In the holiday season, people go on vacation to different countries of the world. But not everyone manages to get to the place. Several million Russians have been banned from leaving the country due to outstanding debts. But not all citizens are aware of the existence of this prohibition. Read more about how and with what debt you can go abroad, read on.
The essence of the problem
Today, many Russians have debts in the form of unpaid child support, loans, utility bills and fines. The situation with debtors has especially worsened due to the economic crisis and sanctions from the European Union. Due to the instability of the currency, the population remains less able to repay payments.
Nevertheless, in the holiday season, Russians increasingly prefer holidays abroad, rather than domestically. Crossing the border implies border control. Customs looks after the transported goods and money, while border guards give permission to enter / leave the country. They act according to the decision received from the bailiffs. Therefore, unscrupulous borrowers may have a question how to go abroad with debt on loans.
Legal restrictions
According to the Federal Law No. 114 “On the Procedure for Departure from the Russian Federation”, the country must not be left:
- People who have access to state secrets (1 and 2 forms of admission) for 5 years after the last acquaintance with classified information.
- Persons undergoing military service.
- Suspected, accused.
- Convicted until serving their sentence or release.
- Persons who have not fulfilled their obligations to the court.
- Citizens who reported knowingly false information about themselves when processing documents.
- FSB officers.
- Bankrupt.
We will separately consider the fifth point. It may concern people on whom non-property obligations are imposed. If this person complies with the court order - he will publicly apologize to the offended person, evict from the apartment, delete other people's photos, paint obscene inscriptions - the ban will be lifted.
What debt will not allow to go abroad?
Under current law, if a person owes more than 10 000 RUB, his data is entered into the register. Such violators will be able to leave the territory of the Russian Federation after full repayment of the debt. As of June 2017, there were 1.6 million “active” enforcement proceedings in the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) database ( several cases may be opened per person). Their number is constantly increasing. For 5 months of 2018, another 310 thousand people were added to the register.
What is a ban?
The fact of having a debt does not impose a ban. Only after a court decision is a person assigned the status of “travel abroad”. The decision is made on the basis of a claim from the creditor organization. Then it is transferred to the FSSP, where the register of debtors is formed. A plaintiff may also be a private organization. Not only banks, but also utility companies apply to the court. Initially, the ban is imposed for six months. If the debt is not repaid during this period, the period of “being” on the black list is extended.
The borrower must be informed of the prohibition by a letter from the executive service. If during this period a person has changed his place of residence, then he may not know about the existence of a ban. This news will overtake him the next time he tries to leave the territory of the Russian Federation.
Separately, you should consider the intricacies of how to go abroad with debts. In order for a border guard to stop a citizen, in addition to outstanding debt, there must also be such reasons:
- a valid writ of execution (if the payables were formed more than three years ago, then the limitation period for it has already expired);
- a court decision that has entered into force, that is, it should not go through an appeal procedure;
- evasion of the debtor from the execution of claims without a valid reason.
In the absence of one of these conditions, the legality of the prohibition can be challenged in court.
An alimony debtor who has not paid compensation for damages to health, death of a breadwinner, property and moral damage may not be released from the country if there is more than 10,000 rubles in debt. A six-month restriction may be imposed on the initiative of a bailiff or at the request of a creditor if the debtor has not voluntarily repaid the debt within two months. The restriction is effective from the moment of signing the writ of execution, and not from the day when it reaches the bailiffs.
How to check debts
In case of prohibition, the debtor receives a corresponding notification. There is no open database in which to verify this fact.
If the borrower is ready to pay the debt immediately or agree on an installment plan, then you can contact the bailiff with a passport. If you’re not ready to pay yet, then it’s better not to appear again. After all, it may be that the ban is not yet ready, but after the appearance of the borrower, the FSSP staff will quickly draw up and send a letter to the Border Guard Service. And there are such situations.
The website of the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) provides a special service. It is enough for a citizen to indicate his full name, date of birth, region of residence and run the verification form. Information on all debts of a citizen is displayed here. Some debts can be paid directly on the site. It is better, of course, not to bring the situation to the bailiffs. If the borrower does not meet the deadline for voluntary execution of the decision (5 days from the receipt of the sheet), then he will have to pay a court fee (7% of the amount, at least 1,000 rubles) and a penalty for each day of delay.
Debts to the tax, PF, for housing and communal services, according to alimony can be found on the portal "State Services" and pay here. Information on overdue credit payments can be found free of charge once a year at the Bureau of credit histories.
Check the information about whether it is possible to go abroad with debts and whether there is a ban at all, on the site "Nevlet.RF". Data is collected from all sources at once.
Where to pay off debt?
You can pay the debt anywhere. But departure will be allowed only after the removal of the ban from the Border Guard base. This process takes from two weeks to a month. How to go abroad with debts in this case? Report the debt to the bailiff so that he lifted the ban. In 2019, it is planned to establish bailiff offices at border points. This will greatly speed up the process.
Customs Union countries
For many years, borrowers left the border through Belarus and Kazakhstan. The Russians bought tickets for a transit train, for example, through Kazakhstan, where their passports were not checked, but they did not go out at their destination, but in Astana. How to go abroad with debts through Kazakhstan today? This option will not work. Border services began to actively unite the debtor base. The forums are reporting on the removal of passengers from trains for the presence of outstanding debt. But workarounds still exist.
How to go abroad with debts through Belarus? In 2006, an agreement was signed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on the creation of the Union State, ensuring equal rights for citizens to move, and choosing a place of stay and residence. Russians can cross the border without completing a migration card and passing customs control. Therefore, debtors could use the transit scheme and get to Minsk, and then to their destination. Return to the territory of the Russian Federation was carried out according to the same scheme. The border crossing was not recorded by customs officers in any of the countries. According to the papers, the debtor remained in the Russian Federation, but in fact was abroad. But to date, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has developed and signed an agreement that will not allow persons with a debt of 10 thousand rubles or more to cross the border of neighboring states, including Belarus and Kazakhstan.
How to travel abroad with debts: tips
You can take a chance and use a transit scheme if you have a Schengen visa in your passport. For example, to buy a ticket to Kaliningrad, present at the Russian customs a simplified transit document that allows you to travel in transit, and on Lithuanian - a Schengen visa and go to Vilnius. From there already move on your route. This is a semi-legal way. A Schengen visa is needed if a person wants to stay in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. With a simplified document, you cannot leave the train in Lithuania. If the local authorities stop a citizen in Lithuania, then he will not be able to finish off with a simple warning. The punishment for such a violation is deportation from the country for 5 years. In accordance with Art. 18 Federal Law “On the Procedure for Departure from the Russian Federation”, a passport may be withdrawn before the restriction is lifted. True, today border services rarely resort to such measures. Nevertheless, using such a dubious method is not recommended. It is better to first deal with debts, and then calmly go abroad.
Can I go abroad with debts? You can take a chance and go on a trip. But in such a situation, there is always a risk that at the customs of the borrower deployed back to the Russian Federation, and he will lose the money spent on travel.
If there is no desire to take risks and the ability to pay off debts, then travel around Russia. There are no restrictions on movement inside the mill. In the case of a flight to a Russian city, a person undergoes a pre-flight search without border control. That is, the passport is not checked in the FSSP. The same pattern applies when boarding a train or intercity bus.
These are the problems that may arise for those who decide to go abroad with debts. The nuances discussed earlier should be considered before planning a trip.
How to remove the ban?
The first limitation is six months. During this time, you can fully repay the debt and bring receipts to the FSSP. Or wait two weeks for the ban to be lifted.
The borrower may try to convince the FSSP employee about the early repayment of the debt. Or provide compelling reasons to travel abroad. This may be: a serious illness or death of a relative abroad, urgent medical care to the debtor, escorting the patient abroad. Parties (lender and borrower) can reach a compromise and draw up a settlement agreement. Other grounds for lifting the ban include cancellation of the writ of execution and bankruptcy of the lender.
The decision to remove restrictions is made per day. But processing this information in all databases takes time. Usually, 15 days pass from the moment the decision is made until the information in the database of the border services is updated. And this is provided that the borrower himself notifies the FSSP about the repayment of the debt. So you should address the issue of debt repayment as soon as possible.
It is important to understand that several enforcement proceedings from each creditor may be imposed on the same citizen. Cancellation of one of them does not affect the effect of the others. Even if there is a copy of the decision to remove the restriction, the border guard does not have the right to release a citizen before updating the information database. Another bad news is that the bailiffs have their own database. None of them can 100% guarantee that the ban in the base at the border guards has been lifted.
Special cases
In July 2017, the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” was amended regarding the amount of debt. With what debt can not go abroad? Since October 2017, the amount has been increased to 30,000 rubles. The innovation does not apply to debtors who shy away from paying alimony and damages.
5 days are allocated to the citizen for voluntary repayment of debt. After its completion, by court decision, a writ of execution will be formed with a ban on leaving the country. True, the restricted travel threshold can be reduced to 10,000 rubles. The rule applies to borrowers of banks and organizations that provide housing services. For all other "socially significant payments" (alimony, compensation for harm to health, property), the threshold value remains the same - 30 thousand rubles.
Among other innovations, it is planned to reduce the time for updating information in the database of border guards from 14 days to several days, as well as to provide an opportunity not only to bailiffs, but also to bailiffs under the FSSP to set bans.
Precautionary measures
The most important thing to do is to check for debts on different services before leaving. If you are “wrapped up” at the border, but you haven’t received any notifications, there is a chance to return the money spent and receive compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
You must register on the website of the State Services. This is a lengthy procedure, as the taxpayer will have to apply to the PF. Information on all debts of a citizen of the Russian Federation is displayed here. You can repay it in whole or in part, as well as print the receipt through the site. If there is no registration on the State Service portal, you can register on the sites of each of the inspections separately (Federal Tax Service, traffic police, housing and communal services, etc.). But this process will take much longer.
You should be interested in your credit history at least once a year. Such requests are issued by the Bureau free of charge. In case of outstanding debt should be resolved with the bank before the trip.
The good news is that there is a legal way to travel abroad with debt. Even if the writ of execution came a few days before the trip, the borrower has the right to prepare and send the application to the court by registered mail within 10 days. It is very important that the copy of the application has a mark on the acceptance of the document by the court. State duty will not have to pay. This document should be immediately taken to the department of the FSSP and there to receive a receipt mark. If, before a court decision is made, the bailiff sends the data of such a debtor to the base, the consequences for him will be very sad. As mentioned earlier, one of the conditions of the ban is the presence of an unappealed court decision.
Conclusion
Due to the worsening economic situation, every citizen can get into the black list of debtors. The worst thing is that a person will not even realize that a ban was imposed on him. The mere fact of a bank loan or debt for utilities is not yet a basis for a ban. The key is the fact of unpaid (overdue) debt. The lender, whether it is a commercial or government organization, must file a lawsuit and win it. Border guards have the right not to release a citizen who owes the state 10-30 thousand rubles. How to go abroad with debts? The borrower always has the opportunity to drag out time and appeal the court decision. But it's better to play it safe. And check the debts to go abroad without any problems and hassle.