Migration - natural process for any state. To make the most of it for the country and control the movement of citizens and foreigners, progressive regulations are needed. In this regard, Russian migration legislation has undergone a number of changes since 2017.
The past year has been the most productive in terms of changes in migration norms. The changes affected:
Migration innovations also apply to citizens of the Russian Federation. Every citizen of the Federation who has a second citizenship is obliged to notify the FMS about this within two months. Concealing the fact will entail a fine and more serious consequences.
To enter Russia, CIS citizens now need a foreign passport. The change did not affect only citizens of member countries of the Customs Union and the EAEU:
Citizens of Tajikistan who arrived in the Russian Federation before 2015 with an internal passport received permission to continue working on this document and enough time to obtain a foreign passport.
By decision of the State Duma, quotas for issuing work permits for foreigners arriving under a visa-free regime will be replaced with labor patents. Its validity period is from 1 month to a year (this also applies to citizens of Tajikistan who previously received a patent for 3 years). A foreigner is given 30 days to obtain a patent.
How to find out your taxpayer number
According to the new law on migrants, from 2015, with a patent, you can work for an individual or legal entity, but only in the region in which the document was issued.
If a foreigner, when entering the Russian Federation, did not mention on the migration card that he came to work, he will not be able to obtain a patent. In addition, the migration legislation of the Russian Federation was supplemented with other reasons for canceling a permit or refusing to issue it.
Since January 1, 2015, the Law on Migrants obliges a foreigner to confirm knowledge of the Russian language, history and laws of the Russian Federation. This can be done by presenting:
- document confirming education on the territory of the USSR;
- Russian certificate of certification;
- certificate of passing the exam.
The certificate can be obtained at the Testing Centers for Foreign Citizens. To take the tests you need to pay a state fee, the amount of which is indicated here. The certificate is valid for 5 years.
Employment of foreigners and the issuance of a patent are possible only if there is a VHI policy, an agreement with a medical institution for the provision of services or an employer’s guarantee to provide for the employee medical care at your own expense. The law obliges the employer to terminate the employment agreement with the foreign employee if the policy has expired.
In addition, employers will transfer 1.8% of a foreign worker’s salary to the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation. In case of temporary loss of ability to work, a migrant will be able to receive benefits, but for this, contributions must be received by the Fund for at least six months.
The website of the Unified Migration Center reports that the Russian government has set a limit on the issuance of temporary residence permits to foreigners - 125,900. This quota size is set taking into account migration and economic situation in the regions.
External migration: Russian realities
The smallest number of foreigners is ready to accept Nenets district- only 80 people. 4,000 citizens each will receive temporary residence permits in Belgorod, Rostov and Kaliningrad regions. In the Moscow region the quota is 8,000, but in the Leningrad region there are only 400 quotas.
Changes in migration legislation since 2017 will affect the interests of citizens of a number of countries:
Perhaps the new laws for migrants in 2016 will seem harsh to some: to obtain a patent you need at least 12-15 thousand rubles. Lack of capital forces some migrants to remain outside the legal zone.
In this regard, the authorities have taken steps to improve control over the movement of migrants, for example, they have organized fingerprint registration of foreigners entering the country. This will make it possible to identify violators who return documents with changed personal data.
In 2016, penalties for violating immigration laws will be tightened. From the point of view of the law, a crime is considered to be the absence of permits for residence and work, as well as a violation of:
- rules of entry into the Russian Federation;
- regime of stay (residence);
- migration registration;
- procedure for choosing a place to stay.
Depending on the severity of the offense, the fine is 2000–5000 rubles and may be accompanied by administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation. For violating the rules of migration legislation, including the regime of stay, some foreigners will be deprived of the right to enter Russia for 10 years.
More serious consequences await employers who break the law. These include fines amounting to tens of thousands of rubles, termination of the company’s activities for a certain period, and even criminal liability.
Population migration in Russia: statistics for 2015
In the Russian Federation, various changes occur annually in the current legislation. It is necessary for all citizens of the country to monitor new changes in current legislation, and this is especially true for foreign citizens who live or work in the Russian Federation. In addition, various changes related to the legislation of the Russian Federation must be approached with the utmost care for those foreigners who plan to visit the country in the near future. It is always necessary to remember the point that ignorance or misunderstanding of the law in force in the country does not exempt you from legal responsibility for crimes committed.
Taxes and fees for foreign citizens
There have been some changes related to the area of taxation for foreigners for the coming year 2017, which will be used in the calculation separate groups taxes for foreign citizens. In general, these tax changes increased the amount of such fees for foreigners when compared with previous years. Thus, for the coming year 2017, a tax of fixed payments for personal income tax has been established, which are required to be paid by foreign citizens working in the Russian Federation.
This payment increase is indexed to next year in the amount of a special coefficient, which is 1.62 (it is worth mentioning that in 2016, this coefficient was 1.51). According to the current order of the Ministry of Economic Development of the country dated November 3, 2016, number 698. An increase in this payment ratio for foreign citizens in a significant number of regions of the country leads to an increase in the total cost of the patent, but in some regions given coefficients was changed and remained at the same level. In certain regions it has even decreased to some extent.
Existing labor restrictions that apply to foreign citizens. By the decree of the current government of the Russian Federation in the country, which entered into force on December 8, 2016, under number 1315, it was determined for the next year 2017, the possible share of workers from foreign countries who work in various economic entities of the country. In some established areas economic orientation according to the existing decree of the government of the Russian Federation for the next 2017, the possible share of workers from foreign countries who wish to work and engage in certain activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.
In some cases defined by law established types economic activities for 2017, the share of possible foreign presence has been reduced to some extent. As an example, it is possible to consider the share of workers from foreign countries in the field of land transport, which has decreased quite significantly from 40% to 30%. In the field of road transport, this indicator decreased by 5%.
To a certain extent, the established ban on the use of labor of foreign citizens in various organizations trading activities, as well as trading activities in pharmacies that sell a variety of medicines. It is necessary to recall how important it is to monitor various changes in current legislation - this is necessary for all citizens of the country, and this is especially true for foreign citizens who live or work in the Russian Federation.
In addition, various changes related to the legislation of the Russian Federation must be approached with the utmost care for those foreigners who plan to visit the country in the near future. It is always necessary to remember the point that ignorance or misunderstanding of the law in force in the country does not exempt you from legal responsibility for crimes committed. varying degrees gravity.
Changes in legislation relating to foreigners in the field of military service
Foreign citizens who wish to pass military service in the Russian Federation, under a concluded contract, they can hold positions established by law. At the same time, they need to sufficiently prove their qualifications for their position in military service.
Every year, various changes occur in the current legislation in the country, so this issue must be treated as carefully and responsibly as possible for citizens of foreign countries. Quota for temporary residence permits 2017 The Government of the Russian Federation established in new changes current law a special quota for issuing various permits that relate to the temporary residence of foreign citizens in the country in the future in 2017 in the amount of 110.8 thousand units (for the entire Russian Federation) - 15,000 permits less than this figure was in 2016.
These changes were introduced into the new bill at the beginning of 2016, and after the completion of work on it and the introduction of all necessary changes and additions will come into force next year 2017 in our country. All this applies to citizens of foreign countries who carry out work activity or live on the territory of the Russian Federation.
In 2018, a number of important changes were made to migrant legislation. A number of more laws will come into force in 2019. Read more about the changes in migration legislation in our article.
What changes in migration legislation occurred in 2018
Migration legislation is not static; in 2018, several changes occurred in it, which are associated with the following circumstances:
- adopted by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation by Resolution No. 22-P dated July 19, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as Resolution No. 22-P);
- the legislator's policy to expand the rules on liability for violation of migration rules (due to the increase in the number of violations).
We will talk in detail about the changes caused by Resolution No. 22-P in the next section of the article. As part of tightening liability for violation of migration norms, the law “On Amendments...” dated October 11, 2018 No. 366-FZ was adopted, which introduced 2 amendments to the law “On Migration Registration of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons...” dated July 18, 2006 No. 109 -FZ (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 109-FZ), which entered into force on October 22, 2018:
- fictitious registration of a foreign citizen is recognized not only as registration in residential premises, but also as registration in non-residential premises;
- Registration of a foreigner at the address of an organization is also considered fictitious if he does not work for the latter.
On November 23, 2018, the law of November 12, 2018 No. 420-FZ came into force, which amended Art. 322.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Amendments have been made to the concept of “fictitious registration at the place of residence in a residential premises” by removing the word “residential” from it. Thus, liability under Art. 322.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will now apply to registration in non-residential premises. Thus, legislators continue to struggle with the registration of dozens and sometimes hundreds of foreigners at office addresses.
How the decision of the Constitutional Court changed migration rules
The Constitutional Court adopted Resolution No. 22-P, which recognized Part 1 and Clause 2 of Part 2 of Art. 20 of Law No. 109-FZ do not comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
In Resolution No. 22-P, the Constitutional Court justified its position by the fact that the norms of the current law determine the place of stay of a foreigner or stateless person in connection with both residential premises and other premises provided by the inviting party for conducting activities.
The Law “On Amendments...” dated June 27, 2018 No. 163-FZ determines that:
- the place of residence of a foreign citizen is the place of his actual residence or the organization at the address of which he is subject to registration;
- the receiving party is a citizen of the Russian Federation, foreign citizen permanently residing in the Russian Federation, organization, government bodies, representative offices and consulates that have provided a foreigner with a place of actual residence or an organization in which a foreign citizen carries out work.
A foreigner must be registered at the place of residence:
- at the address of a residential premises, which is not his place of residence, but in which he actually resides,
- at the address of the sanatorium, hotel, etc. organizations,
- at the address of the organization in which he carries out his activities, if he lives on the territory of the organization or the premises where he lives does not have an address (for example, a “living trailer” at a construction site).
Innovations in liability for violation of migration laws - 2019
There will be many important changes in the area of liability for violation of migration laws in 2019.
From January 16, 2019, 2 laws come into force:
- first, the inviting party is entrusted with the obligation to monitor compliance by invited persons with the procedure for staying in and leaving the Russian Federation (Law “On Amendments...” dated July 19, 2018 No. 216-FZ),
- the second establishes administrative liability imposed on the inviting party if a foreigner fails to comply with the purpose of entry into the Russian Federation or the deadlines for leaving the Russian Federation (Law on Amendments dated July 19, 2018 No. 215-FZ).
In addition, it is worth paying attention to the bill that appeared back in 2017. We talked about it here: It is proposed to introduce administrative liability for a foreigner conducting labor activities without concluding a contract (draft bill). The project is still in development and has not been submitted to the State Duma.
If it is adopted, then employers who evade concluding labor or civil contracts with foreign workers, who in fact perform labor functions for them, will face a fine in the amount of 2,000 to 50,000 rubles. or suspension of activities for a period of 2 weeks to 90 days
So, for now we can say with confidence that, on the basis of Resolution No. 22-P, changes have been made to the legislation of the Russian Federation. In addition, the fight against fictitious registration of foreigners is underway. Registration not only in residential but also in non-residential premises can be considered fictitious. For example, registration of a foreigner in the office of an organization in which such a foreigner does not work will be considered fictitious registration in non-residential premises.