The modern Russian pension system is designed in such a way that seniority no longer plays a special role. The main emphasis is on whether a person paid insurance premiums during his work. And it is precisely from them that future payments for entering legal holidays are formed in the future. The insurance certificate is the confirmation.
What kind of document?
One of the main ones, roughly like a passport. Insurance certificate compulsory pension insurance It looks like a small plastic (more precisely, laminated) card. It displays basic information about a person. Namely: his surname, name, patronymic, date of birth, insurance number of an individual personal account (SNILS), date of issue, gender of the citizen, place of his birth. 
And all this data must be truthful and reliable, there can be no mistakes. This also applies to common ones, which may not be taken into account in other documents, such as the difference between the letters "e" and "e". All data must be deducted from the passport.
Why do i need
An insurance certificate (it is also called SNILS) is required both for employment at work, and when submitting documents to any authorities, and even when contacting the clinic. Thanks to him, a person is gradually forming his future pension. At the same time, it can be both due to deductions made by employers, and due to voluntary contributions that a citizen can make independently. The pension system is designed so that a person accumulates two types of pensions during his working life: insurance and funded. But for the first one we need SNILS - personal account number. Obligatory insurance certificate is a guarantee that the person really worked or made independent contributions.
Why is it for children?
Often you can see an advertisement that children need SNILS. What for? Indeed, in theory, they still do not even work, which means that no deductions are made from them. However, this is not quite true. For example, parents receive their child benefits for a specific child. If he has an insurance certificate, then deductions will be made from these benefits to the future pension.
The system is designed so that ultimately a person in old age will have something to rely on, even if his labor guard is not too large.
More specifically about SNILS
The compulsory pension insurance certificate itself is not called that. This is already in the Pension Fund and among the people they began to reduce it so, since it is difficult to pronounce the full name of the document. SNILS is the insurance number of an individual personal account. That is, this is the very requisite for transfers. It is unique, each person has his own, having no analogues and repetitions. 
It is on this account that money transfers from the employer or voluntarily from a citizen, as in a bank. In addition, this number is a unique identifier in the system of state and municipal services.
Government Services Portal
According to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, about 70% of services by 2018 should be provided in electronic form, just through a single portal. And registration on it is not possible if the person has no insurance certificate. His number is the identifier of the user's identity, as well as his login (username) or password recovery method. Therefore, it is necessary to get it even for non-working citizens.Where to get an insurance certificate? There are not many options.
Where to go
The easiest option would be to visit the branch of the Pension Fund at the place of residence or temporary registration. On average, production takes 20-30 days. You can find out the exact date already at the PFR branch, as well as where to get the insurance certificate yet. 
So, for example, there are institutions such as multifunctional service centers. They are at the moment in almost every large settlement of Russia. There, such a service as changing the insurance certificate, its production or duplication (in case of loss) takes about ten days. By the way, sometimes in the department of the Pension Fund they immediately send a person to a multifunctional center in order to save time.
What you need when handling idle
It is enough to have only a passport or any other document that certifies your identity. In this case, a person fills out a special form, as in an insurance company. The pension insurance certificate is prepared on the basis of several important information data, which will then be indicated in it. Therefore, you need to carefully read and the questionnaire itself, and what is written in the document, which is a specialist. In the department of the Pension Fund, for example, a person is given a paper in his hands, where the deadline for receiving SNILS is written. And in multifunctional centers they also give a receipt, which indicates what exactly was provided by the citizen (passport, application form, application for service). The deadline is also indicated there. 
Non-working citizens apply for an insurance certificate solely in person or by proxy of the person who is going to receive the document. It is also applied to the questionnaire.
How to be working
Of course, someone who is already employed, but does not yet have an insurance pension certificate, can also apply personally to the department of the Pension Fund. However, far from always there is time for this. Therefore, you can contact the employer. It is he who is obliged, according to the current legislation, to make sure that the employee is registered in the mandatory pension insurance system.
Therefore, upon employment, it is necessary to fill out a form for the insured person. Within fourteen calendar days (after the conclusion of an employment contract of any kind), the employer must transfer it to the territorial office of the Pension Fund. There, specialists must process the questionnaire. The deadline is twenty-one calendar days. After that, the finished SNILS is transferred to the employer, who is obliged to transfer it to the employee within seven days.
How to get certificates for children
Since it was described above why the number of the insurance certificate is needed for children, it is worth knowing how to get it. Children themselves cannot turn to him because of their age, so this mission is assigned to the parents. You need to take only two documents with you. One of them is the passport of the parent or legal representative. The second is the identity card of the child. It can be both a passport (if he is already 14 years old), and a birth certificate. 
The questionnaire will also have to be filled out. The data are not indicated by the parent, but by the child, since it will be him who will receive an individual retirement number.
If you live outside the place of registration
The work of modern departments is arranged so that a person can receive most of the documents not only at the place of his permanent registration. That is, while in another city or district, you can first make a temporary residence permit at the place of stay. After that, on its basis, you can change and receive almost all documents (the exception is an individual tax number), including the state insurance certificate.
How to replace
It happens that a person changes his last name or middle name.Accordingly, the initial SNILS received no longer has any power, it needs to be changed. This is not so difficult to do. You must contact the Pension Fund office at the place of stay or the multifunctional service center, where you just need to fill out the questionnaire again.
The difference with the original one is that you must specify both the old data (last name, first name, middle name, place of birth, date), and the number of the first insurance certificate, and the new (changed) data. They must be indicated, as well as the basis for their presence. That is, if you change your name after marriage, for example, you need to attach a certificate of marriage. They will simply remove a copy of him, tricks to the questionnaire. And the old SNILS, too, if any. It is noteworthy that the individual insurance number will remain the same as it was originally. It does not change under any conditions.
Duplicate
Often, a repeated document is required. In order to get a duplicate, you need to contact the Pension Fund office at the place of stay or the multifunctional center, having an identity document with you. But knowing your insurance certificate number is not necessary. It can also be recognized by specialists of the institution by last name, first name, patronymic and date of birth. It is only necessary to fill out the form of the insured person, and then simply after the expiration of the period to receive a new insurance pension certificate. You don’t have to pay anything, the service is absolutely free.
