Changes in the terms on which foreign citizens may stay in Russia

Pepeliaev Group advises on the entry into force of Federal Law No. 385 “On amending certain laws of the Russian Federation”on 15 February 2011. The new provisions concern the terms on which foreign citizens may stay in Russia.

The most significant amendments concerned particular provisions of Federal Law No. 109 “On migration records for foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Russian Federation”.

The following in particular should be emphasized:

• As of 15 February 2011, an employer may no longer register a foreign employee for migration purposes at the company’s location;
  
• The party accepting the foreign citizen is, as of 15 February 2011, the owner of the residential premises where such foreign citizen is living. Thus, the obligation to register the foreign citizen for migration purposes (i.e. to submit the necessary information) now falls on the owner of the residential premises or on the employer if it rents the premises itself and allows its foreign employee to live there;
  
• Foreign citizens may only be registered for migration purposes at the address in Russia at which they live (for example, a rented apartment). They must register with the local Federal Migration Service office in the area where they live;
  
• The party accepting the foreign citizen (for instance, a landlord) no longer has to carry out the procedure for de-registering the foreign citizen by sending back the detachable portion of the relevant migration record to the FMS;
  
• Highly-qualified specialists (“HQSs”) and members of their families are not required to register for migration purposes for up to 90 days from the date on which they enter Russia. Moreover, an HQS who is registered at one location but who moves to another location and stays there for no more than 30 days is not required to register for migration purposes at his or her new location. Once the 90-day or 30-day period is over, HQSs are also obliged to register for migration purposes, within no more than three working days, at their new location;
  
• The rules and time periods for ordinary foreign citizens (i.e. non-HQSs) to register for migration purposes remain as before, i.e. within three working days of their arrival in Russia;
  
• It is the local migration authority at his or her location which is responsible for deregistering a foreign citizen for migration purposes (whether or not he or she is a HQS) as follows:

1. after receiving information under the established procedure that the foreign citizen in question has been registered for migration purposes at a new location;

2. after receiving information from the border control authority at the relevant state border crossing point that the foreign citizen in question has left Russia.

It should be noted that the new migration record rules only apply to foreign citizens who have arrived in Russia after 15 February 2011. Those foreign citizens who arrived in Russia before that date may use migration records documented under the old rules.

This law has already caused genuine alarm in business circles, as well as raising a vast number of questions as to how the new regime will be applied. It is no secret that landlords (the overwhelming majority of whom are individuals) cannot always comply on a timely basis and in detail with requirements to register foreign citizens for migration purposes. This may well make complying with the requirements of migration law more difficult, and increases the risk of foreign employees being liable for offences under administrative legislation.

The State Duma is currently considering a draft law which proposes to give back to employers the right to register foreign employees for migration purposes at the company’s address. The draft also proposes to extend from three working days to seven the time period for filing the notice to effect a registration for migration purposes. There is an extremely high likelihood that the draft law will be passed, but even so we recommend that, for now, the current requirements of migration law to be observed. Please note that breaches of migration law may adversely affect a company’s ability both to extend the current agreements it has with foreign employees as well as to engage highly-qualified specialists.

We will continue to monitor information on this topic and will keep you up-to-date with the latest developments.

For further details, please contact:

in Moscow – Julia Borozdna, Head of Employment and Migration Practice, at (495) 967-00-07 or by e-mail; Ekaterina Kozlova, Specialist on migration issues, at (495) 967-00-07 or by e-mail; Anna Semiletova, Associate, at (495) 967-00-07 or by a.semiletova@pgplaw.ru

in St Petersburg - Sergey Spasennov, Partner, Head of St. Petersburg office, at (812) 333-07-17 or by e-mail