All state universities in Russia have now adopted digital student identification cards, with nearly five million student documents already registered on the unified State Services portal. This announcement was made on Sunday, May 3rd, by Andrey Omelchuk, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia.
“Now, every university is essentially obligated to transfer information to the state information system. We already have nearly 5 million student IDs formed on the unified portal of state services. All state universities are already there,” explained the Deputy Minister.
He further added that students can still obtain a physical student ID at their university if they wish. However, he anticipates that universities will phase out these paper documents within the next two to three years as they recognize the greater convenience, practicality, and efficiency of the digital format, as reported by RIA Novosti.
On December 17, 2025, the State Duma passed a bill in its second and third readings, officially introducing electronic formats for student IDs and academic record books. For students pursuing specialties related to the defense and security of the state, as well as the maintenance of law and order, federal state bodies will independently determine the specifications for electronic academic record books and student IDs.