60,000 migrant patents annulled in Russia

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia has annulled nearly 60,000 work permits for migrants since the beginning of the year. According to authorities, the permits were annulled due to non-compliance with new registration requirements for the employment of foreigners.

Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Alexander Grebenkin stated that starting from January 2024, migrants must notify the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation about their employment within two months from the date of obtaining the permit. Otherwise, the permit is considered invalid and does not serve as a basis for staying in Russia.

Thus, due to the failure of foreign citizens to provide copies of their employment or civil law contracts, the Ministry of Internal Affairs annulled nearly 60,000 work permits for migrants.

According to Grebenkin, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been given “the right to make decisions on the expedited expulsion” of migrants who fail to notify the authorities. This agency is also tasked with gathering necessary information about such individuals and using “modern electronic monitoring tools.”

Grebenkin stated, “For the prompt removal of illegal migrants from the territory of the country, the internal affairs agencies have been granted the authority to make decisions on administrative expulsion of such individuals, as well as to collect necessary information and apply modern electronic control means when establishing the whereabouts of foreigners.”

Starting January 1, 2026, work permits for foreigners will become more expensive in most regions of Russia. In general, labor migrants will pay more than 10,000 rubles instead of the previous 8,900.

In some regions, the increase is particularly noticeable; for instance, in the Tyumen region, the permit price rose from 9,385 to 11,471 rubles, in Kamchatka from 9,000 to 13,800 rubles, and in the Irkutsk region, the cost will reach 12,000 rubles.

Authorities explain this decision by the increase in expenses and the need for “regulating the status of foreign workers.”

Experts note that the annulment of tens of thousands of permits could seriously affect hundreds of thousands of labor migrants, especially from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Many migrants say that the new rules and price increases create additional financial difficulties and problems with documentation.