“Improving the situation of compatriots”: how will the migration legislation in Russia

The law signed by Vladimir Putin greatly simplifies the process of applying for a temporary residence permit (RVP) and a residence permit (residence permit) for foreign citizens as well as stateless persons. The document is another step towards liberalizing the process of accepting foreign citizens into Russian citizenship. The law was published on August 2, and it will come into force in three months.

Significant changes have been made to Article 8 “Permanent Residence of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation” of Law No. 115 “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation” regarding the issue of a residence permit.

As before, a foreign citizen is required to live at least a year under a temporary residence permit, and only then apply for a residence permit.

However, a number of categories of citizens will no longer have to receive RVP in order to obtain a residence permit.

In particular, we are talking about foreigners born in the RSFSR and former Soviet citizens. The innovations also concern minors whose parents or guardians are foreigners permanently residing in Russia.

A simplified procedure is also provided for children receiving residence permits with parents and foreigners, whose guardians or trustees are Russian citizens and permanently reside in the Russian Federation.

Innovations also apply to speakers of certain skills - native speakers of the Russian language, highly qualified specialists and members of their families, as well as graduates of the Russian state university in full-time with honors. If a foreign specialist worked in Russia within six months before applying for a residence permit, he can also obtain a residence permit without a RVP. However, this applies only to those professions whose representatives can receive Russian passports according to a simplified scheme.

If the Russian citizenship of a person was terminated for one reason or another, then he also has the right to obtain a residence permit according to a simplified procedure. The same rule applies to those who began to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation, but could not because of a crime.

Those who were illegally deported from the territory of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic or deported their children, parents, grandfathers, and grandparents also received the right to obtain a residence permit without RWP.

Also, citizens who are recognized by their state as incapable or limited in legal capacity may apply for a simplified procedure for obtaining a residence permit if their parents are foreigners permanently residing in Russia or applying for a residence permit, as well as those who exchanged their Soviet passports for Russian before July 1, 2002, but still did not receive Russian citizenship in the prescribed manner.

The law also made adjustments to the terms for which a residence permit is issued. If before the document was issued for five years, now it has become unlimited, due to which the state duty on its execution has increased from 3,500 to 5,000 rubles. However, it is worth noting that highly qualified specialists are granted a residence permit only for the duration of their work in Russia.

However, a residence permit can be canceled if a citizen continuously for any two years did not notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the confirmation of his residence in Russia.

In addition, the list of categories of citizens who can get RWP without a quota approved by the government of the Russian Federation has expanded.

Previously, citizens of only six categories could obtain RVP without a quota, but now permission can be issued to everyone who has the right to obtain a residence permit without RVP.

The new categories of those who can get RWP without quotas include foreigners, including Ukrainians or stateless persons who permanently resided in Ukraine, were recognized as refugees or received temporary asylum in Russia.

The new edition of the law also added specialists who lived in the territory of countries that were formerly in the USSR, who were educated in the Russian state university, the spouses of citizens of the Russian Federation, if they jointly reside in Russia and other categories of people.

At the same time, the period for consideration of applications for issuing RVP was reduced from six months to four.

Intend to move on

Member of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin, in an interview with RT, stressed that the adoption of the law is a step in the right direction.

“This law clearly improves the situation of several categories of our compatriots at once,” the deputy noted.

According to him, the law could be "much wider."

“But I believe that this is surmountable if we want to go further. And we intend to move on with the beginning of a new autumn session in the State Duma, ”Zatulin added.

According to the deputy, the situation of migrants and refugees from Ukraine, despite a number of measures taken, remains the most acute problem in the Russian migration sphere

“According to our data, about half of these immigrants still remain in Russia without any status, whether they are a RVP or a residence permit,” Zatulin comments. - They must leave the country 90 days after arriving in the Russian Federation. For residents of Ukraine, in my opinion, this is an excessive requirement, which puts these people in an uncomfortable position. Many of them have nowhere to return. They are forced to violate Russian law and remain in the Russian Federation after the expiration of their tenure. When this happens, they are threatened with deportation. ”

According to Zatulin, the number of people who find themselves in such a situation can be several hundred thousand. In his opinion, the solution to the problem may lie in an amnesty for migrant offenders, and subsequently in canceling the length of stay in the Russian Federation for citizens of Ukraine.

“This category of citizens is threatened by constant harassment by our law enforcement agencies. Although they are noted in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, however, to require them to leave Russia after the expiration of their stay, in my opinion, is an excessive measure. We will continue to remove excessive far-fetched bureaucratic obstacles for our compatriots, ”he concluded.

The amendments to the Federal Law “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation” were prepared by the State Duma Committee for the Development of Civil Society, Public and Religious Associations based on the results of the Direct Line with Vladimir Putin last year.

Then broadcast the heroine of the material RT, a citizen of Ukraine Irina Barakat, who suffered during the shelling in Syrian Aleppo in 2016. She had her leg and hand torn off. To help the woman came the Russian military from the Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties with whom she collaborated. So she got to the clinic at the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg, where she underwent treatment for two years.

In Syria, Irina had a husband and three children with whom she had not seen since she left for treatment. Due to the lack of a Russian passport, she could not issue her family the invitation necessary to enter the country. The president promised the woman to grant Russian citizenship, and also instructed Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to prepare proposals to simplify the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship.