1.   The Russian Federation shall admit, upon application by a Member State and in accordance with the procedure provided for in this Agreement, any person who does not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on the territory of the requesting Member State provided it is established, in accordance with Article 9 of this Agreement, that such person is a national of the Russian Federation.

The same shall apply to illegally present or residing persons who possessed the nationality of the Russian Federation at the time of entering the territory of a Member State but subsequently renounced the nationality of the Russian Federation in accordance with the national laws of the latter, without acquiring the nationality or a residence authorisation of that Member State or any other State.

2.   After the Russian Federation has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the competent diplomatic mission or consular office of the Russian Federation shall irrespective of the will of the person to be readmitted, as necessary and without delay, issue a travel document required for the return of the person to be readmitted with a period of validity of 30 calendar days. If, for any reason, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of that travel document, the competent diplomatic mission or consular office of the Russian Federation shall issue a new travel document with a period of validity of the same duration without delay.

1.   The Russian Federation shall admit, upon application by a Member State and in accordance with the procedure provided for in this Agreement, any third-country national or stateless person who does not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on the territory of the requesting Member State provided that evidence can be furnished, in accordance with Article 10 of this Agreement, that such person:

2.   The readmission obligation provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply if:

3.   After the Russian Federation has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the requesting Member State issues to the person concerned a travel document recognised by the Russian Federation (EU standard travel document for expulsion purposes in line with the form set out in EU Council recommendation of 30 November 1994).

1.   A Member State shall admit, upon application by the Russian Federation and in accordance with the procedure provided for in this Agreement, any person who does not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the Russian Federation provided that it is established, in accordance with Article 9 of this Agreement, that such person is a national of that Member State.

The same shall apply to illegally present or residing persons who possessed the nationality of the Member State at the time of entering the territory of the Russian Federation but subsequently renounced the nationality of the Member State in accordance with the national laws of the latter, without acquiring the nationality or a residence authorisation of the Russian Federation or any other State.

2.   After a Member State has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the competent diplomatic mission or consular office of the Member State concerned shall irrespective of the will of the person to be readmitted, as necessary and without delay, issue a travel document required for the return of the person to be readmitted with a period of validity of 30 calendar days. If, for any reason, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of that travel document, the Member State concerned shall issue a new travel document with a period of validity of the same duration without delay.

1.   A Member State shall admit, upon application by the Russian Federation and in accordance with the procedure provided for in this Agreement, any third-country national or stateless persons who does not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence on the territory of the Russian Federation provided that evidence can be furnished in accordance with Article 10 of this Agreement that such person:

2.   The readmission obligation provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply if:

3.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 of this Article is for the Member State that issued a visa or residence authorisation. If two or more Member States issued a visa or residence authorisation, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 of this Article is for the Member State that issued the document with a longer period of validity or, if one or several of them have already expired, the document that is still valid. If all of the documents have already expired, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 of this Article is for the Member State that issued the document with the most recent expiry date.

4.   After the requested Member State has given a positive reply to the readmission application, the Russian Federation issues to the person to be readmitted a travel document recognised by the Member State concerned.

1.   Subject to paragraph 2, any transfer of a person to be readmitted on the basis of one of the obligations contained in Articles 2 to 5 of this Agreement shall require the submission of a readmission application to the competent authority of the requested State.

2.   By derogation of Articles 2 to 5 of this Agreement, no readmission application shall be needed where the person to be readmitted is in possession of a valid national passport and, in case such person is a third-country national or stateless person, also holds a valid visa or residence authorisation of the State which has to admit this person.

3.   If a person has been apprehended in the border region of the requesting State after illegally crossing the border coming directly from the territory of the requested State, the requesting State may submit a readmission application within two working days following this persons apprehension (accelerated procedure).

1.   Any readmission application is to contain the following information:

2.   To the extent possible, the readmission application should also contain the following information:

3.   A common form to be used for readmission applications is attached as Annex 1 to this Agreement.

1.   Nationality pursuant to Article 2(1) and Article 4(1) of this Agreement can be established by means of at least one of the documents listed in Annex 2 to this Agreement, even if its period of validity has expired. If such documents are presented, the Member States and the Russian Federation shall mutually recognise the nationality without further verification being required.

2.   If none of the documents listed in Annex 2 to this Agreement can be presented, nationality pursuant to Article 2(1) and Article 4(1) of this Agreement can be established by means of at least one of the documents listed in Annex 3 to this Agreement, even if its period of validity has expired

3.   Nationality cannot be established by means of false documents.

4.   If none of the documents listed in Annexes 2 or 3 to this Agreement can be presented, the competent diplomatic representation or consular post of the Russian Federation or the Member State concerned shall, upon request, make arrangements with the competent authority of the requesting State to interview the person to be readmitted without undue delay in order to establish his or her nationality. The procedure for such interviews is to be established in the implementing Protocols provided for in Article 20 of this Agreement.

1.   Proof of the grounds for the readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons laid down in Article 3(1) and Article 5(1) of this Agreement can be furnished through at least one of the documents listed in Annex 4 to this Agreement. Any such proof shall be mutually recognised by the Member States and the Russian Federation without any further verification being required.

2.   Indirect evidence of the grounds for the readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons pursuant to Article 3(1) and Article 5(1) of this Agreement can be furnished through at least one of the documents listed in Annex 5 to this Agreement

3.   Proof of the grounds for readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons cannot be furnished through false documents.

4.   The unlawfulness of entry, presence or residence shall be established by means of the travel documents of the person concerned in which the necessary visa or residence authorisation for the territory of the requesting State is missing. A duly motivated statement by the requesting State that the person concerned has been found not having the necessary travel documents, visa or residence authorisation shall likewise provide prima facie evidence of the unlawful entry, presence or residence.

1.   The application for readmission must be submitted to the competent authority of the requested State within a maximum of 180 calendar days from the date when the requesting State’s competent authority has gained knowledge that a third-country national or a stateless person does not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry, presence or residence.

2.   A readmission application must be replied to within a maximum of 25 calendar days from the date of confirmed receipt of the readmission application. Without prejudice to specific arrangements to be agreed upon in the framework of implementing protocols concluded in accordance with Article 20, where there are legal or factual obstacles to the application being replied to in time, the time limit shall, upon duly motivated request, be extended up to 60 calendar days.

3.   In the case of a readmission application submitted under the accelerated procedure in accordance with Article 6(3) of this Agreement, a reply has to be given within two working days (defined in accordance with the legislation of the requested State) from the confirmed receipt of the readmission application.

4.   Upon expiry of the time limits referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, the readmission shall be deemed to have been agreed to.

5.   The person concerned shall be transferred within 90 calendar days. In the case of a transfer under the accelerated procedure in accordance with Article 6(3) of this Agreement, the person concerned shall be transferred within two working days. Upon duly motivated request, this time limit may be extended by the time taken to deal with legal or practical obstacles. The time limits provided for in this paragraph begin to run with the date of receipt of a positive reply to the readmission application.

1.   Before transferring a person, the competent authorities of the Russian Federation and the Member State concerned shall make arrangements in writing and in advance regarding the transfer date, the border crossing point and possible escorts.

2.   All means of transportation, whether by air, land or sea, shall be allowed for the purpose of transfer. Return by air is not restricted to the use of the national carrier or the staff of the requesting State and may take place by using scheduled flights as well as charter flights.

1.   The Member States and the Russian Federation shall restrict the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons to cases where such persons cannot be returned to the State of destination directly.

2.   The Russian Federation shall allow the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons if a Member State so requests, and a Member State shall authorise the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons if the Russian Federation so requests, if the onward journey through other States of transit and the admission by the State of destination is assured.

3.   Transit can be refused by the Russian Federation or a Member State:

4.   The Russian Federation or a Member State may revoke any authorisation issued if circumstances referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article subsequently arise or come to light which stand in the way of the transit operation, or if the onward journey in possible States of transit or the readmission by the State of destination is no longer assured. In this case, the requesting State shall take back the third-country national or the stateless person, as necessary and without delay.

1.   An application for transit operations must be submitted to the competent authorities in writing and is to contain the following information:

A common form to be used for transit applications is attached as Annex 6 to this Agreement.

2.   The requested State shall, in writing, inform the competent authorities of the requesting State of the consent to admission, confirming the border crossing point and the envisaged time of admission, or inform it of the admission refusal and of the reasons for such refusal.

3.   If the transit operation is effected by air, the person to be readmitted and possible escorts shall be exempted from having to obtain a specific airport transit visa.

4.   The competent authorities of the requested State shall, subject to mutual consultations, support the transit operations, in particular through the surveillance of the persons in question and the provision of suitable amenities for that purpose.

1.   This Agreement shall be without prejudice to the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the Community, the Member States and the Russian Federation arising from International Law, and in particular from:

2.   The provisions of this Agreement shall take precedence over the provisions of any bilateral treaties or arrangements on readmission which have been or may, under Article 20 of this Agreement, be concluded between individual Member States and the Russian Federation insofar as the provisions of the latter treaties or arrangements cover issues that are dealt with by the present Agreement.

3.   Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the return of a person under other formal or informal arrangements.

1.   The Parties shall set up a joint readmission committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) which will, in particular, have the task:

2.   The decisions of the Committee shall be binding on the Parties.

3.   The Committee shall be composed by representatives of the Community and the Russian Federation; the Community shall be represented by the European Commission, assisted by experts from Member States.

4.   The Committee shall meet where necessary at the request of one of the Parties.

5.   The Committee shall establish its rules of procedures.

1.   The Russian Federation and Member States shall conclude implementing Protocols which shall cover rules on:

2.   The implementing Protocols referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall enter into force only after the Committee has been notified.

3.   The Russian Federation shall agree to apply any provision of an implementing Protocol concluded with one Member State also in its relations with any other Member State, upon request of the latter and subject to the practical feasibility of its application to the Russian Federation. The Member States shall agree to apply any provision of an implementing Protocol concluded by one of them also in their relations with the Russian Federation, upon request of the latter and subject to the practical feasibility of its application to other Member States.

This shall not apply to provisions containing specific arrangements referred to in paragraph 1 lit. (f) of this Article.

1.   Subject to paragraph 2 of this Article, this Agreement shall apply to the territory of the Russian Federation and to the territory in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applicable.

2.   This Agreement shall not apply to the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

1.   This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the Parties in accordance with their internal procedures.

2.   Subject to paragraph 3 of this Article, this Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article have been completed. If this date is before the date of the entry into force of the agreement between the Russian Federation and the European Community on the facilitation of the issuance of visas to the citizens of the Russian Federation and the European Union, this Agreement shall only enter into force on the same date as the latter.

3.   The obligations set out in Articles 3 and 5 of this Agreement shall only become applicable three years after the date referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. During that 3-year period, they shall only be applicable to stateless persons and nationals from third-countries with which the Russian Federation has concluded bilateral treaties or arrangements on readmission.

4.   This Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period.

5.   Each Contracting Party may denounce this Agreement by officially notifying the other Contracting Party. This Agreement shall cease to be in force six months after the date of receipt of such notification.