Until the age of 14 and the receipt of the first passport, the child's main document is a birth certificate. But, despite the importance of this document, it looks "undignified" - a sheet of stamped paper that easily wrinkles, abrades at the corners and folds. The safety of the birth certificate could be ensured by lamination, but is it possible to resort to this method of protecting the papers in this case?
Why is lamination of a birth certificate dangerous?
In Russia, lamination of documents is used quite widely and some of the documents are issued already rolled up in film in whole or in part. Remember at least SNILS cards, driver's licenses or a page with a photograph in passports. But at the same time, a strict ban was imposed on the lamination of all documents issued by the registry office.
In accordance with Article 9 of the Federal Law No. 143 "On Acts of Civil Status", after lamination, the child's birth certificate (as well as any other document issued by the registry office) is considered unfit for use. At the same time, since it is no longer possible to "de-laminate" the paper without damaging them, and the damaged document will have to be changed.
There are several reasons for this selective approach to lamination. The fact is that it is no longer possible to accurately establish the authenticity of the stamp blank under the layer of film; moreover, lamination can hide traces of "corrections" in the text. It is difficult to film and scan and photocopy a document (and with a birth certificate, such operations have to be done quite often). And finally, it is no longer possible to put any marks on the laminated document (for example, a seal of citizenship or a stamp on the issuance of a passport), which makes it impossible to fully use it.
Amendments to Federal Law No. 143, equating lamination to damage to a document, were introduced in 2016 - and if until that time the certificates covered with film could still be considered valid, now any official has the right to refuse to accept such a document.
How to ensure the safety of the document
In the Soviet era, birth certificates were hard cardboard "crusts", with no problems with storage and use. The modern letterhead has a non-standard format (181x252 mm), which is not very convenient to carry with you when unfolded. At the same time, folding it several times is also not very good - if the text on the folds becomes unreadable, the certificate will again be invalid. From July 2019, new forms of certificates will appear - however, changes will affect only the size of the document (it will be brought to the standard A4 format - 210x297 mm), but it is not supposed to be "strengthened".
For the safety of the certificate, you can purchase a special folder (only it is better to give preference not to souvenir options with rich decor, but to strong "crusts") or an envelope made of durable plastic, the size of which corresponds to the form - this will help the certificate not to get lost among the stack of documents and not wrinkle in the bag. Covers with several pockets are also produced at once - all children's documents can be stored in them at once (SNILS, insurance policy, etc.). But an ordinary clerical file is not the best option, the document in it will be safer than in its "naked" form, but it will still wrinkle.
