Is it possible for foreign citizens to get a divorce in the Russian Federation

Home / Divorces / How to divorce a foreigner in Russia without his presence?

Citizens of a free country have the right to marry - both with their compatriots and with foreigners. However, it should be remembered that the procedure for concluding and dissolving an international marriage has its own characteristics. The peculiarities of divorce between Russians and foreigners in Russia will be discussed in this article.

What is needed to divorce a foreigner in the registry office?

The easiest and fastest way to divorce a foreigner is to contact the civil registry office. The foreign citizenship of one of the spouses does not play any role when filing a divorce - the standard procedure for filing an application, state registration of divorce and, after 30 days, obtaining a certificate are carried out.

The conditions for a divorce from a foreigner in the registry office are the same as for a divorce from compatriots: mutual consent and the absence of common minor children.

What documents are needed to divorce a foreigner at the registry office? In addition to the joint application of the spouses, it is necessary to provide passports (or other identification documents), a marriage certificate, as well as a receipt for payment of state fees (see “How to correctly submit an application and documents for divorce”).

How to dissolve marriage ties with a foreigner and between foreigners?

Divorce between a citizen of the Russian Federation and a citizen of another state or between both citizens on the territory of the Russian Federation occurs in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and possibly through the registry office or court. About in which cases you need to submit an application to the registry office, and in which to the court, it is written here.

Through the registry office

Divorce proceedings with a foreigner through the registry office are carried out in cases where the parties do not have property disputes, there are no children together, and both spouses agree to a divorce.

To end a marriage with a foreigner, you must provide documents to the body that formalized the marriage or to the registry office at your place of residence:

Application for divorce in writing.
Identification.
Marriage certificate.
Receipt for payment of state duty.

Attention! If the spouses got married outside of Russia and the documents were drawn up in a foreign language, then before submitting to the registry office, the papers must be translated into Russian and certified by a notary.

How to write an application?

To annul a marriage, it is necessary to draw up a joint statement in which both parties consent to the divorce and confirm the absence of common minor children (what are the features of a divorce if there are minor children?). The document contains the following information:

Full name, date and place of birth, citizenship, residential address of each spouse;
nationality, education, first or remarriage (information is not mandatory);
data on the registration of the marriage act (name of the registry office where the union was concluded, date of registration and document number);
details of spouses' passports.

The application indicates the surnames that remain with the spouses after the divorce. The document is signed by both parties (Federal Law No. 143, Article 33).

Do I need to pay a state fee?

Upon divorce, you will need to pay a state fee - 650 rubles for each spouse with their mutual consent. If one spouse filed an application for divorce, then the state fee is 350 rubles (Article 333.26, clause 1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Review of documents

From the moment you apply to the registry office for divorce until the complete dissolution of the marriage with the issuance of a supporting document, no more than one month should pass.

Through the court

When divorcing, spouses go to court on the territory of the Russian Federation in the following cases:

disagreement of one of the parties to break the marriage union;
presence of joint minor children;
division of acquired property is expected.

Attention! The claim can be filed with the judicial authority at the defendant’s place of residence.

How to write a statement of claim?

According to Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the statement of claim to the court must include the following information:

Name of the court to which the application is sent.
Full name of the plaintiff and his residential address.
Full name of the defendant and his place of residence.
The reasons for the divorce, as well as evidence for these reasons.
List of accompanying documents.

The statement is allowed to refer to people who may act as witnesses in divorce proceedings, their telephone numbers and addresses.

What should I include?

For the trial, documents in Russian will be required (in case of translation from other languages, notarized confirmation is required):

Passports of the participants in the process and their copies.
Receipt for payment of state duty.
A document confirming marriage.
Birth certificate of common children.
Property documents (if there is joint property).
Agreement of the parties on the division of acquired wealth and payment of alimony.
Agreement regarding child custody (if the parties have reached a decision).

How much is the state duty?

The fee for divorce proceedings through the court is 650 rubles for each spouse. In the case of division of property, the state duty increases in proportion to its value and is at least 400 rubles. Without a receipt for payment, the court will not be able to carry out a divorce.

How long does it take to process a claim?

In court, a claim for divorce should not be considered longer than 2 months from the date of filing the application. But if one of the parties does not want to end the family relationship, then the judge has the authority to postpone the decision to end the marriage for up to 3 months. This period is not included in the total period of 2 months (Article 154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

If one of the spouses does not appear at the trial, the judge may postpone the hearing several times, but up to 3 months.

When the court decision on divorce has entered into legal force, within 3 days the judicial authority is obliged to notify the registry office of the divorce so that the termination of the relationship is officially registered (Article 25 of the RF IC).

We wrote about the timing of divorce through the registry office and the court here.

How to divorce a foreigner in court?

Divorce from a foreigner becomes somewhat more complicated if there are common minor children and in the absence of mutual agreement on the termination of family relations.

The divorce process will be carried out in a Russian court - magistrate or district (depending on the circumstances of the case), if the foreign spouse is in Russia, since the statement of claim for divorce is sent by the plaintiff to the place of residence of the defendant.

In addition to the statement of claim, a standard package of documents is submitted to the court, including a passport (or identity document), marriage certificate, agreement on the division of property, maintenance and upbringing of children, and other documents.

A month after accepting the statement of claim for processing, the court begins the trial of the case. If one of the spouses disagrees with the divorce or there is a possibility of saving the family, the court may set a period for reconciliation of the spouses lasting from 1 to 3 months . If reconciliation does not take place, the court makes a decision to dissolve the marriage (see “Term of divorce through the court”).

Simultaneously with the dissolution of the marriage, the court can resolve disputes between the spouses regarding the place of residence and the procedure for raising children, alimony obligations, and the division of common property of the spouses.

Divorce through court

A wife often has questions: is it possible to divorce a foreigner without his presence, how does the process work if there are young children, or if the husband is against annulment of the marriage. In all of the above situations, dissolution of the union is possible only in court.

Divorce proceedings in court last longer than divorces through the registry office. It consists of stages:

collection of documents;
filing a claim in court - ;
first court hearing - if one of the parties is against the annulment of the union, the court will set a conciliation period of 1-3 months;
divorce - if after the expiration of the reconciliation period the spouses do not change their minds, their marriage is dissolved;
receipt of documents - after the expiration of the period for appeal, the spouses should receive an extract from the court decision and, together with the passport, submit it to the registry office to complete the procedure for annulment of the union.

Statement of claim

The claim is drawn up in writing in accordance with Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. It states:

name of the judicial authority;
details of the plaintiff and defendant;
demands - to annul the marriage. If it is necessary to divide property or determine with whom minor children will remain, then all requirements can be stated in one application;
circumstances of the case;
the cost of claims, if the claim specifies division of property;
list of attached documents.

Which documents to attach to the claim depends on the characteristics of each family. The general list of documentation is as follows:

passport;
certificate of marriage and birth of children;
an extract from the house register at the place of residence of the plaintiff and defendant;
documents confirming the rights of spouses to property for its division;
receipt for payment of state duty.

In some cases, additional documents may be required. For example, if at the conclusion of the union the spouses drew up a marriage contract, then it is also provided to the court upon divorce.

Jurisdiction

The statement of claim is sent to the judicial authority at the place of residence of the defendant. If the spouse permanently lives abroad or his place of residence is unknown , then at the address where his property is located.

In exceptional cases, the claim is filed at the place of residence of the plaintiff. Such exceptions include serious illness or living together with minor children.

It is important to know: If a married couple has no disagreements regarding the issues of living of children, and the amount of property to be divided does not exceed 50 thousand rubles, the application is submitted to the magistrate. If there is a dispute about children, or the value of the property to be divided is more than 50 thousand, the claim is sent to the district court.

Foreign husband is not in Russia

Divorce from a foreigner becomes much more complicated if the spouse has gone to his homeland or abroad. The first difficulty is related to the determination of jurisdiction, because According to the rules of the Civil Procedure Code, the claim is filed at the place of residence of the defendant. If the husband no longer lives in Russia, the claim indicates the last place of residence known to the wife.

The second difficulty is related to proper notification of the spouse about the beginning of the divorce process. The notification is sent by mail, which significantly increases the time for consideration of the case materials in court. If the address is not known, then an official request is made to the embassy to establish the whereabouts of the foreign citizen.

Annulment of a marriage with a foreign husband will be much easier if he:

will send to the court a notarized request to consider the case materials without his presence;
will transfer the right to act on his behalf in court to a representative on the basis of a power of attorney certified by a notary.

Who will the children stay with?

Russian courts more often determine that minor children will live in the same territory with their mother . But the legislation of other countries may contain other, opposite instructions on the issue of establishing with which parent the child will live.

Difficulties in establishing the child’s place of residence may also arise if the baby has the same citizenship as his father . It will be difficult for the mother to take her minor to Russia.

How to divorce a foreigner in Russia without his presence?

The options for filing a divorce described above are only possible if a foreign citizen lives in Russia. If he lives outside our country, the process of filing a divorce takes on additional features.

So, you can divorce a foreigner without his participation both in the registry office and in court.

Divorce in the registry office without the presence of a foreign spouse

If there are legal grounds for divorce in the registry office, a foreign spouse living outside of Russia must submit a personally written and notarized application for divorce to the registry office. In this case, a standard divorce procedure is carried out at the registry office . The spouse living in Russia will be present at the state registration of divorce.

Another option is to file an application for divorce at the consular or diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation in the territory of residence of the foreign spouse.

Divorce from a foreigner not residing in Russia through the court

If it is impossible to get a divorce through the registry office, there is a procedure for dissolving a marriage with a foreign citizen through the court.

Expert opinion

Semyon Frolov

Lawyer. 7 years of experience. Specialization: family, inheritance, housing law.

However, there are a number of difficulties here:

Firstly , you can file a claim for divorce only at the defendant’s place of residence. If a foreign citizen does not live in Russia, his place of residence can be indicated as his last place of residence or the location of his property. It must be indicated that the defendant’s new place of residence is unknown or travel there is impossible.

Secondly , the defendant must be notified of the filing for divorce and the conduct of the divorce process. It takes a lot of time to send documents and postal notices. However, only if the defendant is familiar with the plaintiff’s request for divorce (and this must be documented), the court can begin divorce proceedings without his presence. This way the rights of the absent party to the trial are respected.

A notarized petition to consider the case without his participation can significantly simplify the procedure for divorcing a foreigner. Another option is to issue a power of attorney to represent a foreign spouse in a Russian court, which will make it possible to divorce a foreigner without his participation, without violating his legal rights and interests.

Divorce procedure

The termination process as a whole cannot be called easy. It becomes especially complicated in the case of marriage with a foreigner, since authorized bodies are required to take into account a lot of nuances.

Divorce through the registry office

If both spouses understand that it is impossible to live together and the time has come to dissolve the marriage, they can contact the registry office.

Its employees will only accept an application if the following conditions are met:

Through the magistrate

In situations where it is not possible to separate amicably, you will have to turn to justices of the peace. The reasons for this will be:

Refusal of one of the parties to divorce;
The presence of common young children born during marriage or before its conclusion, taking into account the recognition of the child by the second spouse;
Inability to divide property acquired over the years of marriage;
One of the spouses refuses to come to the registry office, although he supports the initiative to dissolve the marriage.

All of the above reasons will be valid grounds for filing a claim. But the judge will begin to consider the application only if:

There is no disagreement between the husband and wife regarding custody of the children and the amount of the monthly amount allocated for child support;
The total property that is planned to be divided, according to preliminary estimates, does not exceed 50,000 rubles.

To obtain a divorce through the court, you must provide the following documents:

Paid receipt (600 rubles);
The claim, which indicates the reasons for the divorce, describes the existing property and other nuances of the case;
Marriage certificate;
Child's birth certificate;
Property documents (if possible).

The duration of the process depends mainly on 2 factors:

Place of residence of the other party;
Desire to appear at hearings.

If the foreign spouse lives in Russia, then his address is indicated in the claim. He will be notified of the start date of the trial. In case of failure to appear, the consideration of the case will be postponed, but only for a month.

Repeated failure to appear in court will not be a reason to postpone the hearing. The matter will be considered in the presence of only one party. The procedure will take from 1 to 3 months. The judge may set aside this time for the couple to try to reconcile.

If the second party lives outside the Russian Federation, then the application indicates his last known place of residence in the country. The plaintiff must explain that the defendant is not able to come to the place of the trial and set out in detail all the circumstances of the case.

It should be borne in mind that in this case, the divorce may drag on for several months due to the sending of notices to the other party with the date of the trial and the postponement of hearings due to failure to appear.

Through the civil court

In some cases, a divorce case is referred to a civil judge. This happens if:

The parties cannot decide on the amount allocated for child support;
The child’s place of residence has not been determined voluntarily;
The total amount of property subject to division exceeds 50,000 rubles.

Before filing a claim, it is important to determine in which territorial institution the case will be heard. According to the law of the Russian Federation, hearings take place at the defendant’s place of residence. But this rule is relevant if the location of the foreigner is known.

In situations where a foreigner has left Russia and does not plan to come for a divorce, or his place of residence is impossible to find out, the other half can file a claim at his location.

But even in this case, you need to take into account several nuances:

The judge is required to notify the defendant of the upcoming hearing, so he will send notices to his last place of registration;
If the plaintiff knows where the defendant lives, then he must independently inform him of the divorce proceedings;
In the absence of the second party for the second and third times, the judge will decide on divorce, focusing on Russian legislation;
In order to speed up the process and simplify it, the plaintiff should persuade the defendant to write and certify a petition for consideration of the case in his absence.

A lawyer can also represent the interests of a foreigner in court. To do this, he must have a power of attorney to conduct business, certified by a notary.

The package of documents to the civil court is identical to the one submitted to the magistrate, but with some amendments:

If it is planned to determine the child’s place of residence, then you need to provide the child’s daily routine, a list of his additional activities, a certificate from the plaintiff’s place of work, a certificate of the amount of monthly income, confirmation of registration, and a reference from the place of work;
If it is necessary to determine the amount of alimony, then you must attach an approximate calculation of the funds needed to support the child, a certificate of income of the defendant (if possible), and a certificate from the place of work;
If property is divided in court, then during the hearings you will need documents for this or that property and confirmation of participation in its purchase.

The claim is drawn up based on what the plaintiff wants to achieve in addition to the dissolution of the marriage. You can use the example below as a basis and make changes to it as necessary.

Statement of claim for divorce

It is important to take into account that when dividing property, the state duty is a percentage of the amount of the claim.

The moment of official divorce

If a marriage between a Russian and a foreigner was concluded in Russia, the moment of its official dissolution (in the registry office or court) will be the moment of making changes to the civil registry book. If the marriage was concluded in a foreign country and dissolved in Russia (in court), then the moment of its official dissolution will be the moment of recognition of the court decision in the country that registered the marriage.

If you are not sure whether the marriage is divorced or not, read about ways to check in the article “How to find out whether a person is divorced or not?”

Features if one of the spouses is not in Russia

If one of the spouses is a foreign national and does not live in Russia, then filing a divorce through the registry office in the presence of one party is possible in two cases:

the foreign spouse agrees to the divorce and left a power of attorney signed by a notary;
the spouse who does not appear at the registry office has a legal representative.

In the case where the foreign spouse is located outside of Russia and the administrative procedure for divorce is considered impossible, the divorce process is handled by the court. In order for a divorce without the presence of a second person to be recognized as legal, the following actions must be observed:

The plaintiff draws up a claim and sends the document to the court at his place of residence in Russia. In the application, the citizen indicates that traveling abroad to the residence address of the foreign spouse is impossible or that the location of the defendant is unknown.
The court, having received the claim, is obliged to notify the other party about the beginning of the divorce process (date, place of its holding) and receive confirmation that the notice has reached the addressee. If the defendant cannot be found, the court of the Russian Federation has the right to instruct the judicial authority of the foreign state in which the wanted person lives to notify the citizen about the beginning of the procedure for ending the marriage and obtain the necessary consent from the defendant.
After all formalities have been completed, a judge in the Russian Federation can declare the union dissolved, and the record of marriage is excluded from foreign registers.

Recognition of divorce - in the Russian Federation and other countries

Article 160 of the RF IC regulates the procedure for recognizing a marriage concluded between Russian and foreign citizens in another country, as well as the procedure for recognizing a divorce between them. Thus, divorce from a foreign citizen in Russia is carried out in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation . If the divorce occurred outside Russia in accordance with the laws of a foreign state, the divorce is recognized in the Russian Federation.

An important aspect of a divorce from a foreign citizen that took place in Russia is its recognition in the territory of another state. Confirmation of the divorce is carried out in the relevant authorities of this state when the spouses submit all the necessary documents. If the spouses do not have the opportunity to visit this state to file a divorce, they need to contact its consular or diplomatic mission in the Russian Federation.

Divorce is an everyday matter, but in the case of a foreigner, many subtleties need to be taken into account. It’s one thing if the husband is from Ukraine, Belarus and the CIS countries. It is more difficult if the spouse lives in the USA, Colombia or France. The main problem is to agree on a divorce and formalize it according to all the rules. If the husband is absent from the Russian Federation, you have to request certificates remotely. This gives rise to a lot of questions: how to draw up an application, where to file a claim, how to send documents to Russia, do they need to be certified and where? In order not to rack your brains, contact the lawyers on our website. Will they tell you what to do and how to avoid mistakes? The lawyer will adjust the procedure for divorce from a citizen of another country. Consultation is provided free of charge - in writing or by telephone. Contact us!

Watch a video about the procedure for divorce from a foreigner in Russia:
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Author of the article

Irina Garmash

Family law consultant.

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The procedure for divorce from a citizen of another country in court

The process of divorce through court with a foreigner is carried out according to the following scheme:

The spouses decide which authority to contact. If it was possible to reach an agreement and document the agreements reached, in most cases an application for divorce from a foreigner is filed in the magistrate’s court (Article 23 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). In all other situations, the case will be considered by the district court (Article 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).
The parties collect a package of documents (Article 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). It is imperative that you prepare your claim correctly.
The spouses are waiting for a decision to be made regarding the application for divorce. The judge analyzes the petition for about 5 days.
The parties are sent notices of the upcoming trial. The document records the date and time of the upcoming hearing.
The spouses take part in the trial. During the hearing, each party can express their opinion, present evidence, and present arguments.
The court analyzes the information received and makes a final decision.
The parties are given 1 month to challenge the verdict. If the appeal procedure has not been carried out, the decision to divorce the foreigner comes into force (Article 209 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).
The spouses visit the registry office and receive a divorce certificate.

A sample statement of claim for divorce from a foreigner is available

Where to contact

An application for divorce in another state is sent to the registry office or court. In order for spouses to be divorced through the registry office, they need:

apply;
pay the state fee;
in a month, receive a document confirming the divorce.

The application is submitted by the spouses jointly. Unilateral application is allowed if the foreign spouse:

declared missing;
incapacitated;
sentenced to a term of over 3 years.

The unified application form was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 31, 1998 No. 1274. The form is issued at the registry office. It contains the following information:

personal data of spouses;
details of the passport and union registration document;
surnames that are assigned to everyone after the annulment of marriage ties.

At the end there is a date and the handwritten signature of each spouse.

The following must be attached to the application:

passports of spouses;
document confirming marriage;
receipt of payment of state duty.

The married couple is given a month to think about it, during which they can change their decision. If they still wish to dissolve their union, then on the appointed date they must appear at the registry office and confirm their intention. After which, everyone will be given a copy of the certificate of dissolution of marriage, and their union will be annulled.

When divorced through court

According to clause 8, part 3, art. 402 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the judicial authorities of Russia are empowered to make decisions on the divorce of foreign nationals if they have a place of residence in the Russian Federation, as well as if the husband or wife is a citizen of Russia.

In some circumstances, a marriage can only be dissolved by a court decision. Writing a statement of claim will be required if:

one of the couple does not agree to divorce;
a married couple has children under 18 years of age;
there are disputes regarding joint property.

The following is attached to the claim:

passport;
marriage document;
children's birth certificate;
documentation for joint property.

All documents received in a foreign country must be translated into Russian, and the translation must be notarized.

Other documents may be submitted to the court to facilitate the decision to dissolve the union. It is also permissible to invite witnesses to give evidence related to the divorce proceedings.

Annulment of marriage bonds in court takes longer than through the registry office. The court has the right to grant the spouses a period of up to 3 months for reconciliation.

Legal basis

The procedure for concluding and dissolving marriages is regulated by the Family Code of the Russian Federation. According to Article 158, a union registered on the territory of another state is recognized as legal in Russia if:

the requirements of the legislation of the foreign state are met;
there are no factors that could prevent marriage.

Article 160 of the RF IC states that the annulment of a marriage legalized in Russia is carried out in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.