Russian consulates will begin to confirm the equivalence of electronic documents paper

On 1 July 2024, the Federal Law of 12 December 2023, 587-FZ, amending article 38 of the Basic Law of the Russian Federation on the Notariat and article 26 of the Federal Law "Consular Statute of the Russian Federation", came into force. This law provides for the powers of consular officials of Russian diplomatic missions and consular posts to perform a notarial act - a confirmation of the equivalence of an electronic document to paper. This kind of notarial activity is already practiced in Russia and is in great demand among the population.

In practical terms, this means that the consul to whom a citizen applies for confirmation of a notarial document will scan the paper document provided by a citizen and sign the generated file with its qualified electronic signature, giving it to the applicant. An electronic document thus created would thus have the same legal force as a paper document. This enables citizens to quickly transfer documents from abroad, for example, notarial power of attorney to their representatives in Russia, by regular e-mail, without using the services of international postal services, which significantly reduces time and logistics costs.

The Government Resolution sets the rate of consular fee for the confirmation of the notarial validity at 10 USD for each page of a paper document. This information will be available on the websites of all diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Russian Federation.