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St. Petersburg court lets UK national stay in Russia out of ‘respect for his family’

Stephen John Bird's residence permit expired and he had to stay at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport

ST.PETERSBURG, September 25. /TASS/. A district court in St. Petersburg ruled to let a UK citizen stay with his Russian wife and child although his residence permit had expired, citing European norms regarding respect for family life, the press service said on Tuesday.

The British citizen, Stephen John Bird, has been fined 5,000 rubles ($76) for violating the rules of staying in Russia.

According to media reports, the British national had spent nearly two weeks in St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport because he could neither leave Russia due to his expired residency permit, nor could he stay in the country. The court’s ruling finally allowed him to stay in Russia with his family.

"The court ruled that Stephen John Bird is guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 3.1 of Article 18.8 of the Criminal Code (violation by a foreigner of the rules for entering Russia or staying (residence) in Russia) and ordered him to pay an administrative fine of 5,000 rubles," a spokesperson said.

According to the case files, the British citizen married a Russian woman and their child was born eight years ago. The UK national entered Russia in 2010 and received a residency permit, which expired this summer. The man acknowledged that he violated the law, explaining that he did not want to part from his wife and child.

In early September, Bird bought tickets on a Moscow-London flight and then planned to come back to Russia to start the entire residency process from scratch. However, he was not allowed to fly to London. The man later tried to fly to the UK from the Pulkovo Airport but was unable to buy the ticket. He was forced to stay in the airport for nearly two weeks since he could not leave Russia and could not live with his family as his stay in Russia was illegal.

The Moscow District Court in St. Petersburg honored European norms stating that expelling a foreigner from a country where his family members live may violate his right to respect family life guaranteed by Article 8.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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