Mishustin approved an action plan for the adaptation of foreigners in Russia

The concept of the state migration policy of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025 was adopted by presidential decree in 2018. In May last year, the head of state clarified the document by including a requirement for additional measures to create attractive financial, social and other mechanisms for preserving human capital and reducing the outflow of the country’s population abroad.

Now Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has approved an action plan to implement the concept in the next two years. Digitalization will increasingly be introduced into the management of migration processes. Until December 2024, departments must submit proposals for creating a digital profile of a foreign citizen. This will make it possible to reliably confirm the identities of foreigners arriving in the country. By the same date, the results of the experiment on collecting biometric data from visitors arriving through Moscow airports will be summed up. The experiment also involves state genomic registration and voice recording of foreigners.

Digitalization will also open up new opportunities for migrants. The digital profile will expand the practice of providing government services in the migration field in electronic form. Thus, even before arriving in Russia, foreigners will be able to register in a unified biometric system using a specialized mobile application. If they come to the country on a visa-free basis, then the digital profile will allow notification of their planned arrival.

The government is going to develop an electronic visa system. Already this year, the list of countries whose citizens have the right to obtain such an entry document may be expanded. It is planned to expand the list of types of visas issued electronically, including work and study. By September 10, 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia must prepare regulations to provide foreigners with the right to change the purpose of entry into the Russian Federation without the need to leave the country.

A large block of the government plan is devoted to the adaptation of migrants in Russia. By the fall, a special course for foreigners will be developed, and the regions must prepare their own components, taking into account national and cultural characteristics. Teaching migrants the Russian language will begin in their countries, and the Cabinet of Ministers wants to send teachers from Russia to schools in those countries from where the main migration flow comes to us. Directly in the Russian Federation, they will improve the system of state testing in Russian as a foreign language.

Additional opportunities will open up for those foreigners who want to study in Russia, and the country will thereby try to compensate for the shortage of personnel. The plan sets the task of annually increasing the number of citizens of other countries receiving both higher and professional education from us. A Russian diploma will provide access to a simplified procedure for obtaining a residence permit.

The government drew attention to the need to improve the mechanism for providing asylum to foreigners in the country. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will submit a draft federal bill that will eliminate legislative gaps and conflicts by June 20, 2025. And earlier - before December 2024 - the ministries will develop a mechanism for relocating the business of foreign citizens to Russia: the legal framework will be spelled out to assist in the movement of business assets and the organization of business processes.