The Russian Foreign Ministry proposed increasing consular fees

Application for renunciation of citizenship will become especially expensive

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to increase the amount of fees for consular actions. Public discussion has begun on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts draft resolution Governments on changes to the rates of consular fees.

In total, it is planned to make 35 changes to the current rates, in 31 cases there will be an increase, in 3 cases there will be an introduction of fees for consular actions that were previously performed free of charge, in 1 case there will be the introduction of a free rate. The authors of the document emphasize that the increase in fees is due to inflation: the amount of fees has not been indexed since their approval in November 2010. Payment for consular actions is made in US dollars, and the purchasing power of the American currency has decreased by 30% over the past period. The project developers note that inflation in the world’s leading economies has already led to an increase in rates by foreign consular services. For example, a Schengen visa in 2020 increased in price from 60 to 80 euros, the fee for an American tourist, business, student visa in 2023 was increased from 160 to 185 dollars, a work visa – from 190 to 205 dollars, a visa for investors – from 205 to 315 dollars.

The amount of Russian consular fees will not be so serious. Fees for the consular documents most in demand among our fellow citizens (passports, powers of attorney) will increase by 5-10 dollars. The biggest increase in price will be for filing an application for renunciation of citizenship of the Russian Federation (from 65 to 130 dollars), certification of contracts, the subject of which is subject to assessment (now – no less than 15 and no more than 850 dollars, will become no less than 30 and no more than 1000 dollars) and agreements guarantees (now – no less than 10 and no more than 850 dollars, will become no less than 30 and no more than 1000 dollars).

In addition, a fee rate is established for certifying the accuracy of copies of documents, as well as extracts from them ($5 per page) and for requesting documents with an apostille ($80) and without an apostille ($40).

They plan to issue an ordinary business visa free of charge to foreigners who hold cards for traveling to member countries of the APEC forum. A similar procedure applies in APEC countries in relation to our citizens.