“I’m a sole trader — so the DTV is over for me?” Since 31 August that has been the most frequent question in our chats. Here is the answer as it stands, with nothing to soften it: right now there is no clean route through Moscow for sole traders, the self-employed or people working on service contracts. But “no route through Moscow” and “no visa” are different things. In order: why it turned out this way, which four routes are left, and what not to spend 150,000 roubles on.
Why Moscow doesn’t take sole traders and the self-employed
Because the Moscow income filter is built on the 2-NDFL tax certificate (the Russian income-tax statement, form 2-NDFL) with income code 2000 — that is salary under an employment contract. A sole trader, a self-employed person or a contractor on a service agreement cannot have such a certificate at all, and tax returns and income statements don’t replace it. As of the final days of August we have three independent confirmations of this from the consulate, by phone; people on service contracts are told at the desk, in plain words, that a refusal is likely.
A line worth drawing here: this is a fact about the consulate, not a verdict on a person. The filter screens out a form of income, not the applicant — the DTV was designed for entrepreneurs among others, and consulates in other countries know how to read their income. The only question is which consulate is yours now: since 31 August that is set by your passport and your proof of permanent residence, and the rule is taken apart word by word in a separate piece.
Route one: a second passport or another country’s residence permit
If you hold citizenship or permanent residence outside Russia, you file at that country’s consulate, by its way of reading entrepreneurial income. And those rules can be built quite differently from Moscow’s. Before the rule, Ho Chi Minh City approved sole traders without drama: our chronicle holds an approval on the statement of a single business account, and the last such visas arrived as late as 1 September — on filings from mid-August. Vietnam now takes only its own citizens and residents, so that is history, not a route. Among the consulates still open: on 31 August Warsaw approved a FOP — a Ukrainian sole trader — with registration documents and certified translations. The filing predated the rule, but it shows the main thing: the entrepreneur track exists wherever a consulate isn’t tied to the 2-NDFL.
Two caveats. How consulates will read “permanent resident” — a residence permit, or strictly permanent residence — is still an open question: for temporary statuses such as a Turkish or Georgian residence permit our chronicle holds not a single decision. And this route is worth counting only from documents you already hold: getting a residence permit “for the visa” is a plan measured in years, not in one autumn.
Route two: a family filing — the sole trader as a dependant
If a spouse is a salaried employee with declared pay, they file as the main applicant and the sole trader goes as a dependant. A dependant doesn’t have to prove employment at all: their part of the package is proof of relationship, proof of address, a criminal record certificate and finances. Money follows the general rules: 500,000 baht of minimum balance across three months for every participant, dependants included — Moscow confirmed “500,000 for each” — or a sponsorship letter, which now stands in the form as a formal alternative. This is the most workable of the routes left: the income is shown by the person whose income the consulate is ready to read.
Route three: salaried employment with declared pay
Let’s be plain: this is not a “scheme” but ordinary life — if salaried work is realistic for you. Moscow wants a 2-NDFL with income code 2000 and at least 12 months of employment, so it is a plan a year ahead, not a month. If a move into employment was on the table anyway, it has one more argument now. If it wasn’t, there is no point inventing one for the sake of a visa: the last section covers where buying an “official” certificate ends up.
Route four: let September finish speaking
The rule is days old, and part of its wording the consulates haven’t yet translated for themselves: in Moscow, asked about dependants, they said “we don’t know ourselves yet.” How a residence permit will be read, whether the filter holds in its current shape, whether entrepreneur approvals appear at the open consulates — the first decisions of September will show. We keep the chronicle: once a month in the Barometer, and between issues on the consulate board.
What not to do: an “official 2-NDFL” for 150,000 roubles
Within days of the rule a price list took shape: “Moscow turnkey for sole traders” at 150,000–170,000 roubles with an “official 2-NDFL from a company.” Let’s call things by their name: a certificate from a company you never worked for is a forged document, and that is a criminal offence, not a visa risk. The check for it is already in place: at the fee desk the embassy officer opens the applicant’s live Gosuslugi account (the Russian state services portal) and matches the certificate against social contributions — tax office data cannot be faked. Any of the four routes above is slower. But all four actually exist.
Where that leaves you
A second passport or residence permit — you file in that country. A spouse with declared pay — a family filing, the sole trader as a dependant. Real employment — a route a year long. None of it is set in stone: September’s practice may shift the picture, and we are watching it. If a package along one of these routes is already assembled, you can hand it in for the Preflight Check — one written report on what doesn’t match the consulate’s requirements. And if it isn’t clear whether you have a route at all — message Mira: we’ll match your citizenship and residence status against the consulate map. The contact stays with you afterwards — that’s how we do things.