On May 20, the Russian State Duma as an experiment passed a bill on additional mechanisms for registering foreign citizens who live in Moscow and the Moscow province, Kommersant said.
The experiment will begin on September 1, 2025, and will last four years. It will affect all foreigners entering Moscow and the Moscow province who do not need to obtain a visa to the Russian Federation. The list of exceptions includes minors, diplomats and their family members, as well as citizens of Belarus.
Labour migrants will have to register in a special mobile app, give consent to the processing of personal data (including the geolocation of device) and send personal data to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs on their location.
If a foreign citizen fails to provide info on the geolocation through mobil phone within three days from the date of the last monitoring, he/she may be deleted from the register and added to the register of controlled persons, and could face deportation from Russia, RBC reported.
In addition, migrants in Moscow and the Moscow province will be required to undergo fingerprinting, biometric photography and registration at their residence address.
The app will be installed when applying to the migration center in Sakharovo. The Kommersant added that the document does not specify what if a foreigner does not have a mobile phone or refuses to install the app.
“The adopted mechanism will allow, using modern technologies, to strengthen oversight in the migration area, and will also help reduce the number of offenses and crimes in this area. If the experiment proves successful, it can be extended to other provinces,” said the State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
Russia will also introduce mandatory online registration for foreign citizens entering the country from June 30. They will have to receive a QR code through the State Services RuID app. This must be done no later than 3 days, and in emergency cases - at least 4 hours before arrival.
