A family residing in Chuvashia, raising four children, has been deprived of their official multi-child status. The reason cited is the change in the husband`s registration address, which occurred when he took on new employment requiring him to register in a different region. This change led to the wife being denied the renewal of their multi-child status certificate, based on a specific republican law. According to a legal expert, while regional regulations requiring family members to be registered in the same region are generally permissible, the family might still explore challenging the decision in court.
Marina, a listener from Chuvashia, shared her situation. She explained that her family initially received multi-child status in 2020 after their third child was born and successfully renewed it in 2022 upon the birth of their fourth. However, her recent application for renewal was rejected. Marina recounted her experience:
We`ve had multi-child family status since 2020, when our third child was born. This status was extended in 2022 when our fourth child was born, and was last extended on July 5, 2025. After that period expired, I applied through `Gosuslugi` (State Services portal) to extend the multi-child family status. Just yesterday, I received a rejection – because my husband registered in another region at the beginning of this year. The rejection refers to a law of the Chuvash Republic, stating that both spouses must be registered in this region. I don`t know what to do in this situation: having four minor children, I cannot get multi-child family status. We don`t receive any state support measures, because those are intended only for low-income families. If you have an apartment, a car – you are no longer considered low-income.
In principle, what does this status provide if it`s not material support? Are these some benefits, what is it?
No, I don`t receive any benefits from the state specifically for being a multi-child family. We only used this certificate during the summer when we travel to the capital (presumably Cheboksary or another major city). There, benefits for multi-child families are available, meaning we can visit parks, theaters, cinemas for free. We wanted to extend the status even for this – and still got rejected.
Given this predicament, is legal action a viable option? Lawyer Alexander Nabatov offered his perspective:
Alexander Nabatov, Lawyer:
In our country, the status of having many children and associated benefits are established by Presidential Decree No. 63 on social support measures for multi-child families. This decree applies throughout the Russian Federation. It provides for benefits such as discounts on utility payments, fuel compensation, free prescription medicines, and free public transport. The decree also explicitly states that constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including Chuvashia, have the right to provide additional benefits. Therefore, the statement that multi-child status provides nothing in Chuvashia – I believe the speaker was not entirely accurate.
Regarding the definition of a family, including a multi-child one – it typically refers to a situation where the mother, father, and children are located and registered in the same region, meaning they reside together. Thus, for someone to obtain multi-child status, they must indeed be registered in the same constituent entity of the Russian Federation where their wife and children are registered. In this specific case, I believe the father should maintain his permanent registration where his family is registered. This doesn`t necessarily require them to all live at the exact same address. From this perspective, the requirements set by the local authorities are difficult to challenge legally.
