As we’ve read earlier the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 25, 2020 No. 635-R made some changes, under which persons engaged to work as highly qualified specialists (HQS) included in the list sent to the Russian Federal Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the Federal body of Executive power controlling the organization that is the employer or customer of works can once enter the territory of the Russian Federation.
The question arises about which Federal Executive authority to apply to. This question was asked of the Federal Security Service’s Border guard service, the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs advises to refer to the List of Federal Executive authorities and state corporations that license specific types of activities. However, this list does not include all possible activities. The border service of the FSS said that they do not have this information, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade determines whether the company belongs to the sphere of its jurisdiction based on the OKVED2 code, which is the most logical in this situation.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also states that the process of reviewing applications received by the Department can take up to 7 working days. According to the FSS of Russia, it takes 5 working days to review and send the lists to the checkpoint across the state border of the Russian Federation. At the same time, they note that the lists are received by the FSS of Russia via courier or mail, which takes about 3 days, but in some cases may be longer.
Information on the entry of foreign specialists should be submitted to the FSS not later than 5 working days prior to the expected arrival of HQS in Russian and should contain the following information: name, nationality, date of birth, purpose of the trip, checkpoint of the state border of the Russian Federation, where he plans to arrive, the arrival date and information about the receiving party (name, telephone and position).
The lists are used by border control units only to control the entry of foreign citizens within the current Government Order No. 635-R. In this regard, the Federal Security Service of Russia does not provide for sending any confirmation to the Federal Executive Authority or employer.
As for requests for the possibility of issuing invitations to the HQS, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia considers such requests and sends them to the Territorial Bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which, in turn, on their basis, notify the organization of the possibility of submitting documents necessary for the registration and issuance of invitations to enter the Russian Federation, as well as work permits for foreign specialists.
Please also note that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs inform that if HQS are citizens or residents of countries for which entry to the Russian Federation is allowed (Great Britain, Turkey, Tanzania, Switzerland), they still need to be included in these lists to obtain permission to enter as HQS, as well as to issue working invitations.
For additional information, please contact consultants of Confidence Group.
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