From January 1, the migrants, including the Moldovan ones, have the right to stay in Russia without the intention to work there for 90 days cumulatively within six months. If they violate the rules of stay, they will be banned from entering Russia for a period of 3-4 years.
In a news conference at IPN, the head of the Congress of the Moldovan Diaspora in Russia Alexandr Kalinin called on the Moldovans who want to work in Russia to declare the purpose of the visit at the border crossing point so as to avoid being deported. If they want to work, the migrants must purchase a patent that will enable them to stay in Russia for a year, without entry or exit restrictions.
The patent can be purchased at all the local agencies of the Federal Migration Service and costs between 2,500 and 2,600 rubles (about 1,000 lei), depending on the region. After buying the patent, the working migrants will have to pay monthly a tax of 1,000 rubles (400 lei) to the bank. Alexandr Kalinin recommends the migrants not to pay beforehand the tax for a year so as to avoid all kinds of speculations. It’s better to make monthly or quarterly payments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to the Federal Assembly to introduce a new system of patents. Under this system, both the legal entities and private entrepreneurs will be able to able to hire a foreign worker based on patent. Until now, this applied only to private individuals. According to Alexandr Kalinin, the proposed changes will significantly increase the price of patents, but the created mechanism will eliminate the corrupt patent and work permit issuing schemes.
The head of the Congress of the Moldovan Diaspora in Russia also said that changes were also made to the criminal legislation. There were introduced penalties for migrants who break the period of stay in Russia. The punishments include a fine of US$10,000 and three to four yeas’ imprisonment.
Alexandr Kalinin underlined that according to the data of the Federal Migration Service, more than 550,000 Moldovans are currently in Russia. Of them, 228,000 face penalties for illegal stay.
Last year the Moldovans working in Russia obtained 36,800 patents and 33,500 work permits.
