MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s government proposed a bill Thursday that would ban foreigners who violate migration rules from visiting Russia for up to 10 years.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Federal Migration Service to draft a bill by June 30 tightening control over foreigners entering Russia without a visa, the government said in a statement Thursday.
The proposed bill would ban foreigners from Russia from three to ten years if they don’t comply with the rules regulating their visit to the country, depending on the gravity of the violations.
In addition, the bill aims to make it easier for labor migrants from countries for which Russia has no visa requirements to work in Russia by expanding the sale of work licenses.
The new rules would allow foreigners to purchase licenses to work for legal entities and entrepreneurs – options that are not covered by current legislation, which only allows migrants to buy licenses to perform domestic work for private individuals.
According to the country's migration service, some 14 million foreign citizens arrive in Russia every year, about one-third with the goal of finding jobs.
Most of those labor migrants come from neighboring former Soviet republics who do not require visas to enter Russia.
