Changes to migration legislation for companies registering foreigners

In addition to the standard set of documents necessary to register foreign nationals, the following documents have been required since March 2019:

1. Copy of passport of foreign national – all stamped pages;
2. Copy of document confirming that the legal entity is entitled to use the premises in which it registers the foreign national (for example, ownership title, extract from the State Register of Real Estate Property, lease agreement).
   This document is not required:
   • If the legal entity owns the premises and when the ownership title is registered with the appropriate state or local authority;
   • If the foreign national is registered at his/her employer’s address.

The document confirming the ownership title should be specified in the notice of registration of foreign national although such detail is not requested in the current notice. However, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a new form should be available soon.

Additional documents for employers (customer)

1. Copy of employment contract (civil law contract) or other document confirming the performance of activity at the legal entity registering the foreign national;
2. A free-form letter stamped with the company seal and drafted by the head or authorized person of the legal entity confirming that the foreign national lives in the legal entity’s premises and has no address, including a temporary one.

Additional documents for employees (contractor under civil law contract)

1. Copy of employment contract (civil law contract) concluded between a citizen of the Eurasian Economic Union and the employer (customer) in Russia;
2. If the employer also registers the employee’s family members, a copy of the document confirming the kinship with the employee. This document must be legalized (apostilled), translated into Russia and notarized.

The original documents must be submitted.

Children of up to 1 year old who have no passport and immigration card may be registered by providing their birth certificate.

A form for notice of foreign departure from place of stay was approved on July 28, 2019.

Only companies that register foreigners with any status at the address where they actually live are required to submit such notice.

Some deadlines for notice submission have been set for some organizations:

• Organizations employing foreign nationals working on a rotational basis should submit notices within 7 working days of the departure date.
• Hotels and similar specialized organizations should submit notices no later than 12:00 of the day following the departure date.

No deadlines have been set for other organizations which can submit notices at their own discretion, and a deadline practice is yet to come about though, according to verbal comments provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the rule serves as guidelines for cases where no deadline is set.

Migration law changes every so often in Russia. We constantly monitor these changes and help our clients comply with all the rules. If you work with foreign nationals and are concerned about migration issues, please feel free to contact us.

Please let us know if you have any questions about labor law.