Russian Migration Laws Tightened

Extensive changes to Russian migration laws[1] will take effect from February 5, 2025. They will, inter alia, affect the following.

 A register of controlled persons is to be introduced.

 The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will maintain a special online register of foreign citizens who are staying in Russia, but do not have any legal grounds for it. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will, inter alia, include a foreign citizen in this register:

 

• where a visa is cancelled;
• where a decision is made on the reduction of the duration of temporary stay, deportation, undesirable stay (residence) in Russia, and the denial of entry to Russia; and
• upon the expiration of 72 hours of a foreign citizen’s stay as a passenger on board a cruise ship or ferry that holds a passenger transportation permit.

 

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will independently identify such citizens and include them in the register. It should be noted that the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will not notify foreign citizens of their inclusion in the register. A foreign citizen will be considered to have been notified of his or her inclusion in the register from the time his or her details are entered into the online register. If the grounds for inclusion of a foreign citizen in the register are no longer valid, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will exclude that foreign citizen from the register, of which he or she will not be notified, either.

Please note that from the time a foreign citizen is entered into the register, the following restrictions will apply to that foreign citizen:

• a ban on the state registration of legal entities and individual proprietorships;
• a ban on the purchase of real estate, motor vehicles, self-propelled vehicles, and other types of machinery;
• a ban on the state cadastral registration of real estate and/or the state registration of ownership rights;
• a ban on the state registration of motor vehicles, self-propelled vehicles, and other types of machinery;
• restrictions on the use of the right to drive motor vehicles;
• a refusal to admit to exams for the right to drive motor vehicles, to issue (replace, exchange) of a Russian national or international driver’s license;
• a refusal to open a bank account and make other banking transactions, except for money transfers to make compulsory payments stipulated by Russian laws, and money transfers to the bank account of a controlled person and the withdrawal of cash to a controlled person in the amount of not more than RUB 30,000 per month;
• a ban on marriage;
• a ban on the change of the place of residence or stay in Russian without permission from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs;
• a ban on travel outside the constituent entity of Russia, the municipality, in which a controlled person is staying (residing), except for departure from Russia; and
• other restrictions.

We recommend monitoring of whether or not a foreign citizen has been included in this register, especially if any significant events, transactions or other actions are planned that require the involvement of government agencies.

If, for any reason, a foreign citizen has been included in the register, we will be pleased to offer our recommendations on how to exclude that foreign citizen from the register and provide any assistance as may be necessary to do so.

 Procedure for migration registration of foreign citizens is to change (migration registration).

From February 2025, a foreign citizen can be registered with migration authorities for a maximum of 1 year (migration registration). Previously, foreign citizens could be registered with migration authorities for the entire period of validity of their visas (for example, for three (3) years at once). The registration period has now been limited to one (1) year, even if the visa is valid for a longer period.

If you would like to discuss this matter further or have any questions, please write to Julia Talagaeva or Alexandra Yudina.

[1] Federal Law No. 260-FZ dated August 8, 2024 On the Introduction of Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation.