Accreditation of Representative Offices and Branches of Foreign Firms

What is a branch?

A branch of a company is its separate subdivision that performs all or part of its functions, including the functions of representation. A branch of a company may conduct business activities that correspond to the commercial purposes of a foreign legal entity (unless otherwise specified in the constituent documents of the company or the branch itself).

What is representation?

The representation of the company is its separate division representing the interests of society and carrying out their protection.

A representative office of a company cannot conduct business and is not vested with the rights of a legal entity. It acts on behalf of and on behalf of the company it represents.

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You need accreditation in case of:

Situation 1: you want to create a branch / representative office in the territory of the Russian Federation.

You are a foreign legal entity and want to create a branch / representative office in the territory of the Russian Federation. To do this (from January 1, 2015) you need to contact the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. 47 (in Moscow). All accreditation powers are now assigned to it. This is reported in the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

(* if you represent a foreign credit organization or a foreign legal entity operating in the field of civil aviation, this does not apply to you).

Situation 2: your branch / representative office was accredited before January 1, 2015

You are a branch / representative office of a foreign legal entity, which was accordingly accredited, carried out activities on the basis of permission to open representative offices / branches in the territory of the Russian Federation until January 1, 2015. That is, before the Federal Law of 05/05/2014 N 106-ФЗ came into force.

In this case, it was necessary for you to submit information on accreditation to the FTS. In accordance with them, you should have been entered into the state register of accredited branches / representative offices of foreign legal entities.

If you have not fulfilled this requirement, then the accreditation of a foreign representative office / branch was terminated for you on April 1, 2015.

If you find yourself in any of the 2 situations (above) and decided to accredit a branch or representative office of a foreign legal entity, you will have 12 months. During this period, you need to submit an application for accreditation to the FTS. In it, you transmit information about the number of foreign citizens-employees.

IMPORTANT! The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation must verify the submitted data.

List of documents required for the FTS:

constituent documents of a foreign legal entity;
an extract from the register of foreign legal entities;
a document that confirms that you are registered as a taxpayer;
the decision of a foreign legal entity to establish a foreign branch or representative office in the territory of the Russian Federation;
regulations on a foreign branch, representative office;
power of attorney about vesting the branch / representative office with the necessary powers;
document on the payment of state fees.

All these documents you submit in Russian. Or in a foreign language with translation into Russian. The translation must be certified in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Documents issued or certified by the competent authorities of a foreign state are accepted if you have consular legalization or apostille.

After submission of documents, the authorized tax authority will accredit your foreign representative office or branch within a period of not more than 25 working days.

At the same time, a corresponding entry is made in the state register of accredited branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities. You receive a certificate of this within a period of not more than 5 working days from the date of making such an entry. The certificate confirms that you have successfully passed the accreditation procedure.

From 01/01/2015, the term for accreditation of the foreign branches and representative offices is INDEFINITE!

We will take care of all your accreditation needs

at a cost of 70,000 rubles *

*Price of accreditation of branches of foreign legal entities in the city of St. Petersburg

We provide the accreditation procedure services, including:

services for the accreditation of representative offices / branches of foreign companies
drafting of a Decision / Protocol on opening a branch / representative office, a provision on a branch – taking into account your wishes;
preparation of a package of documents in order to successfully pass the accreditation procedure in the Federal Tax Service No. 47 (Moscow);
submission of documents to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation in order to certify information about the number of foreign citizens who work in branches / representative offices of your foreign commercial organization;
receiving ready documents from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation;
submission of documents to the Federal Tax Service No. 47 (in Moscow) in order to successfully complete the accreditation procedure of your branch / representative office;
receiving ready documents from the Federal Tax Service;
registration with the tax authority at the location of the branch / representative office in St. Petersburg;
receiving notification from the State Statistics Committee (State Committee on Statistical Accounting);
registration with extra-budgetary funds at the location of the branch / representative office in St. Petersburg.

Important! Timely Necessary Fees’ Submission

The state duty for registering a branch of a foreign company is 120,000 rubles;
payment for services of the Chamber of Commerce for the certification of the number of foreign employees, regardless of the absence or presence – 15,000 rubles;
payment for services on apostilization of documents of a foreign legal entity (in accordance with the tariffs of the country of the legal entity).
payment for services on translation of documents of a foreign legal entity.

Additional Services

Personal accreditation of foreign employees of branches / representative offices of foreign legal entities

You have successfully passed the accreditation procedure and can conduct activities in the territory of the Russian Federation. If you plan to hire foreign employees, then for each of them you need to obtain a certificate of personal accreditation. This certificate is issued by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation for a period of up to 3 years.

Personal accreditation is carried out according to the number of employees, information about which is contained in the state register. Wherein you can engage up to 5 foreign employees. If the branch / representative office needs more foreign specialists, it is required to contact the Chamber of Commerce with a written justification for the required number and obtain the appropriate permission.

List of documents

The list of documents required for submission to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for obtaining a certificate of personal accreditation:

Certificate of entry in the state register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities;
Information sheet on an entry in the state register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities;
Information card on the branch, representative office;
Letter requesting personal accreditation;
Autobiographical reference for each employee with attached photos;
Two color photos on a light background 3 * 4;
Document proving the identity of a foreign citizen;
Power of Attorney vesting the head of a foreign branch / representative office in the territory of the Russian Federation with the necessary powers;
Document confirming payment for registration certificate.

The procedure for passing personal accreditation takes 6 months.

In order to enable your foreign employees to start work as soon as possible, a temporary certificate of personal accreditation for up to 6 months will be received within two weeks from the day you submit your documents.

The cost of services for obtaining a certificate of personal accreditation of an employee is 15,000 rubles.

Important Accompanying required documents:

Payment for registration of a certificate of personal accreditation of employees of branches / representative offices of foreign legal entities according to the tariff of the RF CCI is 5,000 rubles for each employee.
Payment for apostillation of documents of a foreign legal entity (in accordance with the tariffs of the legal entity’s country of origin).
Payment of services for translation of documents of a foreign legal entity.

Amendments to the information contained in the state register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities:

Change of name of the branch / representative office of a foreign company;
Change of address of the location of the representative office or branch of a foreign company;
Changes in information about the types of economic activity in the Russian Federation;
Change of the head of a representative office or branch of a foreign company;
Changes in information about the number of foreign citizens who are employees of a branch / representative office;
Changes in information about a foreign legal entity;
Change in banking information in the country of registration (incorporation);

The cost of services for making changes – from 15 000 rub.

Changes in the information contained in the register in relation to a foreign legal entity or its branch, representative office are carried out on the basis of the following documents:

applications for changes;
documents confirming corresponding changes. *

* All these documents are to be submitted in Russian or in a foreign language with translation into Russian. The translation must be certified in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Documents issued or certified by the competent authorities of a foreign state are accepted if you have consular legalization or apostille.

The necessary documents are submitted to the tax authority no later than 15 calendar days from the date of the amendment to the relevant information.

After submission of documents, the authorized tax authority makes the appropriate changes to the registry within a period not exceeding 10 working days.

Our services include:

Preparation of necessary package of documents;
Submission of documents to the authorized body (MIFNS №47 Moscow);
Receipt of documents after registration of applicable changes.

Required accompanying documents:

Notification of extrabudgetary funds about changes to previously entered information (if necessary) – 5,000 rubles;
Payment for services on apostillation of documents of a foreign legal entity (in accordance with the tariffs of the country of the legal entity);
Payment for translation services of documents of a foreign legal entity.

Obtaining an extract from the register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities

The State Register of Accredited Branches and Representative Offices of Foreign Legal Entities is a register that contains information on representative offices and branches of foreign companies that have passed the accreditation procedure in the Russian Federation and operate in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

The cost of the service is 3,500 rubles.

The deadline for receipt of the extract is up to 10 working days.

Termination of accreditation of a branch / representative office of a foreign company

If your foreign company has decided to close a branch / representative office in the Russian Federation, or has itself ceased its activities, you need to inform the accrediting body (MIFNS No. 47 in Moscow). This should be done no later than 15 calendar days from the date of such resolution.

The following documents are submitted to the tax office:

application for termination of accreditation (prepared by us);
resolution of a foreign legal entity (prepared by us);

Power of Attorney vesting the head of the branch / representative office with the necessary powers.

On the basis of the submitted documents, the accreditation of a separate division of a foreign organization will be terminated within 10 working days. An information sheet will be issued within a period not exceeding 5 working days from the date of the record of the termination of the accreditation.

The cost of this service is 15,000 rubles.

Withdrawal from registration with the tax authority, the Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Fund – 5 000 rubles.

Accompanying required documents:

1) payment for apostillation of documents of a foreign legal entity (in accordance with the tariffs of the country of the legal entity).

2) payment for the translation of documents of a foreign legal entity.

Leading Lawyers in Accreditation of Representative Offices and Branches of Foreign Firms:

Marina Sorokina

Lawyer (Model Legal Procedures Department)

marina.so@lgls.ru

+7 (812) 3844838

More about Marina