In Russia, over 638,000 children of migrants are registered. According to Igor Zubov, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, a significant portion of them do not attend educational institutions. The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia stated that there are a total of 638,174 minor migrant children […]
In Russia, over 638,000 children of migrants are registered.
According to Igor Zubov, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, a significant portion of them do not attend educational institutions.
The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia stated that there are a total of 638,174 minor migrant children in the Russian Federation. He noted that their number is decreasing. About half of the children do not study for various reasons.
Zubov also added that there are 80,282 minor foreigners in Moscow, with only 25,000 children studying.
As of April 1, 2025, new changes to the rules for admitting foreign children to educational institutions in Russia have come into effect. According to the new rules, migrant children can only enroll in schools after successfully passing a Russian language test, correctly answering at least 90% of the questions. The results from the first two months showed that only a few applicants managed to pass this test.
According to the latest data, 2,868 applications for testing were registered in these two months, but only 498 people were allowed to take the exam, which is just 17%. Only 4% of the children passed the testing.
According to authorities, 83% of migrant children were denied acceptance of their documents, including due to the discovery of false information in them.
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated that the new norms have demonstrated their effectiveness, as only a small number of children were accepted from the total number of applications submitted.
Additionally, the State Duma of Russia previously adopted a bill proposing to introduce a mechanism for transferring data about migrant children between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and regional and municipal educational authorities. Furthermore, the authorities will be required to provide the Ministry with data on the applications of minor foreign citizens and their legal representatives included in the registry of controlled persons.
According to Volodin, the transmitted information will include personal data of the children and their parents, test results, and information about enrollment and expulsion from educational institutions. The bill also provides for the appeal of foreign citizens who are included in the registry of controlled persons. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in turn, will provide data on registration or migration accounting.
Against the backdrop of tightening control over migrant children, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, also stated that foreigners who have lost their jobs in Russia, have been expelled from universities, have not passed fingerprinting, do not study the Russian language, and do not contribute to Russian society should leave the country.
The tightening of rules for migrant children has sparked mixed reactions among experts. Some say that these measures help reduce the burden on budget schools and strengthen control over migrants. Others warn that such laws may lead to an increase in the number of children left unsupervised.