The article discusses the questions that most often arise among tourists shortly before leaving for a foreign tour:

1. Under what conditions may they not be allowed to go abroad?
2. How to check if there is a travel ban
3. What to do if there is a debt/ban

As the holidays approach, the media increasingly raises the topic of debts and fines, the holders of which are prohibited from traveling abroad. Let's figure out under what conditions you may be refused to cross the Russian border and what to do to avoid this.

Do you want to travel abroad? Pay off your debts!

So, in 2018, you may not be allowed to leave the country if there is a court decision to collect debt from you and enforcement proceedings initiated by a bailiff. In the absence of such production, problems with customs clearance should not arise.

You will not be prohibited from traveling abroad if you have a debt of less than 10,000 (in some cases mentioned in Article 67 of Federal Law-229 “On Enforcement Proceedings”) / 30,000 rubles. In this case, the bailiff does not have the right to restrict departure and there will be no problems at the airport.

But it is possible to leave the country with a debt exceeding 30,000 rubles. In this case (when initiating enforcement proceedings), the decision on the ban is made by the bailiff.

For what debts can you be deprived of traveling abroad?

• for tax arrears (including land and transport),
• for loan debt,
• for traffic police fines,
• for debts on alimony, credit, housing and communal services and rent,
• for other debts and non-payments.

Let's try to figure out how everything happens. Let's say you have a debt or arrears for housing and communal services, or maybe you forgot to pay a traffic fine. Representatives of the bank or organization sue you. You receive a summons, although a court decision may be made without your participation.

If the court finds the charges justified, then a decision is made to collect the debt and the case is transferred to the bailiff of your area. The latter, in turn, decides to restrict your travel and initiates enforcement proceedings. This information is sent to the country’s FSB border service, and your data is entered into the debtors’ database.

At the same time, persistent defaulters should remember that enforcement proceedings can be initiated several days before the departure date. And you may well find out about travel restrictions only at the airport. Therefore, if you have debts, fines or overdue loans, it is better to pay them off in advance or check whether they will allow you to safely cross the border.

Am I traveling abroad or not - online test

Thanks to the development of technology, you can find out this without leaving your home on the website of the Federal Bailiff Service - fssprus.ru. When you enter your last name, first name and patronymic, date of birth, as well as region of registration, you will receive information about current and completed enforcement proceedings for a given period of time, their reason, with the start and end date. But even if the FSSP website tells you that everything is fine, and you know that you have debts, you cannot be 100% sure that proceedings will not be initiated shortly before your departure date.

To get complete information about the fines, arrears and other debts you have, as well as to see the likelihood of a ban on traveling abroad, check out the website Non-departure.rf. For verification, only your first name, last name, series and passport number are required. The advantage of this site is the prompt updating of data on the institution of enforcement proceedings. However, this information may appear on the FSSP website with a delay of up to 14 days. But you have to pay for the efficiency and completeness of the data. The service for checking travel bans Nevylet.rf is paid. The cost of one check is 300 rubles.

So, you found out about the presence of debt. What to do next?

Limit of 10,000 / 30,000 rubles

If enforcement proceedings have been initiated and the debt amount is more than 30,000 rubles, then the only way is to pay it off. If the debt does not exceed the amount of 30,000 rubles or there is no court decision yet, then you don’t have to pay anything. But it is worth remembering that the risk of being stopped at the border remains, because a case may be opened after your last check.

Since 2018, if the debt does not exceed 30,000 rubles (or 10,000 rubles, in some cases - see Article 67 of the Federal Law-229 “On Enforcement Proceedings”), the bailiff does not have the right to make a decision on restricting travel outside the Russian Federation.

Have you decided not to take risks and pay off your debts? Remember that information about their repayment does not immediately reach border guards and bailiffs. It may be delayed up to 14 days. Therefore, it is recommended to part with debts at least two weeks before departure.

You can pay fines both at the bank (using a receipt) and on the website Nevylet.rf. After this, it is advisable to obtain from the FSSP a copy of the resolution to terminate enforcement proceedings, including evidence of the lifting of the travel ban from you. After all, it is the termination of enforcement proceedings, and not your payment of the debt, that is the condition for your release abroad. You should take a copy of the resolution with you to the airport. Although it does not guarantee your passage through border control. The decision of the border guards will be based only on the presence or absence of your name in the debtor database.

Bailiffs, on the basis of Art. 67 Federal Law dated 02.10.2007 No. 229-FZ “On Enforcement Proceedings”, has the right to issue a resolution on a temporary restriction of departure from the Russian Federation on its own initiative, or at the request of the claimant.

A decree banning departure is issued in the event of debt, court decisions, unpaid fines, taxes, penalties, or overdue loans. Very often, the reason for issuing a ban on traveling abroad is unpaid loan penalties and traffic police fines. In addition, after payment, a record of the ban on leaving the country remains with the customs service for some time.

Therefore, it is recommended to check for a ban before planning vacations or business trips in advance.

Please note that if you are prohibited from traveling abroad, you will not be allowed through customs control even if you have plane or train tickets. If you are flying on vacation, then if there are restrictions on crossing the border, your ticket will expire and this will not be an insured event. You need to check in advance whether you have a ban on traveling abroad.

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, has approved a list of countries where employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are allowed to travel in 2019. The list lists 13 states that are considered safe for police officers. Among them: Vietnam, Cuba, China, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and South Ossetia. According to the approved list, civil servants can also go on vacation. I would like to recall the fact that Russian police officers were prohibited from going on vacation in the spring of 2014 due to the international political situation.

Grounds for banning travel abroad

Current Russian legislation provides for a number of cases when residents of the country may be restricted from traveling abroad. This may be due to the person belonging to special categories of citizens or because the authorities suspect him of trying to avoid responsibility and obligations.

The restriction on travel abroad for debtors is temporary. Moreover, in the case of unfulfilled obligations, debts not only to the state, but also to legal entities and individuals are important.

A refusal to provide the opportunity to travel abroad may result from the absence of any significant documents or the indication of deliberately false information in them. also implies compliance with certain requirements, if violated it will be impossible to leave the country.

Categories of persons subject to a ban on traveling abroad

The list of persons for whom travel abroad of the Russian Federation may be temporarily restricted is given in the text of the Federal Law of August 15, 1996 No. 114-FZ “On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation.” Among those who are prohibited from traveling abroad are the following categories of citizens:

• employees and workers in the FSB;
• those who knowingly provided false information about themselves when preparing documents for traveling abroad;
• those convicted of a crime;
• suspected of committing a crime or brought as accused in accordance with the criminal procedural legislation of the Russian Federation;
• or sent to alternative civil service;
• admitted to top secret data and information of special importance and who have entered into an employment contract prohibiting temporary departure from Russia.

Let's look at each case in more detail and figure out what conditions must be met in order for the restriction of the right to travel to be imposed legally.

Servants and employees of the Federal Security Service

Persons who have provided false information about themselves

If, when checking the documents necessary to travel outside Russia, information is discovered that does not correspond to reality, the person’s rights to travel abroad are limited for providing false information about himself. When filling out papers, all citizens sign for the authenticity of the data they provided, and therefore it is not possible to prove the absence of malicious intent.

Persons with debts and unfulfilled obligations

The most common reason why Russians cannot travel abroad is evasion of obligations imposed by the court. The procedure for imposing a temporary restriction on debtors traveling abroad is set out in the text of Article 67 of the Federal Law of October 2, 2007 No. 229-FZ “On Enforcement Proceedings”. Citizens may intentionally or through carelessness fail to pay off debts for:

• payment of alimony.

To get acquainted with the full list of debts with which they will not be allowed to go abroad, you can read our material: “”.

A restriction on a person’s travel outside Russia may be imposed if the following conditions are simultaneously met:

1. There is an executive document (a judicial act or a document issued on its basis) indicating the reasons for the restriction on travel.
2. A copy of the decision was handed over to the debtor himself and to an employee of the border service and the territorial tax authority no later than the next day from the date of the decision.
3. The judicial act entered into legal force (the existing complaints were rejected, the deadline for appealing expired).
4. The writ of execution is not expired: at the time it was submitted for execution, the three-year period from the date of entry into force of the judicial act had not yet expired.
5. The writ of execution does not imply the fulfillment of property obligations or the amount of debt under this document exceeds 10,000 rubles.

If the claimant decides to file an application, a restriction on the debtor’s departure may be imposed at the same time as the commencement of enforcement proceedings, regardless of whether the latter fulfills his obligations or continues to evade them. The decision may also be issued before the deadline established for voluntary execution has expired.

In such cases, the restriction on traveling abroad will be lifted only when:

• obligations will be fulfilled in full;
• the parties reach an agreement;
• enforcement proceedings will be terminated;
• the proceedings on the case will be completed (if the end of the proceedings on the case is associated with its transfer to another division of the bailiffs, the order not to leave may continue to be in effect).

In all of the above cases, the bailiff issues a ruling according to which the citizen is no longer restricted from traveling outside the country. The document indicates that the citizen’s obligations have been fulfilled; if they were not fulfilled, a reason will be indicated, which must be valid. The travel ban will be finally lifted on the day when the resolution is received by the Border Control Department of the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation.

Take a sociological survey!

Suspected of committing a crime, brought as an accused, convicted

Citizens are suspects if one of the following cases occurs:

• after an investigation, a notification was received that a person was suspected of criminal acts;
• preventive measures were applied;
• the person was detained on suspicion of criminal acts;
• a criminal case was initiated.

Citizens are recognized as accused if:

• there is a resolution to charge a person as an accused in the case;
• Based on the results of the investigation, there is an indictment.

Convicts have the right to leave the Russian Federation only if they were released from punishment for any of the legal reasons. Parole does not give the right to travel abroad, despite the fact that the punishment itself was avoided. The same applies to persons sentenced to probation.

For more information about whether it is possible to travel abroad with a suspended sentence, see our material: “”.

Conscripts and those called up for alternative civilian service

Representatives of the male part of the Russian population may be limited in leaving the country from the date the draft commission makes a decision on their conscription for military service or on assignment to alternative civilian service.

If a person of military age is not in the reserves, he can be called up for service in the periods from October 1 to December 31 and from April 1 to July 15. The following cannot be restricted in leaving Russia:

• men of military age who have received a deferment or exemption from conscription;
• contract employees who have permission to travel from their command.

Persons admitted to state secrets

Only citizens who have access to state secrets of the “special importance” and “top secret” degrees are allowed to restrict their travel abroad. The third degree – “secret” – does not give the right to establish a requirement not to leave, unless there are other grounds for this.

Access to a secret should not be formal - the person must actually be familiar with the contents of the secret. The fact of signing an employment agreement or contract does not matter - the law allows for restrictions on the right of a citizen to leave even in the absence of the specified documents.

In order not to find out at the last moment whether travel abroad is closed by the border guards, when everything is ready for the trip, it is better to use all available methods of checking debts before planning a trip abroad, especially since citizens have the opportunity to check debts for free online.

Where and how can you find out if there is a ban on traveling abroad?

Online checking of the ban on traveling abroad through the official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is impossible. It is possible to find out through this department about the presence or absence of a ban on crossing the country’s border only if a person applies for it. If a restriction has been imposed, the document will not be issued to him at the Main Department of Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (formerly the Federal Migration Service).

People know that they belong to special categories of citizens for whom travel abroad is restricted. There remain citizens who doubt whether they have the opportunity to leave Russia due to unfulfilled obligations. In such cases, you can personally contact the nearest tax office and obtain information about debts to the state.

In the territorial branch of the Federal Bailiff Service, you can find out whether a case has been initiated against the citizen who applied. Even if the paperwork is ongoing, you can find out whether departure is allowed, since there may not be a protocol on the imposition of a temporary ban.

You can find out whether the ban on leaving Russia has been lifted from you after you have paid off your debts and fulfilled other obligations from the Border Service. Temporary restrictions on the right to travel abroad are imposed by the bailiff. A copy of his decision will be received by the FSB Border Service, after which the debtor’s data will be included in the database of “restricted” citizens.

When the obligations are fulfilled and there are no other grounds for restricting travel abroad, the bailiff closes and again sends the resolution to the FSB, this time to lift the ban. Only then is the information removed from the database and the citizen is able to cross the Russian border.

To make sure that after paying your debts you have been removed from the database, before planning your trip you should contact the FSB:

1. Open the official website of the FSB, go to the “Public Services” section, then to “Consideration of appeals and requests”.
2. Select the “How to Receive” tab and click on “Web Reception”. Specialists can respond within 30 days.

Checking the ban on traveling abroad can be done online in three ways:

• through the official Internet resource of the FSSP;
• through the official website of the Federal Tax Service;
• through the trusted website “No Departure”;
• through the State Services portal.

How to check a travel ban through the FSSP website

The official website of the FSSP does not provide electronic services for checking citizens for a ban on leaving Russia. The maximum that can be done is to leave a request at the Internet reception, but you will have to wait up to 30 days for a response. But here you can see whether a person has outstanding debts or other unfulfilled obligations established in court. It will take a couple of minutes to clarify these circumstances, so this method is suitable for those who urgently need to know about the ban on leaving.

Follow the procedure below:

1. Open the official portal of the Federal Bailiff Service. You will see the “Find out about your debts” form. In the empty line, enter your last name (be careful with the letters “e” and “e”), first and patronymic, or individual entrepreneur number in the specified format. Select the appropriate territorial authority from the drop-down list.
   
2. Another form will open in which you can search by database of individuals and legal entities, as well as by individual entrepreneur number. You don’t have to enter the middle name and date of birth, but then all namesakes will be selected, so it’s better to immediately provide all the requested information.
   
3. Click the “Find” button and the download will begin. Then a table called “Data Bank of Enforcement Proceedings” will appear above the form you filled out - this means that there are enforcement proceedings against you.
   
4. Or you will see the message “Nothing was found for your request” - in this case, you have no unfulfilled obligations and you can leave the country at any time.
   

How to find out about the presence or absence of debts on the Federal Tax Service website

Previously, any citizen who knew his individual taxpayer number (TIN) could use the service of the official website of the Federal Tax Service. At the moment, registration on the portal is possible only after personal appearance at the tax office.

You can contact any branch of the Federal Tax Service, not necessarily at your place of residence. The service employee will ask you to fill out a form, after which the applicant will be given a temporary password to register in the system.

When the registration procedure is completed, you must set your password. You can also log into your personal account using your State Services portal account, electronic signature key, or Unified System of Identification and Authentication (USIAT) account.

Now that you know your username and password, you can check your outstanding taxes and fees:

or here:

Checking the travel ban through the State Services website

You can also check whether travel abroad is limited through the popular Internet resource State Services. The portal is available to registered users. Here you can find out simultaneously about the presence or absence of debts to the tax service, as well as about the initiation of enforcement proceedings.

If you need to find out if you have unpaid taxes or fees, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your personal account. On the page that opens, find the button labeled “Check tax debts” and click it.
   
2. Read, if necessary, information about the requested service, then click the “Get service” button.
   
3. Next, you will see a notification about the need to enter personal data that will be required to search for information in the Federal Tax Service database. Check the box next to “I Agree.”
   
4. Click “Next”.
   
5. In the window that opens, you will be asked to enter the taxpayer’s details - TIN, last name, first name (patronymic - optional), and also select your region of residence from the drop-down list.
   
6. It is possible to search for all or several regions, but it is better to specify the subject of the Russian Federation. The form has the ability to search for a region by the first letters - start typing a word and you will be offered options.
   
7. When you finish entering the data, click “Submit Application”.
   
8. There is no need to specify anything else - the search result will be presented on the page that opens. All data that does not constitute a tax secret will be displayed on the computer screen.
   

For what period is the restriction imposed?

The time period during which citizens cannot travel abroad is established by the above-mentioned law banning travel abroad. They depend on the reason for imposing the restrictions.

In any case, the person will receive a notification from the federal executive body in the field of internal affairs (or its territorial body) indicating the grounds and time of the restriction. The document will also indicate the date and registration number of the decision to impose a travel ban, the name and legal address of the department from which the initiative for the restriction came.

Category of citizens for whom it is impossible to travel outside the territory of the Russian Federation	Duration of the restriction on traveling abroad
Persons who have access to top secret data and information of special importance and who have entered into an employment contract stipulating their temporary abstinence from traveling abroad.	The period of time specified in the employment contract. The validity period of the restriction cannot be more than 5 years from the date of the last acquaintance with classified information. The period may be extended by the Interdepartmental Commission, but should not exceed a total of 10 years, including the period established by the employment contract.
Persons called up for military service or sent to alternative civilian service.	The period of military or alternative civilian service.
Persons suspected of committing a crime or charged as an accused in accordance with the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation.	The period before a decision is made in a case or a court verdict enters into legal force.
Persons convicted of committing a crime.	The period until release from punishment or the entire period of serving (execution) of the sentence.
Persons who evade fulfillment of obligations imposed on them by the court.	Until the obligation is fulfilled in full or until the parties reach agreement.
Persons who knowingly provided false information about themselves when preparing documents for traveling abroad.	The time during which the authority issuing the document will resolve this issue. The period should not exceed one month.
Persons who serve or work in the federal security service.	Period of validity of the employment contract.
Persons declared insolvent (bankrupt).	The period before the arbitration court issues a ruling on the termination or completion of bankruptcy proceedings (including when a settlement agreement is reached).

The ban on leaving Russia is valid for six months. If after 6 months there are still grounds for keeping a citizen in the country, the restriction will be extended for a similar period. The process will be repeated until the grounds for the ban no longer exist.

After the corresponding decision to cancel travel abroad is adopted, it is sent to the Border Service. The ban will be finally lifted when the order is received and based on it the name of the debtor will be deleted from the database. The process may take 1-2 weeks.

In the case of debtors, the following events will occur during this period:

• the funds will be transferred to the Social Insurance Fund account;
• enforcement proceedings will be closed;
• information about repayment of debt and lifting of the travel ban will be forwarded to the Border Service;
• the debtor's personal data will be deleted from the database.

Presenting payment receipts and any other supporting documents to border control officers will not help you leave Russia faster - the border guard is not authorized to accept such documents from individuals, and the citizen will not be allowed to go abroad anyway.

How can the ban on traveling abroad be lifted?

There are no difficulties with restrictions on the travel of special categories of citizens - the reasons for including those “restricted to travel” to the database are clear. If a ban on traveling abroad applies to a person who has debts, you can leave the country at any time as soon as the enforcement proceedings are closed.

The ban may be lifted on the following grounds:

• the citizen's debt was fully repaid;
• the debtor received an installment plan or deferment of debt payment;
• the debtor and the claimant came to a peaceful agreement;
• the judicial act, after the issuance of which enforcement proceedings were initiated, was canceled.

To be completely sure that the travel ban is lifted, the following steps must be taken:

• contact the bailiff, meet with him and present a photocopy of the receipt for payment of the debt;
• take from the bailiff a photocopy of the resolution lifting the ban on leaving Russia (must be certified with the signature of the senior bailiff and a seal with the coat of arms);
• request information about sending a copy of the decision to the Central Division of the Border Service and the waiting period for the lifting of the travel ban.

If a citizen is sure that he has been unfairly assigned debts and that he has always paid his bills on time, he has the right to challenge the ban on leaving the country in the Main Department of Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or in court. You can write a complaint to the prosecutor through the official website of the regional prosecutor's office.

If a refusal to issue a permit to cross the border was received by a person with access to state secrets, he can file a claim with the court at the level of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation at the place where the negative decision was made. Military personnel who wish to challenge the command's decision to issue permission to travel abroad can appeal to a military court.

Conclusion

In order not to spoil yourself or disrupt other plans related to traveling abroad, you should be careful about the timely fulfillment of obligations to government bodies, individuals and legal entities. Debts to the state will be discussed in official letters from the judicial and tax authorities.

Information can be clarified by freely using one of the Internet resources of government authorities. This is the only way to be sure that there are no unpaid bills. If payments have been made, but there has been no confirmation of payment, you can always notify the concerned authorities about the repayment of the debt.

When going on vacation and treatment outside the Russian Federation, many citizens check their debts on the websites of bailiffs and the tax inspectorate. Thus, they want to protect themselves from problems at border checkpoints. Not many people know that traveling abroad with a debt is possible. We will tell you what debts you can leave the country with.

A quick way to get up-to-date information on all debts and unclosed loans that may not be in the FSSP database, and an assessment of the likelihood of a successful departure: fill out the form below and receive a report.

You don’t have to unpack your suitcase, even if the debt exceeds 30 thousand rubles. In this case, you don’t have to look for “cunning” ways - everything is in accordance with the letter of the law. So, what to do if the debt threshold has been exceeded and you are on the “black list of those not allowed to travel”?

With what debt will bailiffs be released from Russia?

Not only malicious debtors may be at risk of being banned from traveling. The legislator determined the monetary debt threshold: 30 thousand rubles in total. The norm is new - introduced in 2017. Previously it was three times less. But this is just a premise.

Only a bailiff can impose a temporary restriction on travel by a court decision. This process is lengthy: from the moment of the court’s decision to the initiation of enforcement proceedings, at least two months will pass. The debtor is given a 10-day period to appeal the decision.

If it remains in effect, you still have a full 60 days to voluntarily pay off the debt. During this time period, you can freely leave your country of residence.

Need to know, that the bailiff has the right, and not the obligation, to impose a temporary restriction on the debtor’s freedom of movement.

It is not a fact that he will make such a procedural decision specifically in relation to you, and you will end up on the lists of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia. But you can only find out about this at the checkpoint. There is a risk of postponing a paid trip. In this case, it will not be possible to return the money for the ticket and the “burnt” tour. All responsibility falls on the debtor.

So, debtors will be released abroad, despite the debt, in the following cases:

• If the amount of debt does not exceed 30,000 rubles.
• If the debt is not confirmed by a court decision.
• If the court decision has not yet entered into legal force.
• If the bailiffs did not initiate compulsory enforcement proceedings.
• If measures have been taken to pay off the debt in installments or partially, there must be a private court ruling on this point.

Why won't they let you go abroad?

Restriction of the debtor's rights to free movement outside the Russian Federation begins from the moment procedural decisions are made. If you have not received a court ruling, which often happens due to the work of the post office, you can find out about the initiation of enforcement proceedings on the website of the Federal Bailiff Service:

Access to the database is free and easy. Information is provided after entering personal data into the request fields: name, year of birth, region of residence.

The portal informs about the debt for which enforcement proceedings have been initiated:

• tax debts;
• rent payments;
• fines for traffic violations;
• alimony;
• private loans;
• loan payments (including guarantees for loans from third parties);
• debt to bailiffs.

An obstacle to traveling abroad is the total amount of debt exceeding thirty thousand rubles. It could also be various fines for administrative offenses, old debts, the total executive liability for which exceeded the fourth ten thousand rubles.

Only a court decision and the initiation of enforcement proceedings by bailiffs can become an obstacle to the debtor leaving the Russian Federation.

The absence of debts on the FSSP website is not a 100% guarantee of the absence of travel bans. Data arrives in the database with a delay of two weeks. You can find out the latest information on all debts and unclosed loans, which may not be in the FSSP database, and the probability of a successful departure from the report by filling out the form below:

How to leave if there is a debt on a loan, taxes or rent?

There are several ways for debtors to end up abroad of the Russian Federation. Some of them are completely legal, others are clever tricks for unscrupulous debtors.

Let's consider legal ways to resolve the border conflict:

1. The easiest way to travel abroad, having debts and court penalties - fulfill the requirements of the bailiffs. Expect the procedure to take more than two weeks.
   You pay off your debts, the bailiff makes sure that the money has been transferred to the correct account in full. Preparing a resolution to lift travel restrictions. Result: in the updated border service database, you are excluded from the stop list.
2. A debtor from the “black list” can go abroad, if his goal is to travel for treatment under an urgent quota.
3. A long way if the debt is huge and there is not enough cash. In agreement with the bailiffs, you are preparing a petition to the court for debt restructuring, partial repayment in exchange for freedom of movement around the world.
   The process will take an indefinite amount of time - it all depends on the speed of the “judicial machine” and the resourcefulness of the bailiffs.
4. The method is legal, but cunning. The temporary restriction is valid for six months. After the statute of limitations expires, the judge must again make a decision, and the bailiff must initiate enforcement proceedings. Thus, a “window” appears to travel outside the country.
   Sometimes you have to prove that the ban is illegal if the border service has not excluded such a debtor from its stop list.

Restrictions on the rights of debtors who fall under the system of court decisions are not immediately lifted. “Clearing” your debt history requires several stages, lasting at least 14 days.

How to quickly remove the ban after payment?

Even if you pay off your serious debts very quickly, even at the airport, you will have to go through certain bureaucratic delays before the ban on travel is lifted.

To speed up the process of lifting the temporary restriction on travel outside your home country, personally visit the bailiff who is handling your enforcement case.

Algorithm of actions:

1. Give the bailiff a copy of the payment for the entire amount of the debt.
2. You receive a decree (copy) on the lifting of restrictions. The document must be certified with the appropriate signatures and official seal.
3. Specify the timing of sending the resolution to the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation.
4. Start waiting for the final stage, counting a couple of weeks to be safe.

As practice shows, the information will not be processed by the intelligence services before 10 days, which means it will not be possible to lift the ban. These are Russian realities.

Is it possible to fly through the countries of the Customs Union?

For Russian citizens, nothing is impossible if they have a very strong desire to leave; they find workarounds for the border ban. Debtors leave the borders of the Fatherland through friendly neighboring states, where there is no border control at entry, and for exit there is no access to the lists of Russian special services.

To date, two transits have received relative reliability:

• through Belarus (in a westerly direction);
• Kazakhstan (in the east).

There is nothing illegal in these actions: border guards of transit countries check departing Russians only for involvement in an international search. As a rule, the debts of a tourist in Russia are not of interest to the departure-controlling party of the Customs Union countries.

The debt threshold for the ban is 30 thousand rubles.

Voyage through Belarus

You can get to a neighboring European state in three ways:

• by car (bus) along the international highway M1;
• by rail all the way to Brest, where you will go through border control at the international airport;
• by air to the capital, from Minsk take the desired flight to your destination.

If the Belarusian border guards do not have bases for their Russian counterparts, you are in luck - you can easily board a plane going abroad.

This option is not considered a 100 percent win-win. In 2017, the work of the special services of Russia and Belarus began to unite stop lists for debtors of both countries.

Is it possible for debtors to leave through Kazakhstan?

This path is chosen by “forgetful” Russian tourists traveling to the Asian part and the countries of the Middle East.:

1. The departing person buys two train tickets: “through” across Russia and to the city of Petropavlovsk.
2. If you cross the border as a transit passenger, you will travel through Kazakhstan using a “local” ticket.
3. Get off at Petropavlovsk station and go, armed with a migration card, to the final destination of your trip abroad.

How to leave via Lithuania?

Perhaps the most reliable way for those malicious debtors who have a Schengen visa:

1. You travel on the branded Yantar train with a ticket to the city of Kaliningrad.
2. In Vilnius you leave the carriage and go to the airport. From here there is an easy route to any country in Western Europe.
   Russia and Lithuania do not have agreements on common debtor bases.

No matter how roundabout the debtors take to leave Russia, they can return home by the direct route. Border guards have no reason to deny a citizen of the Russian Federation entry to their homeland.

Conclusion

To enjoy your trip abroad, check your debts in the bailiff database and order a paid report on all debts with an assessment of the likelihood of departure:

Only those citizens whose total debt is equal to/exceeds 30,000 rubles need to worry.

Carry out “control measures” to verify personal data a month before the planned departure abroad, as well as 2 weeks. Thus, you will promptly receive information about your inclusion in the “black list of those not allowed to travel” or ensure that there are no sanctions.

Additional information for debtors wishing to travel abroad in this manner:

In any case, you will have the opportunity to influence the situation, close your debts and fly away, without looking for loopholes and detours.

​Cases when a person buys a plane ticket, but at the airport finds out that he is prohibited from flying abroad, can be classified as ordinary. This happens quite often. And all because many do not even know that they are subject to restrictions of this kind. The group of citizens restricted from traveling abroad includes not only military personnel or those suspected of crimes, but also debtors and representatives of certain professions.

Debtors constitute a large group of people who are often subject to such restrictions. Bailiffs do not always inform debtors about the ban imposed on them. Since all notices are delivered by mail, it also happens that letters simply do not arrive at the actual address of the defaulter.

Who is prohibited from traveling abroad?

According to Russian legislation, several categories of citizens are not allowed to leave the country:

• Citizens who are serving in the military or alternative civilian service (in some cases they have the right to leave the country with permission from the command, deferment or exemption from conscription).
• Suspected and accused of committing a criminal offense;
• With an outstanding criminal record (there are some exceptions when restrictions can be lifted: amnesty, exclusion of corpus delicti from criminal law);
• Employees whose service is related to state secrets;
• Judges, employees of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Drug Control Service, the prosecutor's office, the investigative committee, some civil servants (previously restrictions applied only to FSB employees, but after the sanctions this professional list expanded);
• Citizens who provided false information during the preparation of exit documents;
• Persons who have not fulfilled obligations imposed by the court;
• Children who are prohibited from leaving the country by one of their parents or guardians.
• Citizens who have not repaid their court debt (this could be debts for housing and communal services, various fines, late payment of alimony, outstanding loans) may not know that they belong to the category of those banned from traveling.
• According to the FMS, it is debtors who are most often subject to prohibitions. But this requires the presence of certain circumstances:
  • the amount of debt is 10 thousand rubles or more;
  • the debt is confirmed by a court decision;
  • the court did not provide for repayment of the debt in installments or deferment of the debt;
  • the writ of execution is not expired;
  • the debtor does not take steps to repay the debt.
• Bailiffs are allowed to issue travel restrictions for a period of 6 months. But the temporary ban can be extended if the debtor does not fulfill the obligations. It is worth remembering that this is only the right of the bailiff, he is not obliged to make such decisions.
• Fines imposed by the traffic police can also serve as a reason why a citizen has the right to temporarily not be allowed to go abroad, but only if there is a court decision; a ruling on an administrative offense alone is not enough.

How do you know if restrictions apply to you?

If you are not sure that the bans do not apply to you, it is better to look for your last name on specialized Internet sites. This check should be done before purchasing tickets, since it will be very difficult to return the money spent on them later.

• On the bailiffs website (fssprus.ru) you can find information about your debts, if any, for all enforcement proceedings.
• You also need to find out about existing fines and debts on the government services portal (gosuslugi.ru). However, to do this you will have to register on the site.
• On the official website of the Federal Tax Service (nalog.ru) you can find out information on unpaid taxes.

Online service, which includes all three of the above sources, including checking for debts that are not on federal websites (fines, late payments to microfinance organizations, loans, etc.). This way to find out whether you will be released abroad is the most universal.

As for children who are not allowed to travel abroad, things are more complicated here. When one of the parents writes a statement to the FMS authorities that he prohibits taking the child out of the country, the other parent is not required to inform about this. You can find out exact information about restrictions of this kind only after contacting the FMS.

How to get rid of restrictions?

You can get rid of restrictions after paying off the debt. If you have a debt, this does not mean that you are prohibited from traveling, but the likelihood of this is high, and therefore, after discovering your name in the lists of debtors, you need to immediately take care of eliminating the debt.

For example, if you found your name on the official website of the FSSP, find there information about who is dealing with your issue and the employee’s contacts. After payment, you should contact the bailiff, report the actions taken and clarify whether a resolution has been issued to you that temporarily restricts your right to leave. If yes, then you need to send the bailiff a document confirming payment and receive in return a copy of the certificate of lifting of the ban. It is also necessary to clarify when the document will be sent to the Border Guard Service. After that, all you have to do is wait until you receive the final confirmation. Typically the entire procedure takes approximately 14 days. But the issue should be kept under control: there have been cases when, for some reason, documents did not reach the Border Service, sometimes they simply forgot to send them.

Your name must be removed from the list of restricted citizens; presenting a certificate of lifting of restrictions on you to the border guard before departure will not yield anything.

You should do approximately the same thing when you have been fined by the traffic police. The Inspectorate and the FSSP have developed a joint program according to which bailiffs deal with the cases of defaulters. First, we pay off the debt, then we report this to the service and wait for the restrictions to be lifted.

If one of the parents has imposed a ban on the child’s travel, then it can only be lifted through the court.

In some cases, when it is not possible to pay the debt immediately, there is the possibility of emergency lifting of restrictions. The bailiff can independently make such a decision if a person, for example, needs urgent treatment or examination.

Sometimes a person travels abroad and bypasses all these requirements. To do this, you just need to go to a neighboring state, which does not require serious border checks, and then fly from there in any direction.

If you still have uncertainty about lifting restrictions on traveling abroad, then our online lawyer is ready to answer all your questions for free.