Russia | Medical Examinations for Foreign Citizens in Russia Starting September 1, 2026

Federal Law No. 162-FZ of June 10, 2026, introduced amendments to Federal Law No. 115-FZ of July 25, 2002, “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”), concerning medical examinations for foreigners entering Russia. The changes are effective as of September 1, 2026.

As a reminder, medical examinations of foreign nationals are conducted to determine whether they have used narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances without a doctor’s prescription, or new potentially dangerous psychoactive substances; whether they have infectious diseases that pose a danger to others; and whether they have a disease caused by HIV infection. This procedure applies to virtually all foreign nationals staying in Russia for extended periods, whether for work or for any other purpose of entry:

• who have entered the Russian Federation for purposes not related to employment, for a period exceeding 90 calendar days;
• who have arrived in the Russian Federation for the purpose of employment;
• who are authorized to engage in employment in the Russian Federation without a temporary residence permit or a work permit, in accordance with the law or international treaties of the Russian Federation, in the event of a change in the purpose of their visit to the Russian Federation [1];
• persons wishing to enter the Russian Federation for purposes not related to employment for a period exceeding 90 calendar days, or for the purpose of employment, who undergo fingerprinting and photographing in foreign countries as specified in a special list [2] (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan) [3].

Exceptions (unchanged):

– persons who, no later than one year prior to the date of entry into the Russian Federation, underwent the relevant medical examination (including refugees as defined by Federal Law No. 4528–1 of February 19, 1993, “On Refugees”) [4].

– who are citizens of the Republic of Belarus;

– who are officials of international (interstate, intergovernmental) organizations who have entered the Russian Federation in connection with the performance of their official duties, and staff members of representative offices of international (interstate, intergovernmental) organizations on the territory of the Russian Federation, or staff members of representative offices and officials of other organizations that, in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation, have been granted a status analogous to that of international (interstate, intergovernmental) organizations, as well as family members of such persons;

-under the age of 6;

– who have been recognized as refugees or have been granted temporary asylum in the Russian Federation [5];

– on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, staff members of diplomatic missions and consulates, representatives of foreign government agencies, holders of special passports, and their family members [6].

To obtain or renew a patent (for visa-exempt foreign nationals) [7], Obtaining a work permit (for foreign nationals requiring a visa) [8], Foreign nationals applying for a Temporary Residence Permit (including for educational purposes) or a Residence Permit must also undergo the appropriate medical examination [9], Otherwise, the application for a temporary residence permit (TRP) or a temporary residence visa (TRV)/permanent residence permit (PRP) will be denied or revoked. [10].

A separate Article 4.2 of the Law is now devoted to the general rules for medical examinations of foreign citizens. As before, a foreign citizen may undergo such a medical examination only at specialized medical organizations in the Russian Federation, the list of which is established in each constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Roszdravnadzor is authorized to maintain a special registry of such organizations. These medical institutions are prohibited from transferring to third parties the rights and obligations to conduct medical examinations and to prepare (and electronically submit to the Unified State Information System for Healthcare) the corresponding medical reports. Thus, the list of authorized medical clinics will be further narrowed.

The main significant change concerns the deadlines for undergoing a medical examination. As a reminder, for foreign nationals entering the Russian Federation for “non-work” purposes, the current deadline for undergoing a medical examination is 90 calendar days from the date of entry into the Russian Federation. However, starting September 1, 2026, a uniform deadline will apply, requiring foreign nationals to undergo a medical examination within 30 calendar days of entering the Russian Federation. [11].

You must undergo the procedure again within 30 calendar days after one year has elapsed from the date of your previous medical examination [12]. The exception (as before) is highly qualified specialists (HQS) [13] and their family members, who must undergo the procedure again within 30 calendar days from the date of the decision to extend the validity of the temporary residence permit or from the date of entry into the Russian Federation, if they were outside the Russian Federation on the date such a decision was made [14].

The procedure for medical examinations, the forms to be used, the process for issuing medical reports, and their validity periods are established by the Russian Ministry of Health (currently, Order No. 1079n of the Russian Ministry of Health, dated November 19, 2021, is in effect).

It has been established that, starting in September 2026, the entire procedure will be funded by the foreign national or his or her employer (the client commissioning the work or services) [15] and consist largely of electronic communication between healthcare organizations, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Roszdravnadzor, and Rospotrebnadzor.

Medical reports will be posted by medical organizations within 24 hours (without specifying the start of the period) in a special federal registry of documents containing information on the results of medical examinations of foreign citizens (hereinafter referred to as the “Registry of Documents”) and transmitted by those same organizations in electronic format to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Thus, the requirement for a foreign national to submit the relevant medical reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs within a specified time frame — and the liability for failure to do so — are eliminated. [16] from the law, which should streamline the procedure as a whole. However, there remains the issue of technical glitches in the operation of the entire system—a problem that frequently arises in practice when dealing with foreign nationals—and, when such glitches occur, the resulting uncertainty regarding whether the relevant information is entered into the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ databases.

If dangerous diseases or the use of prohibited substances are detected, the medical organization posts the relevant reports in the Document Registry and forwards them to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs; in the case of infectious diseases, the information is also forwarded to Rospotrebnadzor.

The medical organization is also required to:

• inform the foreign national of the results of the medical examination (including any dangerous diseases detected or evidence of prohibited substance use)
• inform the foreign national that information regarding the relevant findings will be forwarded to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
• upon the foreign national’s request, issue a paper copy of the medical examination results.

Effective June 21, 2026, new provisions regarding administrative liability in connection with medical examinations of foreign nationals will also take effect:

• for a foreign national’s refusal or failure to comply with the requirement to undergo a medical examination,

– an administrative fine of 25,000 to 50,000 rubles, with or without administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation [17].

• for violating the established procedure for conducting medical examinations of foreign nationals, in the form of substantial administrative fines:

– for citizens—from 25,000 to 100,000 rubles;

– for public officials—from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles;

– for legal entities—a fine ranging from 300,000 to 1 million rubles or an administrative suspension of operations for a period of 14 to 90 days [18].

Every foreign national is liable for such an administrative offense [19].

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^[1] Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 13, and Subparagraph 18 of Article 5 of the Law

^[2] Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2950-r, dated October 21, 2024

^[3] Paragraph 4, Subparagraph 13, and Subparagraph 18 of Article 5 of the Law

^[4] Article 5, paragraph 18 of the Law

[5] Article 5, paragraph 20 of the Law

[6] Article 5, paragraph 21 of the Law

[7] Paragraphs 2 and 9 of Section 13.3 of the Law

[8] Paragraph 12 of Article 13 of the Law

^[9] Paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2 of Article 6, Paragraph 4.1 of Article 6.1, Paragraph 4 of Article 6.2, and Paragraph 5.1 of Article 8 of the Law

[10] Subparagraph 13 of Paragraph 1 of Article 7, Subparagraph 10 of Paragraph 1 of Article 7.1, Subparagraph 13 of Paragraph 1 of Article 9, and Subparagraph 10 of Paragraph 9 of Article 18 of the Law

^[11] Article 5, paragraph 18 of the Law

^[12] Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 19, Article 5 of the Law

^[13] Section 13.2 of the Act

[14] Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Section 19 of the Act

[15] Paragraph 3 of Section 4.2 of the Act

[16] Subparagraphs 1, 3(a), 4(a), 5(a), 9(b), and 12(a, b) of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 162-FZ of June 10, 2026

[17] Article 18.11.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, paragraph 5) of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 163-FZ of June 10, 2026

[18] Article 18.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, paragraph 6) Article 1 of Federal Law No. 163-FZ of June 10, 2026

[19] Note to Article 18.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, paragraph 6 of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 163-FZ dated June 10, 2026