How to make a request to the archive about relatives? Request to the archive - sample. Archive: how to make a request related to the restoration of family ties and the creation of a family tree

What do people do when there is a need to restore lost information of various types or simply find out socially significant information (this could be data about relatives, obtaining copies of lost documents, restoring information about work, awards, location of people or institutions and other background information)? 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.

Archiving has appeared since time immemorial. This is evidenced by historical finds confirming that all civilizations that reached a certain level of development had state archives. Documents from the archives of Babylon, Egypt, the Assyrian kingdom, Ancient Rome (there was not only an archive of the Senate and consuls, but also an archive of priests, as well as separate archives of famous families), Byzantium, Ancient Greece, as well as from the archives of medieval Europe have survived to this day. . It must be said that already many thousands of years ago, archives were divided on a territorial basis: into central archives and repositories and those that were in the provinces. In Europe, there were first archives of overlords and vassals, and then city and church archives.

Modern archives
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).

All archives are divided into:

• federal, government, state, current, historical;
  
• municipal and city;
  
• public, private, community.
  

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.

In addition, archives are not always approached for information relating to a specific individual; quite often historical documents are also requested. This is done by those who need them due to their occupation, for example, screenwriters, writers, scientists. Archival documents are often used when writing dissertations or scientific papers. In the case where documents are needed to write a scientific work, in addition to a passport and an application for their provision, a document from the organization where the applicant studies or works, confirming his status and the topic of work, will also be required.

Where exactly should you go?
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 are talking about restoring entries in the 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 settlements or regions where the enterprise where a man worked. 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.

You can also use the online guide to Russian archives - guides.rusarchives.ru. There you can search through 49 regional archives and 31 federal ones. You can also go to the official website of Rosarkhiv.

Archive requests: classification and deadlines
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;
  
• genealogical - such requests involve obtaining information that will allow one to establish kinship or clarify the history of an individual family or clan;
  
• socio-legal - such requests are usually associated with obtaining information that is necessary to comply with the legal rights and interests of individuals or organizations; Socio-legal include official requests from authorities, consular requests, as well as requests from legal entities and individuals (the latter may relate to health status, salary, length of service, military service, education, repression, awards, acts of civil condition, etc.).
  

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.

But there are situations when people, without understanding it, submit a request to the wrong address. In this case, it will be recognized as non-core and sent as belonging to another archive within five days from the date of receipt. In this case, archive workers must notify the applicant that the request has been forwarded and indicate the address of another archive.

Making a 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:

• to whom the request is sent (you can indicate the name of the organization and the full name of its head);
  
• Full name and address of the applicant;
  
• applicant's contact phone number;
  
• outgoing number, institution details, legal address (this data is indicated if the request is submitted by a legal entity).
  

Next comes the name of the document: “Application,” but you can also write it like this: “On obtaining an archival certificate.” After the name you should indicate:

• 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);
  
• the reason why the information is requested;
  
• the address to which the response to the request should be sent (this can also be email);
  
• date of the request;
  
• signature of an individual, responsible executive or director of an institution (if the request is submitted by an organization).
  

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).

What do the archives reveal?
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.

And if there is no information on the request in the archive, then the applicant will receive a letter outlining the reasons for the lack of documents and recommendations for further actions.

If you need to find relatives, restore a lost birth certificate, or study historical documents to write a dissertation, you just need to make a request to the archive, writing a competent application.

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. In addition, archives are not always approached for information relating to a specific individual; quite often historical documents are also requested. This is done by those who need them due to their occupation, for example, screenwriters, writers, scientists. Archival documents are often used when writing dissertations or scientific papers. In the case where documents are needed to write a scientific work, in addition to a passport and an application for their provision, a document from the organization where the applicant studies or works, confirming his status and the topic of work, will also be required.

How to make a request to the registry office

Full name of the applicant

• applicant's address and passport details
• address of the civil registry office closest to the applicant
• required document
• Full name to whom this document should be issued
• date of entry
• purpose of obtaining the document
• The re-issuance of documents by the registry office is subject to a state fee: for example, today a certificate from the archive will cost 50 rubles, and a new marriage certificate will cost 100 rubles. How to make a request to the registry office for marriage via the Internet A request to the registry office via the Internet is most often made by potential newlyweds who want to book a marriage registration date.
  To make a request to the registry office for marriage via the Internet, you must use the services of the government services website of your region. Such services provide the opportunity to choose a convenient date and time for the wedding, provided that it is not busy.

How to make a request to the registry office in another city?

I was puzzled as to how my ex-husband and I viewed the Kursk region if we had never been there. I called my registry office - it turned out that they had the certificate, and by mistake they almost sent me to the Kursk region.

I came to the registry office and wrote an application for the issuance of this certificate. The certificate was issued free of charge - they do not charge money for the certificate.

Making a 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:

• to whom the request is sent (you can indicate the name of the organization and the full name of its head);
• Full name and address of the applicant;
• applicant's contact phone number;
• outgoing number, institution details, legal address (this data is indicated if the request is submitted by a legal entity). Next comes the name of the document: “Application,” but you can also write it like this: “On obtaining an archival certificate.”

How to make various types of requests to the registry office and archival institutions

Attention

But I always write by paper, then the chances of getting an answer are even greater. But if by email, then it is best to send a scan of the request with a signature, then in second place is the application in the Verdov attachment, and there in the header “to the head of such and such a registry office,” then in the middle “Application,” then “Please provide ...”, the date.

I also put the outgoing number of the letter, but this is already my quirk. In paper form they answered my requests, which I wrote in free form.
Best regards, Sergei. Top il16 Beginner Messages: 47 Registration: 22 Nov. 2009Rating: 11 December 25, 2009 8:40 ## mod970 And yet, this is still only “IMHO”, which coincides with the opinion of a few... especially those who are used to sitting on a chair and emphasizing their importance... I wrote about this above. One of the options for resolving this issue could be the wholesale digitization of archives, starting with civil registration books.

Communication with the registry office archive in the Russian Federation

This form, for example, was given to me at the Orsk city registry office. It is valid and valid. The request is sent to the Civil Registry Office at the place of birth, death, or marriage registration.
The document arrives at your district or city registry office, where you, after paying a fee, pick up the certificate you need. Remember, no one will send you an extract to your postal address! Sometimes you don’t know where to make a request, this should not be an obstacle for you, because many government services can redirect you to one or another office or organization.

Important

My advice to you: don’t be afraid, write, someone will answer, because searching is a long, painstaking task that requires patience and many years of work. Sometimes the big picture is made up of very minor details.

After the name you should indicate:

• 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);
• the reason why the information is requested;
• the address to which the response to the request should be sent (this can also be email);
• date of the request;
• signature of an individual, responsible executive or director of an institution (if the request is submitted by an organization). 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).

How to make a request to the archive about relatives? archive request - sample

Ryazan region Tishkins, Shchepelevs, Lazarevs, Avdeevs. From the Tambov region, Morshansky district, the Klimakins and Kostnikovs.

From the Moscow region of the Molchanovs To the top NoTA Long-time forum resident V. NovgorodMessages: 779Registration: Aug 4 2009Rating: 521 January 3, 2010 2:59 pm ## iozhka iozhka wrote: [q] Is an extract from the registration book NOT a certificate? If you request an extract, will it be the most informative? In principle, you can request in any form (certificate, repeated certificate, or formulate the request in “free form”), but the answer is sent, as a rule, in the form of a certificate (or repeated certificate).

But the certificate does not completely duplicate the act record from the book; they will issue the information that corresponds to the information in the certificate of the requested period. So, unfortunately, you shouldn’t really hope that they will tell you everything that is written in the deed registration book...

Although, there are exceptions.

In order to obtain a repeated certificate of state registration of a civil status act or another document confirming the fact of state registration of a civil status act, it is necessary to contact the civil registry office in person or in writing at the place of registration of the civil status act. If the first copy of the civil status record has not been preserved, a repeat certificate of state registration of the civil status act is issued by the executive authority of the subject of the Russian Federation in which the second copy of the civil status record is stored.

In this case, if the state registration of a civil status act was carried out in the civil registry office of the Kurgan region, a repeat document is issued by the Civil Registry Office of the Kurgan region.

To the Civil Registry Office from the last name, first name, patronymic of the resident(s) at the address, identification document series No. issued " " APPLICATION Please issue a repeat marriage/divorce certificate (underline as appropriate) last name, first name, patronymic at the time of marriage /divorce and surname, first name, patronymic at the time of marriage/divorce Place of state registration name of the civil registry office Date of state registration " ", a/z No. Document required " "

signature Or like this: Form No. 18 Approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 31, 1998 No. 1274 To the Civil Registry Office from the last name, first name, patronymic of the person residing at the address, identification document series No. issued " "

How to correctly submit a request to the registry office via the Internet to an email address

Objections like: “DO YOU realize what a TITANIC work this is!” and “How much money is needed for this!” I think it's inappropriate. The age of high technology... We will come to this soon anyway.

The question of timing is only due to the all-round resistance of uninterested persons who would do their best not to do this. mod970I just can’t imagine that people who deal with genealogy will rush to the registry office without permission to make changes, cross out and erase in books that were 75 or 90 years old... And even more so, that everyone will rush there.

Even despite the growing interest in searching for one’s roots, there is no talk of any kind of boom when crowds of citizens rush through archives and registry offices. Moderator's comment: two posts in a row, with a gap of seven minutes, have been combined To the top iozhka Beginner Moscow Messages: 47 Registration: 18 Dec.

An archive is a government institution that ensures the safety of documents, favorable conditions for their use, provides information to state authorities and local governments, 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 individuals 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,
• service in military units and formations,
• about health status,
• rewarding, conferring 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 company will want to make sure that the employee actually had experience working in a 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 by the Rules for the work of users in the reading rooms of the state archives of the Russian Federation).

The range of paid work and services performed by archives is established by the Federal Archive Service of 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 categories of legal entities 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, it is necessary to contact the archival management body of the given region with a request for the reason why the sent appeal 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. There are difficulties with commercial organizations due to 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 phone 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 (sample 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 of the organization’s staffing table for the corresponding period, other payments - on the basis of orders on personnel matters or on the 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 on how to find the 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 Operation 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 unit of the organization or a unit within the documentation support service of management (office work), which receives and stores archival documents with 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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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 contact archive request. 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

• Do you want to get acquainted with the biography of an ancestor, get historical information, etc. - you need it more thematic request.
• If you are interested in the history of an entire family or clan at once, if you want to find out whether a person is related to you or not - we create genealogical request.
• If you need material to ensure the legitimate interests or rights of someone - socio-legal request (service; from an individual or legal entity;consular - from foreigners to Russian archives, from Russians - to foreign ones).

Making a request

1. We are writing to the director of the archive.
2. We indicate information about ourselves or the organization on behalf of which the request is being created.
3. We indicate the return address and contact phone number. Otherwise, where will they answer you?
4. 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.
5. 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 know the date of birth, death or marriage, please contact District registry office. But only on the condition that no more than 75 years have passed.
• If you need to establish an exact date, from which more than 75 years have passed, we send a request to state regional archive.
• If you want to know about a relative’s work, achievements, awards, merits, please contact organization archive, where he was located. 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 gain access to historical documents, your scientific institution must submit to the archive "Attitude" where the organization that sent you to the archive and the subject of the request will be noted.

If you apply on your own initiative, they will only ask passport. You will receive the application form to fill out on site.

Some services can only be obtained for a fee eg 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 in “ How to make a request to the archive?”

1. Inga

   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... =((

2. admin author of the post

   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 the State Archive of the Chernigov Region of Ukraine (as it turned out, my ancestors moved to the Far East from the Chernigov province at the end of the 19th century), I will definitely tell you on the blog what will come of it. The last issue of our magazine was also dedicated to the archives.

3. Natalia Melnikova

   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!

4. Yulchatka

   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))

5. Victoria

   Lena, hello!

   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 it 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!

6. Maria

   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 the tsarist army, had awards, but that’s where served by whom, we do not know. 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 of my great-grandfather’s sister, 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.

7. Elena

   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?

Hello, dear readers. Since the topic of searching for one’s ancestors has become popular in recent years, many have become eager to create their own family tree, write a family encyclopedia or a book of the life of their family. I’ll say right away that there are a lot of resources where you can find recommendations for this work, you just need to do a search in Yandex or Google, like “how to make your own pedigree”, “how to create a pedigree book”.

It is also available on our website.

But now briefly about where to get material for the genealogy book. After interviewing relatives and rustling through the family archives, it’s time to go to the archives. And the easiest thing is to go to the state archive of the regional center in which you live. In the archive, with a well-developed algorithm for working with family historians, you will be interviewed. Don't be scared! This is to determine how prepared you are to work in the archive.

What kind of search engine researcher am I? Determine your level of readiness for work

It is quite obvious that if you are going to the archive for the first time, and you just have a burning desire to find information about your ancestors, then you are poorly prepared for working in the archive. By the way, you will not be allowed to access the funds. Only in the reading room. But historical documents will fall into your hands. And you need to know how to work with them.

Don’t feel strong enough to work with archival files on your own?

Make a genealogical request, and the archive staff will find the necessary information themselves.

What request should I make?

Requests received by the archives are divided into thematic, genealogical and socio-legal requests.
A thematic request is a request for information on a specific issue, topic, event or fact. A type of thematic query is a biographical query, which establishes the information necessary to study the life of a particular person and clarifies the facts of his biography.
Genealogical request - a request expressing the need for documentary information establishing kinship, family ties of two or more persons, family history, clan.
A request of a socio-legal nature is a request from a specific person or organization related to ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of citizens.

What requests should the archive respond to?
The archive is obliged to respond not to all requests, but only to those for which certain rules are followed. The request must contain:

information about who wrote it - the name of the organization or the surname, first and patronymic of the citizen,
postal address so that we can respond to your request by mail,
topic - that is, it must be clearly formulated what exactly you want to know, simply retelling the history of your family and expressing the desire that you would like to know something else is useless, you need a specific question,
chronological framework of the requested information - asking to find all bearers of your last name in all archive documents is pointless, but asking to do this for a specific region and chronological period is quite acceptable.

The archives will most likely simply not respond to requests in which these conditions are not met. They are obliged to answer other requests, but sometimes strange cases happen - one archive, for example, could not answer requests because, due to its difficult financial situation, it did not have envelopes (this is a completely real case).

Archivists will not praise me, but I will still give a little advice

After you've submitted your request, it makes sense to call the archives to see if your request has been received, and then call again to see how things are going. I repeat, this is in the category of “bad advice,” but it really helps.

The deadlines for completing a thematic or genealogical request will be established by prior agreement with you - they depend on the complexity of finding the necessary information.
We write the request to the director of the archive. There is no strict form for the request; the main thing is that everything is written clearly.
There is no need to rush and ask for a pedigree to be compiled for you; move gradually.
You write a letter like this:
To the director of the archive so-and-so
Address
From (your name and address)
Statement

I, (full name), (if you assume that you may be provided with benefits, write it right away, that is, a war veteran, mother of many children, personal pensioner, etc.) please help me in a genealogical search (if you think that this can be considered as a thematic request or a request of a socio-legal nature, write about it here, for this you need to indicate the reason for the search, for example, in connection with the issue of inheritance).
My (degree of relationship) (full name), (such and such) religion, was born in such and such a locality on such and such a date in such and such a year, which is indicated in (such and such a document, for example, a marriage certificate). Please, using the birth registers or other funds available in your archive, provide me with information about his parents and send me copies of available documents. I guarantee payment (you can omit this point; some archives fulfill some requests for free).
Sincerely
Full name
Date of.

And now the explanations of “if”
1) If you don’t know exactly when your ancestor was born, you can be less specific, then you need to write: “according to family tradition, he was born in such and such a locality approximately in such and such a year” and, accordingly, ask to clarify the date of birth in the application .

2) If your ancestor lived not in a village, but in a city, especially a large one, where there were many church parishes, it is advisable to know his address (then, most likely, he was a parishioner of the parish closest to his place of residence). Perhaps the archive will agree to look through information about all parishes, but it will be very expensive.

3) If a non-core request is received (for example, you mixed up Veliky and Nizhny Novgorod and sent the letter to the wrong place), the archive sends it to the correct archive or writes in the answer that you made a mistake, explaining where to go. By law, a response to a non-core request should not take more than 5 days from the date the request is received in the archive.
Requests from organizations and citizens are considered by the management of the archive, sent for execution to the appropriate department or directly to the executor, and must be executed according to all documents and printed publications stored in the archive related to the subject of the request.
When a non-core request is received, the archive sends it to the place where the requested documents are stored or gives organizations and citizens appropriate recommendations.
The archive works to fulfill thematic requests of users in the provision of paid services (including on the basis of a contract) or free of charge. The timing and cost of work to fulfill user requests are agreed with them - pay attention to this point, you must be told in advance how much you will have to pay.
If it is necessary to conduct a search through a significant set of documents and organize their copying, the archive informs the user in writing about the interim results of the work.

Still have questions?

On the website of the Federal Archival Agency there are also answers to questions related to requests for restoring family ties and creating a family tree.

If you don’t have the time or confidence that you can handle it, hire private genealogist