MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s deputy prime minister has proposed new rules to require prospective migrant laborers to have health insurance and to limit how long they can stay in the country without a visa, business daily Kommersant reported Thursday.
Under proposals from Dmitry Rogozin, who heads the state border commission, migrants lacking a visa and a work permit will be permitted to stay Russia for only up to 90 days within any six-month period, the paper reported.
Suggestions that rules for migrant laborers be tightened have increased in recent months amid rising public discontent over the numbers of foreigners in the capital.
Foreign guest workers in Russia are typically citizens of former Soviet republics in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, most of whom do not currently need visas to enter and stay in the country. They are, however, required to have work permits.
The Federal Migration Service is also working on establishing an electronic identity card for migrant workers by 2015.
While about as many as six million foreigners are believed to work in Russia, the Labor Ministry estimates that only two million of them are legally employed.