The girl married a foreigner, moved to Egypt for permanent residence, but receives benefits for the babies in her homeland. We will tell you how this is possible.
She shared with us a story about a mother who not only knows about her rights, but also will not allow officials to violate them. Tatiana Butskaya, the ideological inspirer and leader of the social movement Council of Mothers.
Albina married an Egyptian three years ago and moved to Cairo. A year later, the couple had their first child. The couple decided that the child should have dual citizenship, so Albina almost immediately collected the documents to apply to the Russian consulate in Egypt. It was July. I wanted to make it to Russia before autumn, but the consular staff cooled the ardor of the young mother: they said that there were too many applicants, citizenship would be issued only in three months, so they would have to wait.
To say that Albina was upset is to say nothing. She did not want to go home with the baby in October. Will citizenship have to be done for three months? Albina studied the issue, talked with compatriots living in other countries, and realized that the consular staff simply delay the paperwork.
She wrote a complaint addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, and – lo and behold – in three weeks all the documents were ready.
Arriving in Russia, Albina thought about applying for a childcare allowance for a child up to 1,5 years old. How successful this venture would be, Albina did not know. Many of her compatriot acquaintances who ended up in Cairo did not manage to receive the allowance. There was a lack of one document, then another – in the end, they were never able to process payments. Only one friend of Albina managed to see the case through and get the money. It was her example that Albina decided to follow. She was confident that she would achieve the due payments.
In the homeland of Albina’s optimism, no one shared. Even her own mom.
Albina consulted with lawyers. They confirmed that if the child has Russian citizenship, he is entitled to payments. True, not from birth, but from the moment of obtaining citizenship.
It’s time to go to social protection. The package of documents was impressive: a marriage certificate translated and certified at the consulate, a child’s birth certificate, TIN, insurance certificate, an extract from a work book, bank account details.
Social security officers were wary of the documents. They did not have an apostille – a stamp that is put on copies and originals of documents for their legalization and mutual recognition in the international community. Therefore, they refused to accept documents from Albina. However, she knew that Egypt was not included in the list of states using the apostille. It turns out that the social security officers were just trying to get rid of her.
But that was not the case – I had to double-check the information. It turns out that Albina was right. However, a new obstacle appeared: the girl was asked to provide her husband’s passport – it was necessary to check whether he works in the territory of the Russian Federation. Of course, Albina did not have this document with her. Who travels the world with someone else’s passport? I had to collect documents and leave with nothing.
It was just right to give up, and Albina was almost desperate. But I decided to contact the MFC – suddenly it will work out. And there they really helped her – they asked to write a statement in free form that it was not possible to provide her husband’s passport, and they accepted all the documents.
To be on the safe side, the purposeful mother nevertheless made a passport translation – the translator at the consulate advised. Albina took the document to the MFC, but she was told that she could do without it.
The paperwork took about two weeks to complete. For 1,5 years, as required by law, the state transferred child support. Albina’s only complaint is the competence of her consultants. The lawyers turned out to be wrong when they said that the allowance is calculated from the moment of obtaining citizenship. This is not the case. Money comes from birth. The main thing is to submit documents before the child turns six months old. Social workers demanded an apostille, which Egypt does not use. And the translator from the consulate in vain advised me to make a copy of my passport. I had to spend 8 thousand rubles on it, which is also money.
Albina is now expecting her second child. In the summer, she will go home to apply not only an allowance for up to one and a half years, but also maternity capital. She also has every right to him.
“If you live abroad, you and your child have Russian citizenship, be sure to use all the preferences you are entitled to. If you get a refusal, do not despair, knock on all doors, contact above! As a last resort, contact the Council of Mothers through social networks, and we will help you to receive all the payments due to you absolutely free of charge. “