Obtaining a SIM Card for Foreign Citizens

How to get a SIM card/Confirm your biometrics and IMEI for existing SIM card holders

If you are a Temporary Resident (TRP/РВП), or a Permanent Residence (RP/ВНЖ) holder, your should already have SNILS (СНИЛС) and a verified State Services (Gosuslugi) account. You can skip to Step 3.

This article also contains relevant information for those who already have a SIM card and need to confirm their biometrics and IMEI number with their mobile service carrier before July 1, 2025.

Step 1 - Get SNILS

Contact the Social Fund of Russia, the MFC or your employer to obtain SNILS. You will need;

Your Passport
A notarised translation of your passport
A valid e-mail address

The document will be ready immediately. In exceptional cases where it may take up to five days to process.

Step 2 - Create an account on Gosuslugi

Contact a convenient bank branch or MFC. You will need:

Passport and its notarised translation
A valid e-mail address (same as used in Step 1)
Your SNILS

The account will be confirmed on the day of application.

Step 3 - Register your biometrics at a bank branch

Contact a convenient bank branch. You will need;

Passport and its notarised translation
A valid e-mail address (same as used in Step 1)
Your SNILS
Verified account on Gosuslugi
A bank employee will take a photo of you and record your voice.
The biometric status will be displayed on State Services (Gosuslugi).

To verify your biometrics are ready, you need to;

Install the application Gosuslugi Biometria (Госуслуги Биометрия) from the AppStore or PlayStore.
Log in to the application using your username and password from State Services (Gosuslugi)
Scan your passport with your phone's camera
Attach your phone to the plastic page of your passport to read encrypted data using NFC.
Take a picture and say the three sequences of numbers on the screen. After which, standard biometrics services will be available in a few minutes.

For existing SIM card holders

Before July 1, 2025, you need to visit any convenient mobile operator salon of your service carrier to verify the existence of your biometrics and provide the IMEI number of your mobile deevice. It would be advised to take any relevant documents with you, such as; Passport and its notarised translation, Your SNILS (just in case), and your device you have State Services (Gosuslugi) and Gosuslugi Biometria apps installed to complete the process.

Important for those who already have SNILS and have renewed their Passports

If you have renewed your passport (eg: a different/new one) since obtaining your SNILS, you must ensure your SNILS is linked to your new/current passport. To do this, visit your local Social Fund office to have them verify the correct passport is linked to your SNILS, or to have it corrected.

Gosuslugi Profile is not updating?

For cases where Gosuslugi is not updating to show your SIM/eSIM on your profile, or is still saying “Данные Получены” with a date, and as long as you have already completed all the previous steps mentioned in this article, continue reading for instructions on how to fix it yourself.

If Gosuslugi is still saying “Данные Получены” with a date, tap/click the word “Обноить”. The message will disappear.

Then go to the main screen of the Gosuslugi app on your mobile device and tap on [госкан] in the top right corner of the screen and scan the attachment of this article named, Gosuslugi-QR-for-Verification.png.

Follow the prompts in the Gosuslugi app to submit the required information and then once completed, you should then see your SIM/eSIM on your profile. To see an example of this, refer to the attachment of this article named, Registered-SIM-example.jpg.

Please note that the IMEI number may take time to populate from your service provider. Should it not populate before July 1, 2025, visit your providers store to verify they still have it in their system.