He said that employers who had failed to submit a request for additional foreign labor should have the opportunity to inform the FMS of their new requirements throughout the year.
"The scheme of allocating quotas for labor migrants should be flexible. We are currently holding talks with Rostrud [the federal labor and employment service] and the Health and Social Development Ministry on the necessity to request from employers applications for new quotas," Konstantin Romodanovsky said.
According to the FMS, about 2.5 million foreign workers received work permits in 2007, up almost four-fold from 2006.
Romodanovsky added that the number of crimes committed by foreigners in 2007 had declined by 10% from 2006.
"The number of immigrants subject to deportation dropped 40%," he also said, adding that the number of foreigners who had been fined or otherwise punished for violating Russian residence rules in 2007 had declined by 20% during the same period.
