Over the past three years, Russia has significantly accelerated the tightening of its migration legislation. These changes are having a serious impact both on foreign nationals, including Armenian citizens, and on the work of Russia’s own competent authorities. This was stated by migration expert Tatevik Bezhanyan.
According to her, Russia previously adopted no more than one to five changes per year, and they generally had no substantial impact. The restrictions have now become more intensive and multilayered.
“Very often, not only experts but also employees of the relevant Russian authorities are unable to keep up with the changes. This is already causing numerous problems and consequences,” she said.
The Main Changes Were Introduced in 2025–2026
According to the expert, the most extensive changes were adopted in 2025 and 2026.
They include a law establishing an expulsion regime, the creation of a register of monitored persons and a shorter permitted stay for citizens of visa-free countries who are neither working nor studying in Russia.
The conditions governing children’s access to education have also changed. Migration cards, which were previously issued without an expiration date, are now time-limited, creating additional problems for labor migrants.
Bezhanyan said the RuID system is another important part of the new regime. Russia has been attempting to make it mandatory for approximately two years.
However, the system is still unable to handle the workload. Its mandatory implementation has therefore been postponed for a second time, and it continues to operate on a voluntary basis.
The expert also noted that an electronic migrant profile system is already being used in Moscow and the Moscow region. It is expected to be extended to other Russian regions later.
Migrants Must Register Through the AMINA App
According to Bezhanyan, citizens of visa-free countries, including Armenian citizens traveling to Moscow and the Moscow region for employment, must complete their migration registration exclusively through the AMINA mobile application.
The app continuously tracks the individual’s geolocation. Users also regularly receive notifications that require a response.
The phone must remain with the person at all times because it is used as the main instrument of monitoring.
Bezhanyan said the increasingly frequent internet outages in Moscow and the Moscow region have created serious problems.
After internet access is restored, the app often malfunctions. This may terminate a person’s migration registration or even automatically change the registered address.
“The state does not always acknowledge that the cause was a technical problem. There are cases in which a person is placed in the register of monitored individuals, receives an entry ban or is expelled. Appealing such decisions later can take a long time,” she said.
According to the expert, these restrictions have already directly affected labor migration flows.
The Number of Working Migrants Has Nearly Halved
Based on the figures presented by Bezhanyan, up to 120,000 Armenian citizens had employment or civil-law contracts in Russia each year between 2018 and 2021.
At the same time, the total number of people entering Russia for employment purposes reached between 250,000 and 300,000.
A downward trend began in 2022. The number of working migrants first declined to approximately 100,000 and has fallen in recent years to around 70,000, sometimes dropping below that level.
Bezhanyan identified entry bans as one of the reasons for this decline.
More than 23,000 Armenian citizens are currently prohibited from entering Russia.
“These lists clearly exist, and the Republic of Armenia has been informed by name about the citizens included in them. At present, more than 23,000 Armenian citizens already have an entry ban,” she said.
Bezhanyan added that people often do not even know that they have been barred from entering Russia.
RuID Can Reveal an Entry Ban in Advance
The expert advised citizens to use RuID because the system can show whether a person is subject to an entry ban.
“This means there will be no need to purchase a ticket, incur expenses and travel to an airport or land border only to be sent back. It is therefore advisable to register through RuID in order to obtain this information in advance,” she said.
Registration through RuID also automatically creates an electronic migrant profile.
“Even if a person has not registered through RuID in advance, the information will still have to be collected later and the electronic profile will still have to be created,” Tatevik Bezhanyan concluded.