DUSHANBE, December 19, 2014, Asia-Plus — More than 100 foreign citizens working with a number of Russian production companies were detained in a raid conducted by Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) in Moscow on December 17.
Tajik migration service agency’s office in Moscow says more than 150 foreign nationals, including some 50 Tajik citizens, were taken to the FMS’s office in Moscow’s Central Administrative District for checking legality of their sty in the Russian Federation.
We will recall that Russia has introduced tighter passport regulations for nationals of Tajikistan crossing Russia’s border.
Starting from 2015, Tajik nationals will be allowed to enter Russia only with the use of foreign-travel passports not their domestic passports.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on June 17 signed a decree on changing list of documents for Tajik nationals for entry to the Russian Federation.
The decree that was worked out by Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS), in particular, notes that Tajik national will enter and leave the Russian Federation only with the use of passports for traveling abroad.
The Russian government has been ordered to conduct negotiations with the governments of the CIS member nations, except those being members of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, on ensuring entry to the Russian Federation for nationals of these countries only with the use of foreign-travel passports no later than 2015.
By Russian government’s decree of September 21, 2005, Russia allows visa-free entrance to national passport holders from the CIS countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. This decree expires on January 1, 2015.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on December 11, 2012 that there will be no more crossing from former Soviet republics into Russia without an international passport. “We still have a practice that the citizens of CIS states enter the Russian Federation using their domestic passports. In such circumstances, when the citizens of other countries enter using their domestic passports, it is almost impossible to ensure effective immigration control. I believe that no later than 2015 entry to Russia should be allowed only with the use of foreign-travel [passports], not the domestic passports of other countries,” Putin said. “However, without a doubt, within the framework of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space the current system will continue to apply – maximally simplified rules for crossing the border and staying on the territory of member countries of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space,” Putin added.
