Passport of a citizen of the USSR

Since 1932, the passport had a gray fabric cover with a black coat of arms of the USSR on top and with black inscriptions “PASSPORT” in the middle: Cyrillic (Russian, Belarusian), Georgian and Armenian scripts, Latin (Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian), Arabic script.

From 1954 to 1975, the issuance of passports was regulated by the provision on passports, approved by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of October 21, 1953 . They were a little smaller format, the cover was dark green with a diagonal textured mesh. The inscription "PASSPORT" in black letters was located in the middle, in the upper part there was a black coat of arms of the USSR. The first passport of this type was issued to a citizen at the age of 16; its validity was limited to 5 years, after which the passport was subject to replacement. Subsequent passports could be issued already with a validity period of 10 years. A citizen who has reached the age of 45 was issued a passport with an unlimited validity period.

Prior to the introduction of a unified passport system, a Soviet passport confirmed the identity of its owner both abroad and within the USSR and was issued to citizens from among public servants and working abroad. It was he who was glorified by Mayakovsky in his lines:

I

I get

from wide legs

duplicate

priceless cargo.

Read

envy

I -

citizen

Soviet Union.

- V.V. Mayakovsky, Poems on a Soviet Passport , 1929

By resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of August 28, 1974 No. 677 "On the Approval of the Regulations on the Passport System in the USSR" a new form of the document was approved. For the first time in the history of the Russian Empire and the USSR, it obliged all Soviet citizens who reached the age of 16 to have a passport. Until January 1, 1975, the procedure for administrative registration, control and regulation of population movement through the introduction of passports was regulated by a decree of the Central Executive Committee and Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 27, 1932 “On the Establishment of a Unified Passport System for the USSR and Compulsory Registration of Passports”, which indicated the following reasons for certification:

Establish a unified passport system for the SSR Union on the basis of the provision on passports ... In order to better take into account the population of cities, workers' settlements and new buildings and unload these populated areas from persons unrelated to production and work in institutions or schools and not engaged in socially useful work ( with the exception of disabled people and pensioners), as well as in order to clean these populated places from hiding kulak, criminal and other antisocial elements.

The cover of the passport turned dark red with the inscription “USSR”, made in gold letters in the upper part, the gold emblem of the USSR in the center and the inscription “PASSPORT” in gold letters in the lower part. Passports were issued to citizens over 16 years of age, were not limited in duration. When the owner reached the age of 25 and 45 years old, a new photo was pasted into the passport. In the passports, the surname, name and patronymic of the citizen, the date and place of his birth, nationality in Russian and in the language of the corresponding union republic or autonomous republic were written in handwritings. Stamps were affixed on marital status, registration, discharge and military duty. Sometimes special marks were also put in passports, for example, blood type and Rh factor , until 1990 information was provided on the availability of a criminal record ^[1] , information about the lack of the right to be closer than 101 kilometers from the regime cities, information about the person's previous citizenship.

In addition to internal passports in general, in the USSR military ID cards and officer ID cards were also used to verify citizenship; military personnel did not have passports.

When traveling abroad, the following were used: a general foreign passport (brown), a service passport (blue), a diplomatic passport (green), a sailor's passport. The transliteration of the name and surname from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin script in foreign passports was carried out in accordance with the norms of the French language .

Upon returning to the USSR, these passports had to be handed over to the institutions issuing them.

Regarding the terms for obtaining new passports, the resolution of August 28, 1974 states as follows:

The issuance of new passports should be carried out from January 1, 1976 to December 31, 1981. Citizens living in rural areas who have not been issued passports before will be issued passports when traveling to another locality for a long period of time, and when leaving for a period of up to one and a half months, as well as in a sanatorium, rest house, at meetings, on business trips, or when temporarily involving them for sowing, harvesting and other work, certificates are issued by the executive committees of rural and village Soviets of working people's deputies that certify their identity and purpose of departure. The certificate form is established by the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to the provision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of October 21, 1953 “On Passports”, the list of localities where citizens were required to have passports was somewhat expanded. In addition to cities, district centers and urban-type settlements, passports were introduced for workers and employees living in the village, including workers of state farms. The rural population began to receive passports only in 1974, and between 1935 and 1974 the collective farmers were not allowed to move to another locality, and they were tied to the collective farm and place of residence ^[2] . Collective farmers (the total number of which of all ages, according to the 1970 census, was about 50 million people, or 20.5% of the country's population), as before, were deprived of passports and freedom of movement ^[3] . They could not leave their place of residence without them. According to paragraph 11 of the passport resolution, this entailed a fine of up to 100 rubles and expulsion by the police. Repeated violation entailed criminal liability. Article 192a introduced on July 1, 1934 in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926 provided for imprisonment for up to two years ^[4] .

The report on the situation with passports in rural areas in 1967 is presented by the report of the First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and the Chief Responsible for Agriculture Dmitry Polyansky:

According to the USSR Ministry of Public Order, the number of people living in rural areas and not having a passport right reaches almost 58 million people (aged 16 and over); this amounts to 37 percent of all citizens of the USSR. The lack of passports for these citizens creates significant difficulties for them in the exercise of labor, family and property rights, admission to study, when receiving various types of mail, purchasing goods on credit, registration in hotels, etc. ... ^[5]

For passported citizens, the registration regime was maintained. All persons who changed their place of residence at least temporarily for a period of more than 3 days were subject to registration. The concept of temporary registration was introduced (while maintaining a permanent place of residence). In all cases, the passport had to be registered at the daily rate and registered in the cities no later than 3 days from the day of arrival, and in rural areas - no later than 7 days. It was possible to register constantly only if there was a stamp on discharge from the previous place of residence.

It was possible to "register" and "write out" only by personally appearing at the " passport desk " of the police station. These actions, as well as obtaining exit visas at the OVIR , could not be completed by mail , so long lines often formed.

On December 9, 1992, Government Decree No. 950 of the RSFSR approved temporary documents proving citizenship of the Russian Federation, which were put in Soviet passports until 2002. Prior to the adoption of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 08.07.1997 No. 828 “On approval of the Regulation on the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation, a sample form and description of the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation”, citizens of the Russian Federation were issued passports of a USSR citizen with a text printed on the second page of the cover attesting to citizenship Russian Federation

Subsequently, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, by its decision of November 4, 2003 No. CAS 03-521, recognized that the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 08.07.1997 No. 828 does not regulate the validity of passports and imposes no obligations on citizens.

In the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation attempted to exchange passports of a citizen of the USSR until July 1, 2004.

As of 2019, the passport of a citizen of the USSR is valid in Russia .

At present, change.org signatures are being collected on the American site change.org, requiring the State Duma of the Russian Federation to legally oblige government departments responsible for issuing identity cards to certify USSR Passports in accordance with the current Regulation on the Passport System in the USSR (Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of 08.28. 1974 N 677) ^[6]

• Passport system
• Registration
• Fifth column
• Lichen

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  Passport sample 1929

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  U-turn of passport of L.I. Brezhnev of 1947

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  Cover of the Soviet passport sample
  1953 year

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  Cover of the Soviet passport, 1976 .

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  U-turn of the Soviet passport, 1976.

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  Cover of the Soviet passport sample 1991

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  An exit visa form for a passport.

• Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of August 28, 1974 No. 677 "On approval of the regulations on the passport system in the USSR"
• Popov V. The passport system of Soviet serfdom // New World. - 1996. - No. 6
• Yuri Shapoval , "Imperative need":
• “Soviet” passports can become legitimate