Instructions: how to get financial assistance if you are stuck abroad and cannot return home

In April, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin allocated a billion rubles from the budget to support fellow citizens abroad. The government issued the decision on material assistance on April 3.

Money is paid at the rate of 2400 rubles per day for an adult and 1600 per child under 14 years of age. Everyone who had a ticket to Russia for dates from March 16 to the end of May can get money. But in practice, everything turned out to be more complicated. Applications for help began to be accepted on April 4. On April 12, there were more than 37 thousand applications, but only about four thousand people received the money on them - often the applications were incorrectly executed.

We tell you how to do everything right:

• First of all, you need to register on the portal of "State Services". To do this, specify the data of the passport, telephone, email address and SNILS number. Here is a detailed instruction.

• The second step is to fill out an application on the portal of "State Services". So you simultaneously fall into two lists: on the payment of material assistance and on the list of the Ministry of Communications of those who expect departure to Russia. If you are not alone abroad, but with your family, then submit one application and enter your spouse and children there. This is important: if you submit two statements from the family and enter your husband/wife in each, then this will be considered a mistake, and help will not come. But if you are not in marriage with your partner, you will have to fill out their statements without entering your partner there, but there is a risk that you will fall into different planes.

* During the filling, you will see that several points are marked as optional. These are the items: “Electronic reservation number” (a plane ticket for which you did not fly), “Scans or photos of air tickets and (or) other documents”, “Calist account number”. In fact, they are mandatory. The fact that this information is necessary clarified in its Decree No. 621 of April 30. If you leave them empty, the system considers that your application is an error. It is because of this that several tens of thousands of statements were declared invalid, and people did not receive help.

When you indicate the bank account number, make sure that it works in Russia. In the paragraph "Number of the foreign passport" you need to specify the number and series of the passport.

• Please note that if you exchanged a ticket from one date to another, then the countdown of unplanned days abroad will go from the second date. Whether it was a ticket to a Russian airline or foreign, it does not matter to appoint payments to you.

The main thing is that the flight is planned from March 16 to May 31. But if there was no return ticket at all, then no payments are supposed. In extreme cases, you can contact the embassy - Russia promises to help its citizens if there is a threat to their life in another country.

• According to the decision, 24 hours after the application, you must be informed by SMS and by e -mail about a positive or negative answer.

• In fact, people do not receive any information for weeks. If neither money nor the refusal came to you, there are two ways to find out what is wrong with your statement. The fastest - using Telegram: a special bot was developed in the Ministry of Communications. He needs to report the number of the application for the "Sovereigns", and he will indicate incorrectly filled fields.

You can fix them yourself there on the "public services". In different countries, the Russians united in groups in WhatsApp and Telegram - if you do not work, you can not use the digital assistant, you can ask for advice or find instructions. The second way to find out why the help is not received is to contact the Russian Embassy or Consulate. The Foreign Ministry transferred part of the powers to the embassies: now they will answer questions regarding material assistance, and help correct errors in statements.

• Sometimes those who began to receive money decide to stay abroad and abandon their place in a divorced plane. In this case, there is a item in the questionnaire: "I and my family members undertake to fly out by any flight of the Russian airline, which will be alerted about." And a special commission was created in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: she checks whether a person indicated knowingly false information, and makes sure that everyone registered on the flight flies away. If the plane was and you were invited to fly away, but you decided to stay, help will soon stop coming.