Leave site
Kompas SearchUrgent RUEN

Paper found in a search can become evidence: keep it carefully.

← What happened

Money, banks and taxes after leaving

Right now

  1. Remember: the EU says anyone lawfully present has a right to a basic account.
  2. Keep proof of your status to hand.
  3. Before any case exists, plan your Russian savings with a lawyer.

Who helps (3) Every organisation on this page has a designation: read the note on its card before writing.

Draft: not yet checked by a lawyerThe guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.

Draft What human rights defenders advise

Money, banks and taxes after leaving
  • The EU's 19th sanctions package (October 2025) restricted cards for Russians without a right to reside. Blocks mostly hit people awaiting a residence permit renewal or living on a D visa.
  • According to the European Commission, everyone lawfully in the EU has a right to a basic account; Russian citizenship alone is not a reason to close one. Keep proof of your status to hand.
  • From Russia you can send up to $1m a month to your own foreign accounts, and up to $10,000 via money transfer services. Many Russian banks are cut off from SWIFT.
  • After 183 days abroad in a year you lose Russian tax residence. Remote work under a contract with a Russian company is taxed at 13-22% regardless of status.
  • Since 1 March 2025 part of the Russian income of 'foreign agents' (rent, property sales, interest, dividends, royalties) goes to a special account; see 'I've been designated a foreign agent'. Donations from Russia and via exchanges are traced: Binance handed data to Russia's Investigative Committee.

current as of 26 September 2026. More: Oninvest: Commission guidance for banks; Bank of Russia: transfer restrictions; T-Bank: income tax for non-resident remote workers; First Department: Binance and data for investigators (foreign agent)

Who helps

3 organisations · contacts checked against the organisations' sites 26 September 2026

The Ark (Kovcheg)

Legal advice for people who have left (documents, residence permits, visas, asylum, extradition risk), temporary housing, free psychologists, mutual-aid chats by city.

Lawyers via the Telegram bots @kovcheglive_bot and @EmigrantHelpBot; psychologists and housing via forms on the website. Psychologists: 4-week online groups; waiting time from a few days to weeks. The Ark itself is a 'foreign agent'. The project was set up with support from the Anti-War Committee, designated 'terrorist' in Russia since March 2026. The Kovcheg website footer links to the Anti-War Committee: do not follow that link or subscribe to its channels from a device that could be checked.

Other ways to reach them: team@kovcheg.live

abroad foreign agent
Get in touch kovcheg.live

Reforum Help

Free psychologists and lawyers for forced emigrants: migration and visas, taxes, civil law, humanitarian residence; groups and seminars. Psychologists work in Russian and Belarusian.

A Reforum project of the Free Russia Foundation, designated 'undesirable' in Russia. If you travel to Russia, contacting an 'undesirable' organisation or joining its events can lead to prosecution, so check with a lawyer. Separately, Reforum Space Paris has also been 'undesirable' since July 2026, and the Reforum Space Vilnius community has been a 'foreign agent' since May 2026. In-person meetings in Paris and Vilnius carry extra risk.

online; Berlin, Vilnius, Warsaw, Paris, Tbilisi undesirable
Get in touch help.reforum.io

Need a lawyer

In Russia, lawyers are found by First Department (foreign agent) and Solidarity Zone (foreign agent). Lawyers abroad known for defending political cases: list of lawyers →

Related guides

What next