Propiska in the Soviet Union

This article is about former migration control in the Russian Empire and the USSR. For the service for Russians since 1993, see Resident registration in Russia.

A propiska (Russian: пропи́ска, IPA: [prɐˈpʲiskə] ⓘ, plural: propiski)[1] was both a written residency permit and a migration-recording tool, used in the Russian Empire before 1917 and in the Soviet Union from the 1930s.[2]

The USSR had both permanent (прописка по месту жительства or постоянная прописка) and temporary (временная прописка) propiskas. In the transition period to a market economy in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the permanent propiska in municipal apartments was a factor that allowed dwellers to obtain private-property rights on the living space they were "inscripted" in during privatization (those who built housing at their own expense obtained a permanent propiska there by definition).

  1. ^ Judith Ingram (December 24, 1993). "Refugees Find Moscow Withdraws Its Welcome". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2022. residence permits called propiskas, which prove that people have a right to live in the city.
  2. ^ Steven Erlanger (December 27, 1992). "Russia To Replace Residency Permit". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2022.