Even during the discussion of these projects in the State Duma, officials regarded them as a new "milestone" in Russia's migration policy, which should finally come into line with the realities of life. In accordance with the norms of the new laws, the regime of stay in the country for citizens of the CIS (except Georgia and Turkmenistan), who have the right to visa-free travel to Russia – and they constitute the main part of migrant workers – should be drastically simplified. At the same time, there will effectively be an amnesty for the majority of foreign labor, who needed, for example, temporary registration of foreigners in St. Petersburg<\/a> and whose representatives in Russia have so far been in an illegal position. On the other hand, as the drafters of the laws stated, the "corruption base" that has long formed around the problem of migrant workers will be significantly reduced.<\/p>
Thus, in particular, the new laws provide for the abolition of quotas on the arrival of foreign labor in the country, on the basis of which the Federal Migration Service (FMS) could previously "turn away" some migrant workers. In addition, migrants are now exempt from annual re-registration, and it will be much easier for them to obtain a work permit – they themselves, without the involvement of employers, will be able to obtain it within ten days. Employers, according to the authors of these laws, will also have fewer hassles – they will be able to hire people without additional permission from the FMS.<\/p>
However, after analyzing the provisions of the new laws, the foreigners themselves and lawyers with whom we managed to talk expressed serious doubts that the adopted laws would lead to the expected positive changes. Thus, human rights activists noted that the laws, although theoretically simplify the registration process, are general in nature and it is still unknown what by-laws will be adopted to them. Representatives of foreign diasporas in the Russian capital, for their part, expressed concern that these innovations could lead to contradictory consequences. In their opinion, on the one hand, the new laws may actually legalize the "slave" position of migrant workers in Russia. On the other hand, local authorities may well block the positive measures stipulated in these laws. Moreover, these fears have already begun to be confirmed in part. For example, even at the stage of preparing the new laws, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov stated that the capital needs "its own migration policy".<\/p>
It is worth noting that there have been few attempts to establish order in this sphere in modern Russian history. In the 1990s, there was practically no state ideology on this matter. Moreover, the FMS itself in those years was a nominal structure, without powers and resources. The authorities became concerned about the problem of migrant workers only in 2002. Then the FMS was incorporated into the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Russian government established quotas for issuing invitations to foreign citizens to enter the country for work. However, last winter this policy was deemed untenable. The authorities were forced to admit defeat after analyzing statistical data. Thus, according to FMS estimates, in 2006 Russian employers could attract only 330 thousand legal migrant workers. At the same time, according to the Center for Migration Research, there are already 4 million labor migrants in Russia. The explanation for this situation was known – first of all, the monstrous bureaucratic obstacles on the path of a migrant worker to obtaining legal status in Russia.<\/p>
In particular, a foreign employee had to obtain a plastic migrant worker card, or "hired worker card". Only those for whom the employer paid a state fee – about 3 thousand rubles – could get them, and most importantly, go through a lot of bureaucratic procedures. Under these conditions, it is clear that both the migrant workers themselves and their employers preferred to solve their problems without notifying government agencies – using all possible loopholes to circumvent the laws and through the massive distribution of bribes.<\/p>
Now it is assumed that becoming a legal migrant worker will be much easier. As before, after crossing the Russian border, every foreigner will have to register with the migration service. However, according to the innovations, this registration will be carried out exclusively in a "notification procedure". That is, no state authorities will have the right to refuse registration to a foreign citizen.<\/p>
The visitor can notify the migration registration authorities at the place of residence through the host organization or personally, even by mail. The visitor will only need an identity document, an application indicating full name, date and place of birth, gender, citizenship, purpose of arrival, place of residence in the home country, a migration card (which a foreign citizen traveling to Russia for work receives upon entry and fills out independently) and a receipt for payment of the state fee. The permit procedure is allowed only in closed administrative territorial formations, military towns, and zones of environmental disaster. In this case, the foreigner will have the right to stay and work in any region of Russia, regardless of whether there are quotas for attracting foreign labor.<\/p>
Moreover, it is assumed that if a migrant worker entered Russia without an invitation from a specific employer, then now, according to the law, he will be able to find a job within ten days and report this to the migration service. And employers hiring foreigners will be exempt from the previously mandatory registration of permission to use migrant workers and payments to the budget for each foreign worker.<\/p>
Starting next year, migrants will no longer have to renew their migration card every three months. Once a year, a foreigner will have to remind the migration service of his presence in Russia, as well as of his movements around the country, and he will be able to do so by mail as well.
The new rules provide for the possibility of registering 'this category of citizens at their place of residence not only in residential but also in non-residential buildings.' In fact, this is about legalizing the existing state of affairs on the foreign labor market. The fact that thousands and thousands of illegal migrant workers work and live on construction sites in Moscow and the Moscow region is well known.
The time frame for FMS representatives to process temporary residence permits for foreigners in Russia will also be significantly reduced (from 6 to 2 months). The list of documents required for migrants to obtain this permit will also be reduced. In particular, the previously mandatory certificate of no criminal record from the territory from which the visitor arrived, as well as certificates of income and place of residence, have been eliminated. In addition, previously all documents, including medical certificates confirming that the migrant worker has no HIV infection, drug addiction, or dangerous infectious diseases, and certificates from law enforcement agencies at the place of registration, had to be submitted at once. Moreover, most documents have an expiration date, which often expired before the person applying for a temporary residence permit collected all the certificates and waited their turn. According to the adopted amendments, migrants can submit them to the FMS as they receive them.
Russian human rights activists generally approve of the new laws on legalizing foreign labor, but they doubt that the laws will actually be implemented. According to Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the legal network 'Migration and Law' of the Memorial human rights center, chairperson of the Regional Public Organization for Assistance to Refugees and Forced Migrants 'Civil Assistance,' and member of the government commission on migration policy and the presidential commission on human rights, much will depend on local authorities, since the law is federal, and each region will need to adopt relevant documents. Moreover, during the preparation of the draft laws, Moscow authorities insisted on returning to a permit-based registration system for foreigners and on maintaining residence permits in the region only if quotas for foreign labor exist. At the same time, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov directly stated that 'the capital needs its own migration policy.' In his opinion, principles that may be effective in some regions 'could lead to labor dumping and loss of control over visitors in Moscow.'
In addition, according to Svetlana Gannushkina, it will be difficult to convince employers themselves to adhere to the new laws. 'Until now, foreign hired workers have been in a slave-like position and completely dependent on their employer. If the status of foreign workers is legalized, the employer will be forced to pay them a more or less decent salary. Meanwhile, currently workers receive meager wages that are not recorded in the employer's legal payroll, and therefore are not taxed. Migrant workers have no social protection. So far, the State Duma only plans to impose administrative liability on employers who violate the law. But besides them, there are district police officers who 'feed off' dishonest employers, and many other controlling bodies that take bribes for non-interference,' she noted.
Foreigners themselves hold essentially the same opinion. According to Soyun Sadykov, president of the Azerbaijani national-cultural autonomy 'Azerros,' the adopted legal acts legalize the already dire situation of visitors. 'On the one hand, the law is good. On the other, everyone knows that the working and living conditions of workers contradict all possible norms and laws. Previously, heads of construction companies who housed workers in temporary cabins could be fined. Now no measures can be taken against them at all. The state should take care of people coming to work in Russia, rather than shifting that burden onto employers or ignoring the issue altogether. It is necessary not only to provide normal living conditions for arrivals, but also to teach them the language and, most importantly, Russian laws,' Soyun Sadykov noted.
