Vyacheslav Postavnin at a press conference could not unequivocally assess the new migration legislation that came into force on January 15. On the one hand, the system for registering foreign nationals has been significantly simplified. Now, to legalize one's status in Russia, it is enough to notify the FMS of one's place of work and residence. On the other hand, many mechanisms for regulating migration flows, conceived during the preparation of the laws, have in fact remained unimplemented.
"There is not a single full-fledged labor exchange for foreigners in Russia today. In theory, we were supposed to distribute a quota of 6.3 million people from visa-free countries, taking into account the shortage of certain specialists in various regions of Russia. But this system is only being developed by the Ministry of Health and Social Development," Postavnin lamented. Moreover, intermediary firms between Russian employers and foreign applicants are only beginning to be created in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. The other visa-free CIS countries have not yet gotten up to speed.
Meanwhile, the program for the resettlement of compatriots, which representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry and regional leaders proudly spoke about at the congress of compatriots in St. Petersburg at the end of last year, is stalling. According to FMS data, not a single family has returned to their historical homeland, although hundreds of thousands of people were invited. The implementation of the program will begin no earlier than April of this year.
In addition, Vyacheslav Postavnin noted a legal incident that arose with those who have long settled in Russia with temporary residence permits. These people are also counted in the quotas for citizens of visa-free countries. 'On the one hand, we cannot infringe on the rights of citizens with the adoption of new laws. On the other hand, these people do fall under the quota of 53,000 people. And so far we cannot find a way out of this situation,' he explained.
The FMS also found itself in an ambiguous position. The functions that will be assigned to the enforcement unit are still unknown, although its current size is significantly smaller than previously planned. The name of the unit has also not been determined. In theory, the employees of the new unit should be engaged in migration control – for example, checking the availability of all necessary documents. But then what will the police do, who check migration cards and registration marks in the subway? After all, no one is going to rewrite the law on the police yet. The deputy director of the FMS found it difficult to answer this question. Nevertheless, Postavnin noted that the new unit is only called an enforcement unit. In fact, the service’s employees will only be provided with IDs and uniforms, and they will not be issued weapons, batons, or handcuffs.
The only good news concerned illegal migrants who arrived in Russia before the new migration laws took effect. Now they do not need to travel to their home country to legalize their status in Russia; it is enough to pay a fine of 3,000-5,000 rubles. Vyacheslav Postavnin did not rule out that this amount could later be reduced to 2,000 rubles, which, according to his calculations, is cheaper than a round-trip train ticket to Ukraine, Belarus, or Tajikistan.