MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Russian State Duma passed in first reading the government bill on compulsory dactyloscopy, photography and medical examination of foreigners arriving to Russia under visa-free regime for a long-term stay, including for work.
As of today, there are a number of categories of foreigners, allowed to stay in Russia long-term without undergoing a mandatory dactyloscopy and medical examination; most of them are Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) citizens; by March 1, 2020, there were about 2.5 million of them in Russia.
At the same time, the bill authors say, "the fragmented nature of supervision of migrants’ health and the absence of efficient algorithms of action towards people with identified serious conditions significantly increases the risk of these dangerous infection diseases’ infiltration and spread on the Russian territory."
Besides, the inability to identify people by their biometric data significantly complicates identification of wanted people, whose presence in Russia is undesired.
Dactyloscopy and medical exam
The bill proposes to amend the law on legal status of foreigners and the law on state dactyloscopic registration in Russia, by adding clauses "that ensure compulsory dactyloscopic registration, photography and following biometric identification, as well as medical exam, who arrived in Russia by procedure that requires no visa acquisition, who stay in Russia long-term (over 90 days every calendar year)."
Foreigners who migrate to Russia for work will be obliged to undergo the abovementioned procedures within 30 days since the date of entry. Labor migrants will have to undergo a medical exam that will make sure they have no HIV infection, infectious diseases that pose a danger to people around them, as well as no drug addiction.
Should a migrant fail to undergo these procedures, their stay in Russia will be reduced. People with HIV infection or drug addiction may be declared undesired.
The bill also proposes to stipulate that "a labor migrant’s temporary stay term is prolonged by the term of their labor contract term." In case of unlimited labor contract, the stay is prolonged by up to one year since the date of entry in Russia.