Migrants may be banned from bringing their families to Russia

A bill is being proposed in the State Duma of Russia that would prohibit low-skilled migrants from inviting their wives and children to Russia.

According to RIA Novosti, a group of deputies from the State Duma representing the LDPR, led by party leader Leonid Slutsky, will submit a draft law to the lower house that restricts labor migrants without Russian citizenship from bringing their families to the country.

Slutsky believes that the spouses and children of migrants should wait for them in their homeland, as when families of labor migrants arrive in Russia, they “live in compact enclaves, speak their own language, and show disdain for the local residents.”

According to him, migrant families often do not pay for utility services, accumulating huge debts that other property owners have to cover.

“All these problems need to be eliminated, and unskilled foreigners should be prohibited from bringing their families during their employment period. They come, work, and then go home. There should be no other discussion,” Slutsky believes.

According to the authors of the bill, it concerns low-skilled specialists who are in Russia solely based on a labor contract or patent, without having legal grounds for residence in the country, such as Russian citizenship.

Exceptions to the law will include family members of foreign workers who possess high qualifications, as noted in the statement.