When I go to MFC to get my biometrics so I can get my phone unlocked, does it have to be the original SNILS certificate - or can it be a copy of my SNILS certificate?
Also, is there an expiration date for the translation of my passport? In other words, if the translation was done a couple of years ago, but none of the information has changed, would they still accept it? I can’t find any information if a translation has a “time limit” or a “window” and then Russian law considers it too old to use.
@Cal You don’t have to go to an MFC for doing the biometrics. It’s easier to do it in a bank, like Sberbank. You don’t need to be a costumer and it is for free. After doing the biometrics, you have to wait one day to buy a SIM (that’s what they told me). I guess this also applies for unlocking a SIM. However, maybe you have to go to the MFC if you want to register your phone number in Gosuslugi.
Concerning SNILS, you only need the number.
If your passport is still valid, your notorized translation is valid too, but maybe some institutions will require a recent one. It’s dead easy to get one anyway.
When I went to an MFC in Moscow two months ago they told me to go to a bank to get my biometrics done. I don’t think it was possible to do it at the MFC.
There was nothing to stop me from getting a SIM card on the same day. In fact, without the SIM card, it would have been impossible to receive the SMS verification codes from Gosuslugi (yes, you can receive these codes even before the SIM card has been fully activated following full Gosuslugi verification - a very handy thing to know).
You do not need Gosuslugi verification to get a SIM card (I was given a free promotional one, which I think is a common thing the phone companies provide if you ask for one). But I was able to use the SIM card (for calls and messages other than Gosuslugi ones) only after my Gosuslugi account had been fully verified. This did in fact take me until the second day but I think in principle it could all have been done the same day.
As far as the certified translation of the passport is concerned, if the passport details have not changed I can’t think of any reason why your translation would not still be valid. The folks at the MFC and the bank wanted to see the translation so that they knew how to type in the details in Russian. I doubt they looked at the date it was translated.
@Jabod Although I wrote that you can only buy a SIM card one day after having done the biometrics, what I meant was activating it. Buying is easy, activating is the issue. I was informed about this in an MTS shop in Moscow. Seems that some data synchronization process have to be run before activating the chip.
I already have a SIM card. I already have a Russian phone number. It used to work.
But the “no phone” law went into effect after I left Russia. So I’m all screwed up now.
Sometimes, I can still get texts (SMS) with no problem.
I have Gosuslugi but I only have been able to verify myself at the very most basic level, being outside of Russia.
My plan is to go to an MFC and do the “standard” biometrics. I will have people to help me.
I am going there in a few weeks.
