Nowhere to Go? Russia Scraps Privileges for Ukrainian Migrants

Russia has stopped favoring people from Ukraine in its admission of migrants. Special privilege had been offered to Ukrainians in the wake of the armed conflict in the Donbass region; however, this preferred status expired in Russia on November 1, according to RIA Novosti.

However, migration privileges remain in place for refugees from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine, where government troops have launched a so-called anti-terrorist operation against supporters of the Donbass region's independence.

Russia offered Ukrainians preferential migration status in 2014 in connection with the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. The set-up was due to expire on August 1, 2015; they allowed Ukrainians greater opportunities to stay and work in Russia.

Whereas citizens of most former Soviet countries are generally allowed to stay in Russia for 90 days without a visa, the Russian Federal Migration Service was ordered to indefinitely extend this period for Ukrainians staying in Russia temporarily. Ukrainians were instructed to turn to the Federal Migration Service and apply for such an extension, and show their passport and migration card.

On August 1, the Federal Migration Service said that it had given Ukrainian migrants 90 days to determine their status.

During that time, they were free to obtain a work permit, on par with citizens of other CIS countries with which Russia has a visa-free agreement.Under Russian law, if a migrant from these CIS countries fails to get registered in Russia within 90 days, the Federal Migration Service will give him or her another 30 days to leave the country. If the migrant fails to do so, he or she is banned from entering Russia for three to ten years.

According to the FMS, more than 600 thousand citizens from Ukraine have already asked Russia to grant them temporary asylum, refugee status or a temporary residence permit. Right now, there are about 2.6 million Ukrainian citizens in Russia, including more than a million residents from south-eastern Ukraine.