The State Duma at a meeting on October 19, 2022 adopted in the first reading a draft law on the creation of special service bureaus at Russian consulates
The draft law proposes to assign the functions of assisting in the preparation of applicants' documents (in particular, when performing notarial acts, applying for a passport, resolving citizenship issues, etc.) for special service bureaus.The amount of the service fee charged to applicants will be set at an amount sufficient to support the operations and administration costs of such a service bureau. At the same time, foreign branches (representative offices) of a business entity established under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry ofForeign Affairs will operate within the legal framework of each of the foreign states in whose territory their opening is required.
The list of foreign states on whose territory such service centers will be organized is established by the federal executive body in charge of foreign affairs.
According to the explanatory note, this measure will significantly reduce the time for registering citizens for appointments at consulates, as well as the immediate time for a citizen to be received by a consular officer, and will also allow a more balanced distribution of the workload among consular officials, reorienting the released staff resources to other areas of consular work (helping to increase legal protection of Russian citizens abroad).
The amount of the service fee charged to applicants will be set on the basis of an amount sufficient to support the operations and administrative expenses of such an office in a foreign country.
In addition, the draft law is intended to fill in the gaps in the legal regulation of the institution of honorary consuls of Russia. In particular, the draft gives the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the right to approve the procedure for coordinating candidates for appointment and dismissal of an honorary consul.
The draft law also establishes the term of office for the honorary consuls of Russia for five years (currently, the honorary consul is appointed for indefinite term, which does not allow for sufficient control over his work), with the possibility of a subsequent extension, subject to the conscientious and effective performance of the functions assigned to him by the honorary consul.
Source: Official portal of draft laws under under consideration by the State Duma of Russia
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