DUSHANBE, January 10, Asia-Plus — Russian authorities are moving to regulate the labor migration process more tightly. Changes and addenda made to the Russian migration legislation will take effect staring from January 15.
“Labor migrants now have to register at the migration service but not at the interior bodies as it was before,” Anvar Boboyev, head of Tajik Migration Service, said in an interview with Asia-Plus following a briefing on new migration requirements in the Russian federation staged by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Tajikistan in Dushanbe on January 10.
“Now not migrant himself but the accepting side, whether it is Russian or foreign citizen, or foreign company operating in Russia with whom migrant will stay or work, will notify the migration registration office within three days on arrival of migrant in the Russian Federation,“ Boboyev said.
“Migrant then lodge an employment permit application with all necessary documentation to this service.”
The Tajik migration service head noted that to substantially reduce the number of illegal migrants Russia had introduced quotas for migrant labor in four areas of economic activity. According to him, a total of about six million labor migrants from the CIS, which established visa-free travel arrangements with Russia, and 308,000 labor migrants from other countries will be allowed to work in Russia in 2007.
By quota allotted by the Russian authorities, not more than 600,000 Tajik labor migrants may annually travel to Russia for seasonal work, Boboyev noted.
