DUSHANBE, February 11. /TASS/. Russia has sent Tajikistan a list of 124,000 Tajik citizens who are subject to deportation for violating Russia’s migration laws last year, Tajik Deputy Minister of Labor, Migration and Employment Shakhnoza Nodiri said.
"The Russian interior ministry officially informed us during our meetings that more than 700,000 foreign nationals, including 124,000 of our citizens, are facing expulsion from Russia," she said, adding that these people "due to various reasons have disappeared from Russia’s databases." "This means that records exist of our citizens entering Russia, but that these people got, in a manner of speaking, ‘lost’ in Russia’s territory," he explained.
"The Russian interior ministry asked that we work together to track these people down, because if they are not found, naturally, the law on deportation will be applied and these people will be subject to immediate expulsion," she said, citing a law that came into force on February 5.
The deputy minister recalled that after Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon expressed concern over this matter at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in December 2024, Russia’s authorities decided to cut foreigners facing deportation some slack, giving them until April 30 to settle their legal status so that they could stay in Russia.
According to Nodiri, checks conducted by the Tajik authorities revealed that more than 50% of those put on Russia’s list had already returned to Tajikistan. The Russian side was subsequently informed about this.
She emphasized that as a sovereign state Russia has every right to adjust its migration law and Tajikistan fully understands this. "We insist that elementary human rights must be observed. In this context, a task force has been set up at the Russian side’s initiative that will investigate each case [of potential violations in the enforcement of migration laws]," she said.
Preparations for labor migration
The deputy minister recalled that an office of the Russian interior ministry’s passport and visa service was opened in Dushanbe in May 2024. "There, our citizens can check whether they are banned from entering Russia or not, have their fingerprints taken, which is a mandatory procedure before entering Russia. I would like to note that a certificate issued by this office allows a person to freely enter Russia," Nodiri said.
Apart from that, those who want to work in Russia can take exams in the Russian language, history and legislation. "For these purposes, we opened a Moscow government migration center in Dushanbe," she noted, adding that more than 9,000 people have used the center’s services since August 2024 and around 60% of them have received certificates.
Russian migration laws
Russia’s migration legislation was amended in 2024 to toughen deportation measures against foreigners who are illegally residing in Russia. The visa-free sojourn period was reduced to 90 days per year.
On February 5, Russia launched a real-time registry of foreigners who had violated migration laws. It is updated every four hours. Foreign nationals are put on this register in nine cases, including the expiration of their sojourn period, temporary residence permit (including for educational purposes), permanent residence permit, work permit, labor contract, and in case of the reduction of the sojourn period. Additionally, individuals can be placed on the registry for illegal border crossing, or if they have been found guilty of breaking the law in Russia.
Migrants put on this register will face a number of restrictions. Thus, they will be banned from getting a marriage license or filing for divorce, sending their children to kindergartens and schools, operating motor vehicles, as well as receiving other routine services.
According to Tajikistan’s labor ministry, most Tajik nationals seeking employment abroad view Russia as the best option. Thus, as many as 392,805 labor migrants left Tajikistan in the first six months of 2024, of whom 387,987 went to Russia. The labor migrant flow to Russia reduced by 15% as compared to the same period in 2023. More than 17,000 Tajik nationals were expelled from Russia in January-June 2024.