IMPORTANT NOTICE: GREEN CARDS FOR FOREIGNERS LIVING IN RUSSIA

There have been new changes under the Federal Law No. 274 of 07/01/2021 of the Russian Federation requiring foreigners coming into the country to go through:

medical assessment;

fingerprinting (dactyloscopy);

capturing for the government database.

All foreign citizens (except citizens of Belarus) who arrived in Russia on December 29, 2021, for a stay of more than 90 days are required to undergo a fingerprint registration procedure within 90 days from the date of entry (within 30 days if you came to work).

Summary

All foreign citizens in Russia are to undergo an extensive medical examination that will be confirmed by a medical report.

Then they will need to go through a fingerprint collection process and be captured in order to receive a new document to confirm this.

This separate document is the fingerprint card (or green card)– a laminated card issued to foreigners who have done the required fingerprint registration and whose information has been recorded in the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

And this card is mandatory for:

• foreigners who came to the Russian Federation for work or study. They need to go through these procedures within 30 days of entry into the Russian Federation;

• foreigners who came for a different purpose and plan to stay in the Russian Federation for a period of more than 90 days, including children.

NOTE

1. Fingerprinting must be done not only by foreign citizens who want to work in Russia but also by those who plan to simply stay here for more than 90 days, including children.
2. You might be asked to pay for any or all of these assessment tests, depending on your city. So make enquires and take your money along. (Some centres also ask that you pay in cash).
3. You might also need to get an official and authenticated copy of your translated passport and all the pages of the passport.
4. You also need to take passport photographs along. Please find out the number, size and format required in your processing location.

 

Here’s the complete procedure for completing the medical examination, fingerprinting and photographing:

Medical Examination

To undergo the medical examination, a foreigner applies to an authorized medical organization or any clinic approved by the government for this purpose. This means you will not be able to do the medical examination in just any hospital or clinic.

It is important to take into account that fingerprinting is possible only after presenting the results of the medical commission.

The term for issuing a medical report after the tests is either 5 working days, or 18 working days if repeated tests are required.

Therefore, we do not recommend postponing the medical examination and fingerprinting for later. It’s better to do it right away.

The duration of these procedures also depends on the purpose of the foreigner’s entry into the Russian Federation.

For example:

-foreign workers must undergo a medical examination within 30 days of entry;

-foreigners arriving for another purpose undergo a medical examination within 90 days from entry into the Russian Federation.

Take note of this if you’re just coming into the country!

Fingerprinting

Foreigners need to do their capturing and fingerprinting in the migration units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the “Multifunctional Migration Center” or at specified district police stations according to the registration address, but only after passing the medical examination.

The foreigner goes for fingerprinting and capturing with specific documents, especially documents confirming the medical examination – certificates and conclusions issued by authorized medical organizations.

After this fingerprinting process is done, you will be given documents that confirm the completion of this whole process- the green card with the photo and data about the foreigner. This document is called a fingerprint card, data card or migrant green card.

The validity of this document provides

A foreigner needs to do the fingerprinting only once, regardless of the number of entries and exits from the Russian Federation.

But you may need to undergo the medical examination several times. Usually, the validity of the medical documents is 3 months (Order of the Ministry of Health of Russia dated November 19, 2021 No. 1079n), but this might be adjusted anytime.

After the expiration of the medical documents, the foreigner has 30 days to re-pass the medical examination.

If a foreigner evades these procedures, it might be because they’re deciding to leave Russia.

Fingerprinting is not necessary for:

those with a work permit, temporary residence permit or permanent residence permit;

those who do not plan to stay in Russia for a long time- parents or children of foreign workers/students, foreign relatives of citizens of the Russian Federation or any foreigner planning a temporary stay.

citizens of Belarus, children under 6 years old, diplomats and their families, representatives of authorities of foreign states refugees and foreigners with temporary asylum. All those who want to stay in Russia for less than 90 days, are exempted from fingerprinting.

Please note that foreigners who arrived in the Russian Federation before December 29, 2021, must undergo fingerprinting before January 10, 2023.

 

How to confirm fingerprinting

In order for a foreigner to confirm that he has undergone fingerprinting, he will be given a special document for identification- a fingerprint card or a green immigrant card.

This is a small green card that contains the following information about the foreigner:

Full name;

date of birth and gender;

citizenship;

passport data;

a photo;

date of issue of the document and by whom it was issued.

In some regions, if possible, a green card is issued in the form of a plastic card with a chip in which a photo of a foreigner and a fingerprint image is embedded.

The green card is valid for 10 years. After this period, the foreigner needs to apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the re-issuance of the document.

If a foreigner does not pass fingerprint registration on time, then the period of their stay will be reduced, they will be fined and expelled from Russia, and may even be banned from entering the country in the future.

Employers will also begin to check this document for all foreign workers, especially when they’re applying for a job in Russia.

Even employees that are already working here might be asked to present this document for other purposes.

This is because the absence of a green card might have serious consequences for a foreigner, even if they possess other valid documents like a passport, visa and immigration card.

This green card should be taken care of and protected just like your passport, migration card and registration. You might need to present it when next you’re extending your stay in Russia.

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