The father had to change his registration when starting a new job. Consequently, the mother was denied an extension of her multi-child status, citing a regional law. According to a lawyer, the regional requirements are legal, but the family can still try to contest the situation in court.
A listener, Marina from Chuvashia, contacted the editorial office. Her family with four children was deprived of multi-child status because her husband changed his registration to another region. He was forced to change his place of registration when he took a new job. Now Marina cannot obtain a multi-child family certificate:
— We have been in the status of a multi-child family since 2020, when our third child was born. This status was extended in 2022 when the fourth child was born, and it was extended again on July 5, 2025. After this term expired, I submitted an application for the extension of multi-child family status through Gosuslugi [Public Services portal], and just yesterday I received a refusal — due to my husband registering in another region at the beginning of this year. The refusal cited the Law of the Chuvash Republic, which states 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 do not receive any state support measures, because those support measures are only for low-income families. If you have an apartment, a car, you are no longer considered a low-income family.
— What does this status actually provide, if it`s not material support? Are these some benefits, what is it?
— No, I don`t receive any benefits from the state as a multi-child family. We only used this certificate in the summer when we travel to the capital [likely Moscow]. There are all the benefits for multi-child families there, such as free entry to parks, theaters, cinemas. We wanted to extend it, and we were still refused.
Is it worth going to court in such a situation? Lawyer Alexander Nabatov comments:
Alexander Nabatov
Lawyer
“In our country, multi-child status, and benefits in general, are established by Presidential Decree No. 63 on social support measures for multi-child families. This decree applies throughout the territory of the Russian Federation. Within the framework of this decree, discounts on utility payments, fuel compensation, free prescription medications, and free public transport are provided. It is separately stated that constituent entities of the Russian Federation, specifically Chuvashia, have the right to provide additional benefits. Therefore, the statement that multi-child status gives nothing in Chuvashia—I think the speaker [Marina] was not entirely correct. As for the concept of a family, including a multi-child family, it is when the mother, father, and children are in the same region, registered, i.e., living together. Therefore, for her to obtain multi-child status, indeed, the father must be registered in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation where his wife and children are registered. In this case, I think the father should keep his permanent place of registration where his family is registered. It doesn`t necessarily have to be the same registration address. In this regard, of course, the requirements of the local authorities cannot be contested.”
Marina does not yet know what she will do.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth