Blog · 2026-09-05

Russia's asset-freeze law for emigrants from 1 September 2026: how it works and what to do with property and accounts

Freezes imposed in absentia before any finding of guilt, a fine of a few thousand roubles against a flat worth millions - the mechanics of the law and the legal ways to reduce your exposure in advance

Since 1 September 2026 Russian courts have been able to freeze flats, cars and bank accounts belonging to citizens living abroad, in absentia, as part of administrative cases under political articles of the Code of Administrative Offences (KoAP). The State Duma passed the law on 26 May 2026 in its second and third readings at once: 384 votes in favour, none against, no abstentions. The president signed it on 10 June. Below, without drama: what has changed, how to find out about a case from abroad, how to appeal, and what you can legally do with your property in advance.

What was actually passed

The amendments mainly concern Article 27.20 of KoAP. Until September 2026 it allowed property freezes only against legal entities, for two offences related to illegal remuneration. The mechanism now extends to individuals who are outside Russia and are being prosecuted under a closed list of KoAP articles. The bill was introduced by the State Council of Tatarstan and deputy Ayrat Farrakhov in October 2024, and Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin had been publicly pushing the idea since 2023.

• It is a security measure, not a punishment. The judge imposes the freeze while the case is pending, before any fine and before guilt is established. The judge must give reasons and specify the restrictions: normally a ban on disposing of the property, and where necessary limits on possession and use.
• In absentia. If the person cannot be notified, the court appoints a defence lawyer paid from the state budget. Lawyers warn that once the case is decided, the costs, including that lawyer's fee, can be charged to the citizen. If the proceedings are dropped, the state bears the cost.
• The value frozen is not tied to the fine. For legal entities it is capped at the maximum fine for the offence; for individuals there is no cap. For a 3,000-rouble fine the court may freeze a flat, a country house, a car and every deposit.
• The freeze is lifted after the fine is paid, on application to the court. The property is not confiscated, but it cannot be sold, gifted or mortgaged.
• Order of enforcement. Bailiffs debit bank accounts first and move to selling property only if the money is not enough.

The law rests on part 3 of Article 1.8 of KoAP, which since 2023 has allowed Russians to be charged for certain offences committed abroad. What is new is that everything you own in Russia can now be blocked on the back of such a charge, without waiting for you to return.

The list of KoAP articles

Between the first and second readings, the vague wording about any offences against Russia's interests was replaced with a closed list: according to Kommersant, 14 articles. The table shows the offences named by official and independent media, with indicative fines for individuals. Check the exact list against the text of the law on pravo.gov.ru.

What the media call rehabilitation of Nazism is, in KoAP terms, Article 13.48; the criminal offence under Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code is outside this law. The most heavily used article on the list is 20.3.3: according to RAPSI, courts have heard more than 9,000 cases under it since the start of 2022.

Why a 3,000-rouble fine can block a flat

The security is capped neither by amount nor by type of asset, and in practice that means the following.

• Accounts. Blocked first. Bailiffs debit the fine and the enforcement fee, but the freeze may stay on the account until the case ends, and rent or family transfers will not get through.
• Your only home. It cannot be sold for an administrative fine: Article 446 of the Civil Procedure Code protects a debtor's only habitable dwelling. But a ban on transactions can be registered, so you cannot sell, gift or refinance the flat until you pay.
• Mortgages. A mortgaged flat is pledged to the bank and the only-home immunity does not apply. The freeze does not cancel the payments, but it blocks any transaction, including a sale with the bank's consent. If payments stop, the bank takes the flat under its own rules, regardless of the administrative case.
• Shares in property. The freeze attaches to the offender's share, but the whole property becomes unsaleable.

How to find out about a case from abroad

A notice sent to your registered address will usually never reach you, and the court will simply appoint a lawyer. Monitoring is your job. Check at least once a month:

• GAS Pravosudie (sudrf.ru and court websites). KoAP cases are heard by district courts and justices of the peace: search by surname and initials on the website of the court for your registered address and on the regional portal of justices of the peace.
• Gosuslugi. Turn on notifications for court debts and enforcement proceedings. A fine that has taken effect appears there as a debt.
• The FSSP enforcement database (fssp.gov.ru): search by full name and date of birth. It appears only once the decision is with the bailiffs, so with a delay.
• An EGRN extract via Gosuslugi. The restrictions section shows any ban or freeze. This is the only way to see a freeze on real estate imposed at the pre-trial stage.
• A trusted person in Russia authorised to collect mail at your registered address: the ruling and the summons go there.

Appealing from abroad

There are two documents to appeal. The first is the judge's freeze ruling: it is appealed separately from the case under Chapter 30 of KoAP, and the deadline is short, so finding out quickly matters. The second is the decision imposing the fine: the appeal must be filed within 10 days of the copy being served or received (Article 30.3 of KoAP). If you never received the copy, the deadline has formally not started, and a missed deadline can be restored on application with evidence that you were abroad and were not notified.

You can file through a defence representative (under Article 25.5 of KoAP, a lawyer or any person acting under a power of attorney certified at a Russian consulate or by a local notary with an apostille and translation), electronically via GAS Pravosudie with a verified Gosuslugi account (not every court accepts electronic filings in KoAP cases), or by registered post.

An honest word about the odds: overturning a decision under Article 20.3.3 is rare. Realistic goals are to lift the freeze on property out of all proportion to the fine, to free your only home, and to put the failure of notification on record. It is often faster to pay the fine through a relative and apply to have the freeze lifted. It is also worth contacting the appointed lawyer through the court and giving them your position. And never deal with frozen property through intermediaries: that is a criminal offence under Article 312 of the Criminal Code.

Legal ways to reduce the risk in advance

The main rule: anything you do with your property makes sense only before a case is opened. Transactions made after a charge sheet is drawn up can be challenged as sham, and once a freeze is registered they are technically impossible.

Selling

The most reliable way is to turn the asset into money abroad. But it has a price. If, over the calendar year of the sale, you spend fewer than 183 days in Russia, you are a tax non-resident and the income tax is 30% of the full sale price (or of 70% of the cadastral value, if that is higher). A non-resident cannot use the 1 million rouble deduction or offset the original purchase cost. The only relief is the minimum holding period: 5 years as a rule, 3 years for your only home and for property received by inheritance, as a gift from a close relative or through privatisation. Once the period is met, neither residents nor non-residents pay tax. The return is due by 30 April and the tax by 15 July of the following year. More on non-resident status on our taxes and residency page.

Gifting to relatives

A gift to a close relative (spouse, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings) is free of income tax. Since 13 January 2025 a deed of gift of real estate between individuals must be notarised: the fee is 0.5% of the cadastral value, capped at 20,000 roubles. The downsides: you give up ownership, the recipient's holding period restarts (a new 3 years before a tax-free sale), and the flat moves into someone else's risk zone: their debts, divorce, inheritance. Gifting to anyone other than a close relative is a poor idea: the recipient pays income tax on the cadastral value, at 30% if they are a non-resident.

Powers of attorney and their limits

A power of attorney does not protect you from a freeze; it only lets someone act for you: collect mail, pay fines, file appeals, sign contracts. It can be certified at a Russian consulate (in some countries appointments are booked 3-4 months ahead) or by a local notary with an apostille and translation; since 1 July 2024 consulates transmit certified documents electronically into Russia's notarial system. The limits: if the property register carries a note banning transactions without the owner's personal participation, no sale by proxy will go through until you lift that note yourself. Rosreestr may suspend registration of a deal based on a foreign power of attorney, especially one from an Anglo-American notary public. For a sale, use a special power of attorney naming the address, cadastral number and price rather than a general one. We handle apostilles and legalisation as part of our translation and legalisation service.

Money and currency rules

Accounts are blocked first, so keeping large balances in Russian banks makes no sense if you carry any of these risks. Since December 2025 the Bank of Russia has removed the monthly cap for Russian citizens transferring to their own foreign accounts (previously 1 million US dollars a month); transfers through money transfer systems without opening an account remain capped at 10,000 US dollars a month. The regime is extended every six months, so check the current version on the central bank's website. When you transfer to your own foreign account, the bank will ask for the tax office notification of that account. Currency residency rules: notify the tax office of opening, closing or changing the details of a foreign account within one month, and file an annual report on movements by 1 June of the following year. If you spend more than 183 days outside Russia in a calendar year, you are exempt from notifications and reports for that year, though the bank may ask for proof. We covered how to open an account abroad without getting blocked in a foreign bank account in 2026, and we help choose a bank as part of our personal accounts service.

Mortgages and shared ownership

A mortgaged flat can be sold only with the bank's consent or after early repayment, so start with the bank: find out the terms for closing the loan and selling out of pledge. If you do not plan to sell, set up a separate account in a relative's name for mortgage payments: a freeze on your accounts must not turn into arrears and the loss of the flat. If the flat is co-owned with relatives, discuss consolidating ownership in advance through a gift or a buyout: a freeze on your share paralyses the whole property.

Plan B: do not keep everything in one jurisdiction

This law continues the series of restrictions on emigrants that we described in leaving Russia in 2026: the new restrictions. Its lesson is simple and unpleasant: property in Russia is yours exactly as long as you stay out of view under one of the 14 articles. The defence is structural rather than legal: legal status in another country so you do not depend on Russian documents, accounts where they cannot be blocked by an in absentia ruling, and a clear tax position. We have worked with residence permits and second citizenship for more than ten years, and we build relocation plans around a specific family, from choosing the country to tax planning for the sale of Russian assets.

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