Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended until September 10 the deadline for foreign nationals who have violated migration rules to legalize their stay in Russia.  Those who fail to do so by the specified date must leave the country.  The corresponding decree from the head of state was published on the legal acts portal.

This applies to foreign citizens and stateless persons who have been included in the controlled persons register, which came into effect in the country on February 5.  The register includes those who have lost their legal grounds for being in Russia.

Initially, the decree required them to legalize their stay or leave the country by April 30.  Now, these migrants have nearly 4½ more months to legalize their status.

Earlier, in March, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev stated that 685,000 foreign nationals who had no legal basis for staying in Russia had been added to the controlled persons register.  This list is continuously updated with new names.

Once foreigners are added to the register, they are subject to deportation, and their rights are significantly restricted.  They are prohibited from registering as legal entities or individual entrepreneurs, purchasing real estate and vehicles, driving, opening bank accounts, and conducting certain banking transactions.

They are also prohibited from getting married.

If the illegal migrants legalize their stay, they are removed from the register and restored to their rights.  Foreign nationals are also removed from the register if they voluntarily or forcibly leave the country (at which point the deportation regime ceases).

As it had been reported earlier, Tajik authorities have also urged migrants to legalize their stay in Russia.  Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry issued a statement on March 25 reminding citizens working in Russia that they must legalize their stay there in order to continue working legally.

As of October 2024, more than 120,000 Tajik citizens had been included in the registry of monitored individuals.  This list includes migrants with expired or annulled migration documents or those who committed administrative offenses that serve as grounds for deportation.