On migration records for foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Russian Federation

As we advised in our migration alert of 1 March 2011, Federal Law No. 385-FZ “On amending certain laws of the Russian Federation” entered into force on 15 February 2011. The law introduced amendments to the procedure for the registration of foreign citizens for migration purposes. We also noted that the State Duma was considering a draft law that would restore some of the previous procedures of migration registration, albeit modified to some extent.

Please now be further advised that on 20 March 2011, the Russian President signed Federal Law No. 42-FZ On amendments to Federal Law “On migration records for foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Russian Federation” and certain legislation of the Russian Federation (the “Law”). This Law also affects Federal Law No. 114-FZ On the procedure for departure fr om and arrival in the Russian Federation and Federal Law No. 115-FZ On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation.

Please note that the most significant amendments introduced by the Law relate to the procedure of migration registration of foreign citizens. These include:

1. A more detailed definition of the ‘temporary location of a foreign citizen. Under the new legislation, this includes residential premises where a foreign citizen or a stateless person does not reside permanently, and also other premises, agency or organisation where such foreign citizen or a stateless person is based and/or where such foreign citizen or a stateless person must register;

2. A wider definition of the ‘accepting party. Under the new legislation, accepting party includes, but are not limited to, legal entities by which foreign citizens are employed;

3. An extension fr om 3 to 7 working days of time for filing a notification of migration registration;

4. Responsibility for migration registration lies with the accepting party, while foreign citizens who are not registered where they are temporarily located may not be held liable for violating the rules for migration registration, except wh ere the responsibility for notifying their temporary location has been imposed on the foreign citizens in question.

By and large, these are welcome changes. For instance, foreign citizens will now be allowed to register at their employer’s location, which marks a return to the rules for the registration of foreign citizens wh ere they are temporarily located which had been in force prior to 15 February 2011.

The Law will enter into force since 23 March 2011.

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 e-mail

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