After leaving: loans, pension and working for a Russian employer

The guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.

Draft What human rights defenders advise

After leaving: loans, pension and working for a Russian employer

First check your debts in the bailiffs' database (fssp.gov.ru/iss/ip): it shows enforcement cases and amounts. With a debt of 30,000 roubles or more, a bailiff can ban you from leaving Russia; for alimony and damages, already above 10,000 roubles. After 2 months of non-payment, a ban is also possible for an ordinary debt above 10,000 roubles (art. 67, Law 229-FZ). Once you pay, the ban is lifted automatically, but Kovcheg advises telling the bailiff yourself, as the data travels slowly.
If you stop paying, the debt does not go away. The penalty on a consumer loan is capped at 20% a year of the overdue amount (art. 5 part 21, Law 353-FZ). The bank then has three routes: a court order from a magistrate (debts up to 500,000 roubles, art. 121 Civil Procedure Code), an ordinary lawsuit, or a notary's writ of execution. A writ is possible only if the contract allows it, not for microfinance loans, and no later than 2 years after the default. The bank must warn you at least 14 days in advance (arts 90-91.1 of the Notaries Law).
The key is not to miss deadlines. A copy of a court order is sent to your Russian address, and a letter left at the post office for 7 days counts as received. You have 10 days to object, and the order is then cancelled (arts 128-129 Civil Procedure Code). If you missed the deadline because you had moved, object within 10 days of finding out, with evidence (Supreme Court Plenum No. 62, paras 33-34). A default judgment can be challenged within 7 days of receiving a copy (art. 237 CPC), a notary's writ within 10 days of learning of it (art. 310 CPC). Courts and bailiffs can send notices to your Gosuslugi account.
Collectors and the bank may call no more than once a day, twice a week and 8 times a month, send messages no more than 2 a day, 4 a week and 16 a month, and not at night: 22:00-8:00 on weekdays, 20:00-9:00 at weekends (art. 7, Law 230-FZ). Four months after the default you can refuse contact in writing or allow contact only through a lawyer (art. 8).
Bailiffs can freeze your accounts in Russian banks. The subsistence minimum on an account is protected only if you apply to the bailiff or the bank (art. 8 part 6, art. 70 part 5.3, Law 229-FZ). A mortgaged flat can be taken by the bank and sold at auction even if it is your only home (art. 446 CPC, art. 78 of Law 102-FZ).
You can pay from abroad from your own Russian account or through relatives: if you ask a relative to pay for you, the bank must accept the money (art. 313 Civil Code). Kovcheg advises giving a relative a power of attorney for bank matters before you leave. Set up the free self-ban on loans via Gosuslugi so that fraudsters cannot borrow in your name (art. 5.1, Law 218-FZ, since 1 March 2025). From abroad you can lift it only with a qualified electronic signature; otherwise in person at a MFC service centre.
Pension. If you move abroad permanently, notify the Social Fund (SFR) no earlier than a month before leaving (art. 27, Law 400-FZ). Insurance pensions are paid abroad, social pensions are not. Pensions granted after 2015 are paid in roubles into a Russian bank account. Since 2026, if a transfer abroad is impossible because of sanctions, the SFR suspends payment (Decree No. 10 of 19.01.2026). To resume it, submit a delivery application with the details of an account in a Russian or foreign bank; no notary is needed. Missed payments are paid in arrears.
Confirm once a year that you are alive (resolution 1386, paras 9-10). Options: a document from a notary in Russia or from a local authority, a record of appearing in person at a consulate or any Social Fund office (free), or an application on Gosuslugi with a login confirmed by biometrics. The authorities can see Gosuslugi logins. If there is a criminal case against you or you are wanted, don't go to a consulate: use a document from a local authority.
If you don't confirm. Without confirmation the payment is suspended and then stopped. It can be restored within 10 years, but arrears are paid for no more than 3 years (Law 400-FZ, arts. 24-25). If you are on the 284-FZ register, pensions and other payments go only to a special account (art. 9) and Gosuslugi is closed to you, but a consulate can certify that you are alive.
Tax on remote work. If you spent fewer than 183 days in Russia over 12 months, you are not a tax resident (art. 207 Tax Code). The usual non-resident rate is 30%. But pay under a remote employment contract with a Russian company is taxed on the 13-22% scale, as for residents (art. 208 para 1 subpara 6.2, art. 224 para 3.1 Tax Code). The same applies to a civil-law contract if a Russian company pays or the money goes to a Russian bank (subpara 6.3). This does not apply to 'foreign agents': since 2026 all their income is taxed at 30%. Tax in your country of residence is a separate matter.
Working from abroad. The Labour Code has no separate article on it. The Labour Ministry and Rostrud say a remote employment contract for work abroad should not be concluded and recommend a civil-law contract. An employer may dismiss a remote worker who has changed location and cannot work on the same terms (art. 312.8 Labour Code). For people on the 284-FZ register, pay from an employer goes only to the special account, and sole trader and self-employed status are banned. Where to turn: Kovcheg, First Department, Reforum Help (designated 'undesirable' in Russia; contact it from a phone that is unlikely to be seized).

Designations of organisations in this guide: Reforum Help (undesirable). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.

Situations this guide covers

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