New laws — what they have in store for us in April

April 1st. Social pensions will be indexed

Social pensions will be indexed by 6.8 percent. The corresponding Government Resolution No. 197 dated February 26, 2026 comes into force on April 1.

Social pensions can be assigned for old age, disability, or loss of a breadwinner. For example, social old-age pensions are provided to people who did not work at all or were unable to achieve the length of service and coefficients required for an insurance pension.

In addition, the size of state pension provision for certain categories of citizens will increase by 6.8 percent. These include military personnel who served under conscription, participants in the Great Patriotic War, people awarded the badges “Resident of besieged Leningrad”, “Resident of besieged Sevastopol” and “Resident of besieged Stalingrad”, test pilots and cosmonauts, as well as victims of radiation or man-made disasters and members of their families.

In total, the increase will affect about 4.3 million Russians.

April 1st. The Cabinet of Ministers will assign the status of medical research centers

The status of a national medical research center will be assigned to medical organizations subordinate to both federal and regional executive authorities by the Government. The corresponding law dated December 28, 2025 No. 515-FZ comes into force on April 1.

The Cabinet of Ministers, according to the document, must determine the criteria for assigning the status of NMICs, establish the procedure for organizing their activities, as well as assigning and terminating the status. The Ministry of Health or the executive bodies of the constituent entity in charge of medical institutions will be able to apply to the Cabinet of Ministers for the assignment of such status.

April 1st. Buying goods in installments will become safer

The Bank of Russia will supervise installment service operators. Such provisions of laws No. 283-FZ and No. 284-FZ dated July 31, 2025 come into force on April 1.

Companies are now required to submit financial statements to the Central Bank.

We are talking, in particular, about the acquisition of goods, works, services for personal, family and other needs not related to business activities. However, the new rules will affect only special installment services. They will not affect direct agreements between the buyer and seller on payment for goods in stages.

From April 1, a ban will begin to apply on setting different prices for the same product (work, service) depending on the consumer’s use of the installment service or payment in installments or after a certain time.

April 15. Foreigners will be able to obtain a new legal status

Foreigners will be able to apply “to be recognized as being of interest to the Russian Federation.” The corresponding decree of the President of Russia dated December 2, 2025 No. 883 comes into force on April 15.

This opportunity will be provided to people who:

• have achievements in the field of scientific and technological development, production, sports, creative industries, cultural and humanitarian spheres, studies;
• contributed to the development of society, the economy, ensuring the defense capability and security of Russia;
• have a specialization, qualification or skills that are particularly in demand.

We are talking, for example, about scientists (foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, holders of academic degrees, patent holders), specialists with five years of experience in priority industries (manufacturing and mining industries, IT, microelectronics, energy), talented students and graduates of the world’s top 100 universities, high-class athletes, specialists who have contributed to the defense capability and security of our country.

From April 15, 2026, such foreigners, as well as their spouses, parents and children, will be able to obtain a residence permit in the Russian Federation without taking into account the government quota and without confirming proficiency in the Russian language, knowledge of history and the fundamentals of Russian legislation. In addition, a simplified employment procedure is provided for this category of foreigners and their relatives.

April 26. Service dogs will be easier to train

To prepare animals for drug searches, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Federal Customs Service and the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia will be able to purchase, store and transport narcotic and psychotropic substances without a license. The corresponding law dated October 27, 2025 No. 388-FZ comes into force on April 26.

Dogs in canine centers undergo a general training course, where they are taught to be obedient and submit to the demands of the dog handler, and then a special course — preparation for searching and detecting target substances. When new prohibited substances appear, the dog is additionally trained to search and detect them.

At the same time, previously the Law “On Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances” allowed the use of such drugs only for certain purposes, for example, medical, scientific and educational, veterinary, expert activities, but the powers of law enforcement officers to train and train service dogs were not established. Therefore, they decided to amend the law, establishing that the storage, transportation, release and use of drugs for the purpose of preparing animals, and the destruction of drugs used for these purposes, is carried out without a license.

April 26. Applications for Russian citizenship for children will be allowed to be submitted online

It will be possible to submit an application to the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to grant a child Russian citizenship acquired by birth in electronic form. The corresponding law dated October 27, 2025 No. 396-FZ comes into force on April 26.

The child’s legal representatives can do this. The procedure for submitting such an application will be approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It is assumed that it will be possible to submit an application on the government services portal. There, in the user’s personal account, a notification about the registration of citizenship for the child will be sent, signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of an authorized official.

At the same time, parents will still have the opportunity to submit such an application in paper form.

Besides

• April 1st. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will establish requirements for regional export support centers for small and medium-sized businesses. The department will also approve the procedure for monitoring their compliance. This law dated 03/08/2026 No. 54-FZ comes into force on April 1.
• April 1st. The amount of benefits for residents of territories with a preferential tax regime will depend on the volume of investments they have made in fixed assets or in scientific research and development. Such provisions of Law No. 18-FZ dated February 11, 2026 come into force on April 1.
• April 1st. The maximum amount of charges under a consumer loan agreement, the repayment period for which at the time of its conclusion does not exceed one year, has been reduced from 130 to 100 percent. Such provisions of the law of December 29, 2025 No. 545-FZ come into force on April 1.
• April 1st. It will also be possible to register in hotels, sanatoriums, campsites, holiday homes, boarding houses, and tourist centers based on the information contained in the citizen’s identity documents submitted using the MA messenger X or the Gosuslugi mobile application. This is presupposed by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 21, 2026 No. 174.
• April 26. The procedure for the destruction, processing, use and storage of methanol and liquids containing it seized from illegal circulation as part of a criminal case, as well as equipment for their production, will be established by the Government of the Russian Federation. The corresponding law dated October 27, 2025 No. 400-FZ comes into force on April 26.
• April 26. Employees of bodies and institutions of the penal system of the Russian Federation who were injured in the special operation zone will be able to return to work: positions will be selected for them taking into account their injuries. The corresponding law dated October 27, 2025 No. 395-FZ comes into force on April 26.

source: «Parliamentary newspaper»

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