SIMFEROPOL, April 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Entry for foreign nationals to Crimea, a former Ukrainian region that recently became part of Russia, is not restricted, a senior official at Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) said Tuesday.
“All those who arrived (in Crimea) are in the legal field. Russian nationals will be registered at the place of their residence or stay… and foreigners will be subject to migration registration,” the FMS passport department’s head Fyodor Karpovets told a news conference at the CrimeaInform news agency.
“All problems of Crimean residents who permanently live here or have lived here in the recent years will be settled,” Karpovets said. “There is no need to make an unsolvable problem out of that now.”
He recalled that the transitional period for Crimeans to receive Russian citizenship has been set and will last until January 1, 2015.
“All issues that will emerge during that transitional period will be settled. Even if we have to submit some proposals to adjust legislation,” the official said, adding that those who wanted could ask their questions to FMS bodies.
Ukrainian nationals
Ukrainian nationals who do not want to receive Russian citizenship may permanently live in Crimea, a former Ukrainian region that recently joined Russia, if they have a residence permit, a senior official at Russia’s Federal Migration Service said.
“We cannot divide people by nationality or citizenship. If a person is allowed to live on Russia’s territory with a residence permit, he may live here permanently by extending [the permit’s validity] and undergoing relevant procedures,” the FMS passport department’s head Fyodor Karpovets told a news conference at the CrimeaInform news agency.
Karpovets said any person who has citizenship of a foreign country may live in Russia as long as he wants to.
The residence permit is issued, he said, for five years. In order to receive it, the person will first of all have to apply for a temporary residence permit and then in six months for a residence permit.
“The overall waiting period totals a year, and then the applicant receives a residence permit while retaining his status of a foreign national and an opportunity to get Russian citizenship at any moment,” the official said.
The procedure to issue residence permits has not started in Crimea yet. FMS experts are giving instructions to territorial units’ employees.
“In the next week or two this work will be organized in line with the law,” Karpovets said.
The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, signed reunification deals with Russia on March 18 after a referendum two days earlier in which an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.
Crimea’s accession to Russia came after a coup in Ukraine in February 2014 that occurred after months of anti-government protests, which often turned violent.
The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, held a referendum on March 16 in which most of their residents decided for the area to secede from Ukraine and reunify with Russia. The admission deals with Moscow were signed on March 18.
The developments followed a coup in Ukraine in February 2014 that occurred after months of anti-government protests.
Now that Crimea has reunified with the Russian Federation, work to integrate the area into the country’s infrastructure systems is actively ongoing.
During the transitional period, the new constituent members of Russia will be incorporated into the country’s economic, financial, credit, legal, state power and military conscription systems.
In the Soviet Union, Crimea used to be part of Russia until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the USSR’s Communist Party, transferred it to Ukraine's jurisdiction as a gift.