Getting a Russian pension in the USA in the new conditions
The couple emigrated to the US from Russia in 2001 and are naturalized US citizens. Each of them received a Russian pension of about $350 per month. Every year they issued a certificate of the fact of being alive in the Russian consulate. As their health began to deteriorate, it was difficult for them to travel to the Russian consulate to obtain an annual certificate of being alive, and the payment of pensions was soon discontinued. They received their last payment in 2020. They did not know about the possibility of notarization of documents with an apostille.
Today, my husband is in a nursing home. The family assumed that the cost of his stay in the nursing home, care and treatment would be covered by the state (Medicaid). However, getting government assistance has become a problem for them.
His family contacted our office with the following questions:
1.Is it possible to continue to receive a pension during Covid, and if so, how difficult is the process?
2. How difficult and expensive is it to issue a power of attorney through your office?
They explained that their goal is to prove that receiving a pension from Russia due to Covid has become a difficult and expensive procedure. So difficult that they could not overcome it.
They also wanted to know, in view of the military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, was it possible in principle to issue powers of attorney?
Indeed, Covid has slowed down many processes and made it difficult for pensioners to receive their pensions. Until recently, many of them traveled to Russia, where they not only received their pensions, but also spent them there, returning to the United States healthy and rested. They applied to the bank, they could personally apply to a Russian notary. They knew that the doors of the Russian consulates were always open to them. Many did not even know about the possibility of drawing up documents with an American notary, with the further affixing of an apostille, and in general they did not consider such a scenario.
Covid has changed our lives. Many Russians were unable to go home. What will happen to the Russian pension now, will it stop? If you do nothing, then “yes”, your pension will stop. Is it possible to issue a certificate of the fact of being alive without contacting the consulate? My answer is “yes”, you can issue a certificate of the fact of being alive by contacting an American notary, followed by an apostille. It's easy if you contact our office, even if you live in another far away state. But, if you try to draw up documents on your own, then in the absence of the necessary knowledge and experience, this can become a problem.
As for the financial side of the issue. Many pensioners are accustomed to the fact that they can issue a certificate of the fact of being alive free of charge at the Russian consulate. These people come to my office expecting free services. However, our office is not a government entity, does not receive government funding, and does not provide free services. All our assistance is provided for a fee at a professional level and includes the complete execution of the document, as well as its delivery to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.
Until recently, many pensioners practiced receiving their pensions through Visa and Mastercard bank cards. Despite the fact that the Pension Fund does not transfer state funds to bank cards, the transfer from a pension account to a card account could be done manually. We have helped many retirees to receive such cards, which in turn allowed them to receive their pension in person, through any ATM of any American bank. However, this opportunity has now closed shortly after February 24, 2022, Russian cards have stopped working abroad. In this situation, many people who do not have relatives in Russia could not get their money. And those who have proxies in Russia are not able to receive money in America due to the shutdown of the SWIFT system. If you find yourself in such a situation and you need a legal opinion on this issue, please contact us, we will be happy to help you.
Karina Duvall
(718) 704-8558
1400 Ave. Z, office 507
Brooklyn, NY 11235
[email protected]
www.karinaduvall.com
