Snimshchikov Maxim B.

This article is a continuation of the author’s examination of the functions of administrative bodies. According to Federal Law No. 115-FZ of July 25, 2002, «On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation», marriage is a legal basis that may lead to granting immigration statuses and benefits, such as temporary or permanent residence permits, citizenship, or specific residence regimes. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for overseeing the use of marriage as a basis for migration. This involves verifying the authenticity and origin of documents, ensuring that the information provided is correct, and determining whether the marriage is being used in good faith. In law enforcement practice, this function is implemented through a multi-level assessment model comprising documentary, registry-information and situational-behavioral elements. The documentary element covers legalization, apostille, convention regime, and translation issues. The registry-information element involves comparing information with data from state registries and interagency cooperation. The situational-behavioral element uses anti-fraud logic to identify contradictions and signs of unreliable grounds. The author concludes that there is a distinction between the validity of a marriage under family law and its «sufficiency» under immigration law. Additionally, the author discusses the corrective role of judicial review under the Code of Administrative Procedure of the Russian Federation. This review focuses on verifying the authority of the relevant agency, the justification for any denial, and the evidentiary basis for the conclusions reached by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The article justifies recognizing marriages registered abroad as a multi-level, institutionally differentiated process, rather than a one-time legal act. Although marriage is recognized under Russian law (Article 158 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation), its practical implementation depends on completing a series of procedural steps. Two scenarios for recognizing marriages with a foreign element are examined in detail: through civil registry offices and through notarial authorities. The study reveals that civil registry offices are primarily administrative and legal entities. They do not assess the material reality of marriage, but rather ensure the admission of foreign civil status records into the national document flow. The administrative rules applied by civil registry offices determine how marriage is actually enforced in everyday legal life. They act as a filter through which foreign marriages must pass to become legally «valid» in the national system. The author substantiates the infrastructural role of the notary, which involves establishing the evidential validity of foreign marriage documents for use in administrative and judicial proceedings. There is a fundamental difference between recognizing marriage as a legal fact and accepting a document that confirms this fact within the legal system of the Russian Federation.