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NECESSARY MEASURES ARE BEING CONSISTENTLY IMPLEMENTED TO ADDRESS THE LEGAL STATUS OF FOREIGN CITIZENS DURING THE PANDEMIC PERIOD

Professional migration agency TIM Services and law firm TIM Advisers hereby inform you that Decree No.274 issued by the President of the Russian Federation on April 18, 2020 suspends the running of the statutory periods of temporary stay, temporary or permanent residence or registration at place of stay or residence for all foreign citizens who have arrived in Russia both on a visa and on a visa-free basis between March 15 and June 15 if so suspended periods would otherwise expire between March 15 and June 15.

Guided by Article 80 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in order to address the legal status of foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Russian Federation and to prevent any further spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the President has ordered:

  1. That the running of the following periods be suspended from March 15 to and including June 15, 2020:
    1. periods of temporary stay, temporary or permanent residence of foreign citizens or stateless persons in the Russian Federation, periods for which foreign citizens or stateless persons were registered at their places of stay or residence if their duration would otherwise expire during the above mentioned time span;
    2. period of stay outside the Russian Federation for members of the Government Program aimed to facilitate the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad who permanently reside abroad, their family members and holders of temporary or permanent residence permits if such persons are not able to enter the Russian Federation before the expiration of the 6-month period of their stay outside the Russian Federation underlying a decision on whether to cancel the relevant certificate of a member of the Government Program aimed to facilitate the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad (the “Government Program member’s certificate”), temporary residence permit or permanent residence permit;
    3. deadlines for voluntary departure from the Russian Federation for foreign citizens and stateless persons in respect of whom a decision has been made ordering their administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation, deportation or transfer to a foreign state in accordance with the international treaty of the Russian Federation on readmission;
    4. validity periods of the following documents which would otherwise expire during the said time span: visa, temporary residence permit, permanent residence permit, migration card specifying its validity period expiration date, refugee certificate, certificate confirming that application for recognition of refugee status is under consideration in the Russian Federation on the merits, certificate of temporary asylum in the Russian Federation, Government Program member’s certificate, work permit, patent, permission to employ and use services of foreign workers.
  2. That from March 15 to and including June 15, 2020:
    1. employers and customers ordering work (services) may employ and use services of the following persons in the manner prescribed by the law of the Russian Federation, subject to compliance with established restrictions and other applicable public sanitation and disease control measures:
      1.   foreign citizens and stateless persons who arrived in the Russian Federation in the manner requiring a visa and do not have a work permit in the Russian Federation (provided that the employer or customer ordering the relevant work (services) has a permission authorizing it to employ and use services of foreign workers);
      2. foreign citizens and stateless persons who arrived in the Russian Federation on a visa-free basis and do not have patents;
    2. no foreign citizen or stateless person shall be subject to any decision stating that it is undesirable for them to stay (reside) in the Russian Federation, ordering their administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation, deportation or transfer to a foreign state in accordance with the international treaty of the Russian Federation on readmission or canceling their refugee status, temporary asylum or previously issued visas, work permits, patents, temporary residence permits, permanent residence permits or Government Program member’s, certificate.

Please note that for the time being there are no publicly available regulatory documents setting out the procedure for territorial departments of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to apply the said Decree. Appropriate measures are likely to be taken by the Directorate in a short time.

Following the announcement of the Decree, the following information has been posted on the Directorate’s website:

Foreign citizens and stateless persons are invited to contact territorial bodies of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs to resolve any issues relating to the execution or extension of required migration documents given the existing situation in the region and subject to mandatory compliance with applicable restrictive measures.

Nonetheless, all applications for obtaining or extending a visa, temporary residence permit, permanent residence permit, migration card or information inscribed therein, refugee certificate, certificate confirming that application for recognition of refugee status is under consideration in the Russian Federation on the merits, certificate of temporary asylum in the Russian Federation, Government Program member’s certificate, work permit or patent will be considered in the prescribed manner.

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For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact managers of TIM Services or email your queries to migration@timservices.ru