The Decree came into force from the date of its official publication, i.e. on August 27, 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the "Decree").
Who can exercise these rights, what needs to be done for this, and what pitfalls can be - we will tell in order.
1. Who has the right to an indefinite stay in Russia and work without permits in accordance with this decree?
All citizens of Ukraine, DPR and LPR, regardless of the time of entry into Russia and the place of registration in the state of citizenship.
However, everything is not so "transparent" with citizens who had a TRP or residence permit, if these documents expired during the stay of their owners in Russia.
Under normal standard conditions, the expiration of these documents means that their holders must leave Russia. If they do not, then in accordance with Art. 25.10 114-FZ, are considered to be illegally located on the territory of Russia and are liable in accordance with the legislation of Russia. The current legal acts do not provide for such processes so that they can stay in Russia and turn from “resident” foreign citizens into “temporary residents”. Perhaps this is only through exit from Russia and subsequent entry already in the status of "staying" in Russia.
In practice, there are quite often situations when, for example, a HQS residence permit expires, and its owner continues to stay in Russia without leaving and receives an extended or new work permit, and this does not bother the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at all.
The discussed decree also does not speak directly about such a transformation, although, in our opinion, it could well be implied.
In order to eliminate doubts on this score, we sent a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and will be happy to share its results.
If we talk about the total exclusion of risks, then foreign citizens whose TRP / residence permit has expired or been canceled are recommended (until clarifications are received) to leave Russia and enter in the status of “staying” in order to use the privileges described in the decree under discussion.
2. What rights does Decree No. 585 give to these citizens?
The decree gives the following rights:
- stay on the territory of Russia without time limits established by the Law No. 115-FZ of February 25, 2022 "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in Russia";
- carry out labor activity in Russia without issuing a work permit or patent;
- carry out labor activity on the territory of Russia without taking into account the requirements for the declared purpose of the visit (that is, the declared purpose of the visit when entering Russia can be any).
3. What do you need to exercise these rights?
In order to use the rights listed in the decree, citizens of Ukraine, the DPR and the LPR must go through:
- identification of a person (we believe that this refers to the establishment of an identity for those citizens who do not have identity cards);
- medical examination;
- fingerprint registration;
- photography.
If foreign citizens have previously undergone these procedures and received a supporting document (the so-called "green migrant card"), then this will be enough, the main thing is not to forget to re-pass repeated medicine within the time limits established by law and submit its results to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a timely manner.
If a foreign citizen enters Russia after August 27, 2022 and there is no “green migrant card” yet, then the medical examination, fingerprint registration and photography will need to be completed within the following terms:
Foreign citizens entering Russia in a manner that does not require a visa (not HQS)
| Status of a foreign citizen | Medical check-up | Fingerprinting and photography | In what cases it is necessary to provide medical documents to the Ministry of Internal Affairs | |
| Foreign citizens entering Russia in a manner that does not require a visa (not HQS) | Purpose of entry – employment | within 30 calendar days from the date of entry into Russia | within 30 calendar days from the date of entry into Russia |
In case of fingerprinting; In case of continued stay in Russia when the validity of the results of the medical examination has expired. At the same time, the term for submitting the results of a repeated medical check-up to the Ministry of Internal Affairs is 30 k.d. after 1 year from the date of their previous medical check-up. |
| Other purpose of entry – non-working purposes (including accompanying family members of the HQS) | within 90 calendar days from the date of entry into Russia | within 90 calendar days from the date of entry into Russia | ||
Yuo can learn more about the procedure for passing a medical examination, as well as fingerprint registration and photographing, in our article.
Please note that if a citizen of Ukraine, the DPR or LPR entered the Russian Federation and entered into an employment or civil law contract before the Decree came into force (i.e. before August 27, 2022), but did not pass a medical examination, fingerprint registration and photography, then you need to pass them before Sptember 26, 2022.
4. What needs to be done by an employer who wants, after the Decree comes into force (i.e. after 08/27/2022), to hire a citizen of Ukraine, the DPR or LPR?
- ask such citizens to present, in addition to their passport and other documents required by law, a document confirming the passage of fingerprint registration and photography in the manner prescribed by law;
- notify the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia about the fact of concluding an employment or civil law contract within 3 days from the date of their conclusion.
Otherwise, the employer risks being subjected to liability in accordance with Art. 18.15 Code of Administrative Offences of Russia.
An interesting fact is that the text of the decree states that citizens of Ukraine, the DPR or LPR have the right to work without permits, but at the same time the Decree does not directly cancel the requirements of the Labor Code of Rosst regarding, for example, the need to remove or dismiss foreign citizens upon termination or cancellation of their permit documents. It also remains unclear on what grounds it will be possible to dismiss such employees when this Decree is canceled and it becomes impossible to continue attracting foreign citizens without permits.
5. What should I do if, at the time the Decree comes into force, a citizen of Ukraine, the DPR or LPR has already entered Russia, and an employment or civil law contract has already been concluded with such a citizen?
- for an employee: if he/she has not passed a medical examination, fingerprint registration and photography, they must be completed by September 26, 2022
- to the employer: if the notice of the conclusion of an employment or civil law contract has not yet been submitted, then submit it before 09/06/2022.
6. And what about those citizens of Ukraine, DPR and LPR who have valid work permits and patents?
Work on them until their expiration date, and then continue to work without them, subject to the requirements of the Decree (medical examination, fingerprinting and photography).
7. Can citizens of Ukraine, DPR and LPR be denied work permits and patents during the period of this Decree?
The text of the Decree does not contain a ban on the acceptance, execution and issuance of permits for citizens of Ukraine, the DPR and the LPR, however, we do not exclude the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs may decide not to issue and not issue such documents (in addition, such comments are already heard in the divisions Ministry of Internal Affairs of some subjects of Russia). We will send a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to find out their official position on this matter and will be happy to share their response.
8. What if the work permit or patent is revoked after the Decree comes into force?
A foreign citizen is deprived of the rights and privileges provided by this Decree if the above documents were canceled for the following reasons:
- a foreign citizen advocates a violent change in the foundations of the constitutional order of Russia, otherwise creates a threat to the security of Russia or citizens of Russia;
- finances, plans terrorist (extremist) acts, assists in the commission of such acts or commits them, as well as supports terrorist (extremist) activities by other actions;
- submitted forged or forged documents or knowingly provided false information about himself,
If the cancellation occurred for any other reason specified in paragraph 9 of Art. 18 115-FZ - you can continue to work without permits, subject to the requirements of the Decree (medical examination, fingerprinting and photography).
9. What will happen if, in violation of the requirements of the Decree and the current legislation of Russia, you do not undergo a medical examination, fingerprinting and photography, and at the same time work for citizens of Ukraine, the DPR and LPR (take such citizens to work)?
- for employers: penalties for the illegal involvement of foreign citizens in labor activities in Russia in accordance with Art. 18.15 Code of Administrative Offences of Russia;
- for citizens: penalties for illegal employment in the Russian Federation in accordance with Art. 18.10 Code of Administrative Offences of Russia; penalties for evading medical examination and personal identification in accordance with Art. 18.11 Code of Administrative Offences of Russia.
In case of evasion from undergoing fingerprint registration, photographing and medical examination, the period of stay of a foreign citizen in Russia could be reduced.
However, in accordance with this Decree, the following are not applied to citizens of Ukraine, the DPR and the LPR who have violated migration laws, with the exception of those who have been released from places of detention, or pose a threat to the national security of Russia, advocate the violent overthrow of the regime, finance terrorism, etc. types of sanctions.
- on administrative expulsion from Russia in the form of forced expulsion or controlled independent departure from Russia;
- about deportation;
- on non-permission to enter or undesirability of stay (residence) in Russia;
- on the reduction of the period of temporary stay in Russia.
We also draw your attention to the fact that the Decree comes into force from the date of its signing and is valid until the cancellation of the temporary measures established by it.
That is, at any time the conditions he introduced, allowing citizens of Ukraine, the DPR and LPR to stay in Russia without time limits and work without patents and work permits, and regardless of the purpose of the visit indicated on the migration card, can be canceled.
This means that in this case, such citizens will again be required to have a work permit or a patent, and after the expiration of the specified period, leave Russia.
We also draw the attention of employers that in this case there may be a conflict between various norms, in particular, the Labor Code of Russia - in this case, there will be no grounds to terminate the employment contract with the employer in accordance with the Labor Code, because. there was no patent or work permit that had expired, but there would also be no reason for such citizens to continue to work.
For more information, please contact the consultants of the Confidence Group company.
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