September changes to migration rules: are you aware of all of them?

Our migration experts have put together a brief summary of the most important changes relating to foreign employees.

The changes are designed to improve migration service processes and reduce the burden on local internal affairs offices with regard to migration registration while enhancing mechanisms for monitoring the actual place of stay of foreign nationals using modern technologies. September will see the end of the migration amnesty which allows foreign nationals who arrived in Russia illegally and citizens of Ukraine to regularize their legal status without the need to leave Russia. There are also changes for foreign citizens working on the basis of a work license in the Moscow region, St Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast. Migrations forms have been updated in line with changes in the law. Furthermore, state fees have been introduced for migration services that used to be free. All the above is covered in the sections below.

Initially, participants in the experiment will be citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirgizia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine who came to Russia to work and are based in Moscow or the Moscow Oblast.

For migration registration purposes, those foreign nationals must install a dedicated app called ‘Amina’ on their mobile phones. The app uses a geolocation function that enables internal affairs bodies to be kept remotely informed of the place that a foreign national regularly uses to sleep and spend their spare time as well as their working hours.

The app can be downloaded here.

The change will affect Moscow / the Moscow Oblast and St Petersburg / the Leningrad Oblast. According to our information, relevant Agreements have not yet been signed between the regions. 

Once the Agreements have been signed, employers will be obliged to notify the local migration bodies of each region of the conclusion of a contract with such a foreigner.

Under the amnesty, in some cases foreign nationals who are in Russia illegally may apply to the migration offices of local internal affairs bodies to regularize their legal status.

Foreign nationals who have not legalized their status are obliged to leave Russia of their own accord. After 10 September 2025 such foreign nationals may face expulsion from Russia.

Ukrainian citizens with non-regularized status must apply to local internal affairs bodies to regularize it (i.e., obtain a work license, a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit or assume Russian citizenship). Citizens with non-regularized status must leave Russia by 10 September 2025, and employers will not be able to continue employing such citizens.

From 1 September 2025 an updated form of the notification of the conclusion of an employment contract and/or a civil contract with foreign citizens comes into effect. Employers that violate the notification procedure by submitting an obsolete notification form will face a fine of up to 1 million rubles (for each notification). These changes are connected to the new rules for the issuance of a work license.

From 6 September 2025 an updated form of an employer’s application to engage a highly qualified specialist comes into effect. Changes include the entry of new information about the employer and the terms of the foreigner’s employment. An employer will have its application to employ a highly qualified specialist rejected if it uses the old application form.

In view of the large number of changes to migration rules, we recommend checking that you are using the latest versions of migration forms before submitting them or delegating the function of ensuring compliance with migration rules to qualified specialists.

Should you have any questions about compliance with migration law, please contact our migration team.