The necessary amendments to the law “On Police” have already been submitted to the State Duma, Mikhail Kravchenko, deputy head of the Federal Migration Service, told a session of the Duma committee for constitutional legislation and nation-building on Thursday.
Over the past year migration inspectorates have been operating in five Russian regions, including Moscow and Moscow Region, in the framework of an experiment carried out by the Interior Ministry, the ministry’s press-service explained to Gazeta.Ru. Police officers have been checking companies employing foreign nationals.
“The experiment proved successful, that is why it was decided to set up migration inspectorates across the country, which requires amendments to the effective law On Police,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Yelena Alekseyeva told Gazeta.Ru.
Migration inspectors will not be asked to check foreigners’ registration papers in the streets; their job will be to check that foreign nationals employed by Russian companies are properly registered with the migration authorities and have valid work permits.
Furthermore, the Federal Migration Service suggests simplifying registration and employment procedures both for Russian citizens and foreigners, with work permits being issued for the latter category without delay.
The entire process of registration of non-residents should not take longer than one day, Deputy Interior Minister and the head the Federal Migration Service Aleksandr Chekalin told the press on Thursday.
The Migration Service has drafted a bill determining, among other things, the people responsible for non-residents evading registration, and containing proposals on the simplification of registration procedures, Chekalin said.
To enable arrivals to complete all the necessary formalities by being registered and applying for work permits more efficiently, the ministry suggests introducing a so-called single window system. “This will help to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic ordeals, as well as reduce the number of officials involved and to curb bribe-taking,” believes the police official.
Police officials are convinced that citizens hosting visitors must bear responsibility for having their guests registered with the migration authorities. For instance, Moscow residents who host a visitor from another town or a foreigner should be duty bound to go to the registration desk and take part in arranging all the necessary documents to have their guest registered.
That will help “solve the language barrier problem visitors often face; besides, in cases when registration is being arranged for several people that will help to avoid queues,” the migration chief is convinced.
Migrants, for their part, have hailed the Interior Ministry’s initiative to speed up the process of their legalization. “Presently, registration takes about a week, you have to stand in long lines, at first the ZhEK (local housing authority), then at the district OVIR (visa and registration department), and then at the registration desk at the police station,” a migrant who refused to give his name told Gazeta.Ru.
Moreover, he said, visitors are given only three days to get officially registered, if they fail to get registered by the fourth day the police start fining them. “Things would be much easier if all the documents could be submitted at one place,” he said. “At the same time, who can guarantee that standing in line for that ‘single window’ will not take just as long?”
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry is stepping up efforts to fight illegal migration. Currently an operation codenamed ‘Illegal Migrant’ is underway across Russia, Chekalin said.
According to the ministry experts, about 450-500,000 foreign workers will arrive in Russia this year. Chekalin noted that in 2003 about 378,000 foreigners from 127 countries were working in Russia. About 50 per cent of them came from CIS countries. According to Chekalin, the majority of workers were engaged in construction and retail.
The current operation is aimed at identifying and legalizing illegal labor migrants. In addition to this, records of tax will be checked for the payment of taxes and levies by employers using foreign workers, Chekalin explained.
According to him, the ministry is now working on a draft bill on migration to be submitted to the lower house shortly. Its authors hope that the new bill – its working title is the Migration Code – will help eliminate loopholes in legislation governing migration issues. Besides, police officials want to toughen the sanctions imposed on employers using illegal migrants as labor by increasing fines to 100,000 rubles. The ministry will also insist on making such violations punishable under the criminal code with up to eight years in prison, the migration service chief said.
26 МАРТА 17:51
