- Help information was difficult to understand (50%, 4 Votes)
- Technical problems related to the operation of the site (25%, 2 Votes)
- Difficulties associated with submitting applications and other documents (25%, 2 Votes)
- No difficulties encountered (0%, 0 Votes)
- Feb 27
5. Go to the portal and enter your “Personal Account”. Find the "Registration" link. Here you need to enter your data: full name, individual personal account insurance number (SNILS) and taxpayer identification number (TIN), and also select the method of delivery to you of the account activation code. If you choose delivery by mail, ordered letter It will arrive at your home with a code in about a week.
6. Enter the received activation code on the login page to your personal account. To do this, click on the appropriate button.
7. Log in to your personal account by entering SNILS and password. Select the “Electronic Services” button in the menu that opens.
8. Select the Federal migration service. And then, in the list of available FMS services, find the item “Providing address and reference information.”
9. Confirm that you agree to provide personal information and select your region.
10. Fill in all required fields of the form that opens. Click on the “Submit Application” button.
11. Monitor the progress of processing your request in your personal account (the “Requests” button on the main page of your personal account). In addition, you will receive regular email notifications about changes in the status of your request.
In everyone's life there may be a need to access archival documents. Citizens write requests if it is necessary to restore documents, reconstruct historical events, establishing relationship or Scientific research. An undoubted advantage is the widespread development of a network of archives on the territory of the Russian Federation. Along with State ones, which have the richest documentary base, there are also private ones.
The need to submit applications is due to the complex structure of archives. Thousands of funds, collections of documents, photographic material and other sources complicate the search necessary information. Therefore, you should describe your request as specifically as possible. The more facts you know, the faster the employee will respond to the request.
Features of compilation
Archives of Russia divided into types:
- government;
- municipal;
- departmental;
- archives of organizations;
- private.
All citizens of the Russian Federation can turn to any organization for help, the main thing is to know how to submit an application correctly.
Types of requests:
- socio-legal– to clarify the facts necessary to respect the rights and interests of individuals or companies. This includes requests from individuals and legal entities, consular (from foreign citizens, official);
- genealogical– to clarify and clarify the facts of the biography of ancestors, in order to describe the genealogy of the clan, family;
- thematic– is done with the aim of obtaining documents on a separate fact in the history or life of a person. Such requests are typical for research activities.
First, you need to determine which category the question fits into and which archive may contain the information of interest.
You can apply:
- at the registrar or at the MFC (passport required);
- by letter via Russian Post;
- electronic or through the State Services portal.
Modern technologies and the presence of the Unified State Portal make it possible to send applications without leaving home, simplifying work with the archives of Russian cities.
Information is provided free of charge, this is regulated by the Federal Law “On the organization of the provision of state and municipal services” dated July 27, 2010 N 210-FZ. The only thing the archive administration can set a price for is the processing of information and the compilation of a new research work by employees based on the requested documents.
In addition to legislative acts, there are internal orders, charters and regulations that regulate the work of employees. The rules for the work of archives of organizations drawn up by the Board of the Russian Archive regulate the work of small archives.
The general operating principle of archives is accessibility and openness. They were created to preserve important documents for the purpose of providing them to citizens upon request. However, there are restrictions on access to some classified materials. It can be documents from the Archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Armed Forces or personal collections famous people handed down by relatives.
The following comment prompted the creation of this article:
If only they could write an article about how to defeat the archives and get a certificate. It's impossible to wait.We are talking about the initial stage of the "NRY" program - the collection of documents that prove that your ancestor in the ascending line lived at the right time in the right place:
16.4. Foreign citizens and stateless persons specified in paragraph 16.1 of these Regulations, who have (had) relatives in a direct ascending line, permanently residing or previously permanently residing on the territory of the Russian Federation or on the territory belonging to the Russian Empire or the USSR, within the state border of the Russian Federation Federations, additionally submit one of the documents (documents) confirming (confirming) the presence of these relatives, as well as the fact of their permanent residence in the relevant territory (birth certificate, marriage document, adoption certificate, death certificate of a relative, residence permit , an extract from the house register, a copy of the apartment card, a document containing information about military registration, a military ID or other document(s).Let me remind you: If you plan to go under the NRJ, having a residence permit obtained under another program, you do not need to collect certificates for your ancestor.16.5. In the absence of the documents specified in clauses 16.3 and 16.4 of these Regulations, applicants shall submit archival certificates, extracts from archival documents, copies of documents from the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation and (or) other archival documents.
In articles about achievements achieved according to NRN ( , ) few people write in detail about collecting certificates, however, this stage is one of the most difficult, because it is impossible to even approximately calculate how long it will take and whether it will be successful positive result at all. And you can’t even blame the migration service - here its role is insignificant, at the level of “we’ll accept a birth certificate - no, it’s not enough.” It all depends only on your persistence, intelligence and the desire of the archive staff to help you.
Is it really that difficult to get a certificate?
Yes. Firstly, a single database, one institution or organization, one address where you can apply and receive a certificate/extract confirming permanent residence in Russia (RSFSR) (especially via the Internet, online)DOES NOT EXIST .
Such a certificate/document can be obtained from various organizations, the list of which is quite large (passport offices, management organizations, archives, etc.).
Secondly, the employees of these organizations are by no means always inclined to help as quickly as possible for free. to a stranger. It is in your interests not only to collect maximum amount information to request independently, but also regularly remind you (for example, call).
The principle of approach to the issue is outlined below.
Among the main documents that can be restored or received again (duplicate) are documents from the registry office: certificates of birth, marriage, death (you need to know exactly the dates, or at least in what year the registration was made, otherwise the registry office may refuse, explaining , that they do not have the opportunity to dig through the entire archive).
In this chain from you to your ancestor, in addition to birth certificates, you must also take death certificates for the deceased. If possible, also about marriage.
If you send a request to the registry office of another city, be sure to: In addition to the postal address of residence (zip code, etc.), indicate in your request the address of the registry office nearest to you, where the answer will be sent to you.
In the request, in any form, you state the essence of what document you need, indicate the most detailed information known, as well as complete personal data.
The review period is up to 30 days. Don't wait long. Call and ask about the results of the request (now there are no problems with the institution’s address or telephone numbers, it’s easy to find out via the Internet). If the act record is found, the document will be sent.
When receiving the document, the local registry office will require confirmation of relationship: you need your birth certificate and further along the chain (for example, a parent, if you are taking a document for your grandfather); + death certificate of an ancestor (if the ancestor died), and your passport with a notarized translation into Russian (you can immediately bring photocopies).
Be prepared that when you receive a document “a generation later” - if you receive, for example, a duplicate of your grandfather’s birth certificate, and your parent (father or mother) is alive, they may require a notarized power of attorney (from your father or mother), or it will be issued only to them. Those. They will probably give you a document in person, without a power of attorney, only for the parent.
For more distant relatives along the chain: either a power of attorney from a living intermediate ancestor - or a death certificate (the death certificate then confirms that you are a single direct descendant).
The shelf life of state civil registration books in civil registry offices is 100 years (Article 77 of the Federal Law “On Civil Status Acts”).
Form No. 9 contains information about people registered in the living space. It is often obtained for purchase and sale transactions and other real estate transactions. To receive it, we contact the organization that maintains registration records for this housing construction (HOA, etc.). It should be borne in mind that for outsiders (unregistered) in this living space, citizens will be asked for a power of attorney from the owner of the apartment to obtain a certificate.
A registration certificate can also be obtained from the “passport office” of the UVM. However, information about deregistration (in connection with leaving for another locality, or upon death), according to the Administrative Regulations for the execution of the Federal Migration Service of the state function of organizing and conducting address-reference work, order No. 422 of October 29, 2007. item 52 are stored for 10 years, after which they are subject to destruction.
The ancestor was a career military man - a copy of his personal file will be stored in the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (TsAMO) http://archive.mil.ru/ (MO, Podolsk, Kirova St., 74).
If you were a career military man before 1941. - submit a request to the Russian State Military Archive http://rgvarchive.ru/ (Moscow, Adm. Makarova, 29).
To search for information about ancestors as participants in the Second World War, the following link may be useful:
General: when you send a request by mail to any organization or institution: enclose in the envelope photocopies of documents confirming your relationship with the person for whom you are requesting information. This is really necessary.
District, city and regional archives (depending on the administrative subordination of the locality). In any case, each region/subject has a State Regional Archive. Departmental archives, and archives of specific institutions/organizations. As the final authority - the federal archives of the Russian Federation.
We find out addresses (including electronic ones) and telephone numbers on the Internet. We call (this is more rational) and find out whether they have the necessary information (otherwise we find out who else we can contact). Next, we send a written request to them.
We make the request in any form.
It is imperative to indicate the addressee, the reason for the request (in our case, the request will be “social and legal” and is carried out free of charge), and formulate specific questions. Known information should be presented in as much detail as possible. If it is not possible, ask for help regarding the essence of the request, suggest the address of an authorized organization, or ask to transfer the request within the competence.
First, briefly state the purpose for which you are requesting information. Next is the maximum known information about the ancestor. You can attach a copy of his birth certificate. For convenience and ease of perception (in the archive, because real people also work!) be sure to state known information in chronological order.
Be as clear as possible about the questions you want to find out.
In a separate sentence, ask, if the required information is missing, to suggest where else you can apply, or ask to redirect your request according to competence.
It is also necessary to indicate your personal data: full name, and return address, indicating the postal code. It is recommended to provide a phone number and email address.
On the websites of the State Archives you can also find paid service"genealogical inquiry". The price list and the procedure for providing services can be found on the state archives website. As a rule, in this case it is proposed to send a letter-questionnaire to the archive, which indicates mandatory items, without which the search is impossible. If the specified information is sufficient to conduct a search of state archive documents, the applicant is sent a receipt for prepayment. Upon completion of the work, a final cost estimate (including prepayment) and a receipt are sent. You will be charged regardless of the search result.
We should also not forget about the possibility of independently searching archives in the reading rooms.
Individuals (organizations) providing genealogical search services on a paid basis are a possible choice, however, in the end, the documents (copies) you receive must be in the right way certified.
Conclusions. Algorithm of actions
1. Go through your personal archive, sit down at the table, and based on documents and information known to you, WRITT OUT all the known reliable facts of your biography. You contact your living relatives for information; perhaps they still have some documents. It will also be useful to use the Internet to obtain information about a given place, time, political and economic events (what locality, occupation of the population, industrial facilities, churches, etc.).
2. When the overall picture becomes clear, you can move on to queries. From city to regional and federal archives. Including departmental ones. We treat requests as confirmation known facts- for documentary confirmation. So in the opposite direction: is your relative on the list of workers at the enterprise (for example, you found out that in known time in this locality was the only enterprise). All repressions, exiles, and evacuations were reflected in one way or another in the general departmental “bases.”
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