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Registration of Branch and Representative Office in Russia

BASIC PROVISIONS ON REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE AND BRANCH OFFICE IN RUSSIA

A Representative Office or a Branch in Russia is a standalone unit of a foreign company in the territory of the Russian Federation.

A Branch performs the functions of a foreign legal entity, as well as represents and protects its interests.

A Representative Office is created exclusively for representation of the interests of a foreign company and protection of the same. Both a Representative Office and a Branch are not the independent legal entities. 

The governmental control over creation of a Branch or opening of a Representative Office (except for Representative Offices of foreign lending institutions), as well as their winding-up has, since January 1, 2015, been exercised by the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation.

Before that, those functions were performed by the State Registration Chamber. Before passing documents to Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation in is necessary to receive approval on average staff number of a Representative Office or a Branch made by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI RF).

STATE DUTY AND TERM OF REGISTRATION OF A REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE OR A BRANCH

The state duty for accreditation of a Branch or a Representative Office is: 

120 000 RUR (approximately 1835 USD or 1645 EUR).

The accreditation is issued for an unlimited period of time. 

General term of accreditation (without time necessary for  preparation of the documents) is about 1.5-2 months.

STANDARD PACKAGE OF ACCREDITATION SERVICES FOR REPRESENTATIVE OR BRANCH OFFICE IN RUSSIA

• Preparation of a package of documents for accreditation;
• Consulting on the procedure;
• Getting approval for the staff number (or absence of the staff) from CCI RF;
• Accreditation at the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation;
• Obtaining of a seal;
• Obtaining of statistical codes;
• Registration at the non-budgetary funds.

Opening of bank account and setting up Internet Banking System (IBS) are considered as additional services. 

ADDITIONAL EXPENSES:

• Notarization: depending on the number of documents and pages therein.
• Translator’s services: depending on the number of documents and pages therein.
• Services of CCI of Russia: review of the documents related to approval of the number of foreign employees in a Branch or a Representative Office costs from 5000 to 15 000 RUR.

IMPORTANT: foreign documents (from non-CIS countries) are accepted only with authentic consular legalization marks or apostille (unless relief of those procedures is provided for by the international treaties of the Russian Federation) along with the notarized translation into Russian.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ACCREDITATION OF A REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE/BRANCH OFFICE OF FOREIGN COMPANY

• Constituent documents of a company;
• An extract from the trade register;
• A certificate of residency issued by a taxation authority;
• A decision of a foreign legal entity about creation of a foreign Branch, Representative Office in the territory of the Russian Federation;
• Regulations for a foreign Branch, Representative Office;
• A Power of Attorney which appoints a director of a foreign Branch or Representative Office;
• An Application form;
• A document certifying payment of the state duty for Federal Tax Services and CCI RF.

OTHER SERVICES FOR REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES AND BRANCHES:

Replacement of the head of a Representative Office/Branch Office. 

An accreditation authority must be notified about a replacement of the head of a Representative Office/Branch and the relevant data must be entered in the register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities. If the head is a foreign citizen, his/her personal accreditation at CCI RF will be needed.

Provision of a registered address of a Representative Office/Branch.

We may provide you with a verified address in Russia for your Representative Office or Branch Office.

Prolongation of a registered address for Representative Office/Branch Office and provision of post services.

Valid agreement with an owner of a registered address is a guarantee that the letters from authorities will reach your Representative Office or a Branch Office. You may receive secretary services on collecting and scanning of the documents.

Change of a registered address of a Representative Office/Branch.

You might need to change a location of your Representative Office or Branch. Our company will perform a procedure of change of an address at the Federal Tax Service and will provide you with a reliable verified address.

Obtaining of personal accreditation cards for foreign experts.

Foreign citizens invited to work at a Branch or a Representative Office are subject to personal accreditation at CCI RF. A document certifying personal accreditation is a certificate of personal accreditation. Our company will help you prepare the documents, submit the same to CCI RF and obtain the certificates of personal accreditation.

Liquidation of a Representative Office/Branch Office in Russia.

If, for any reason, a parent company decides to close a Representative Office or a Branch in Russia, it has to undergo an official procedure of winding-up of a Representative Office/Branch, including reconciliation of settlements with the tax inspectorate, extra-budgetary funds, payment of debts, if any, closing of current accounts.

Renaming of a Representative Office/Branch.

There can be several reasons for changing of a name of a Representative Office/Branch. Those include opening of another Branch or Representative Office, when, to avoid confusion, for instance, a name of a city is added to a name of a Branch/Representative Office opened first. A reason for changing of a name can be renaming of a foreign company itself.

Opening of accounts of a Representative Office/Branch.

For settlements with the partners, obtaining of funds from the parent company, payment of duties, mandatory fees, a Representative Office/Branch has to have current accounts. Our experts will perform the procedure of opening bank accounts.