The 2010 amendments

In 2010 further changes were adopted within the migration legislation, which bear witness to some new impulses in the state management. The concept of differentiation entered the migration policy. While earlier a foreign street sweeper and an engineer specialist were treated equally when applying for entry into the Russian labour market, amendments were made to ease the access for foreign specialists (Gradirovskiĭ: 2010, 20). It may be questioned, though; to what extent they have actually done so. The foreign specialists are welcomed independently of the quota system, but in order to hire a foreign specialist the salary must be minimum 2 mill roubles, a substantial sum for Russian employers to dig out of their pockets, and health care insurance as well should be provided by them. (Ibid) As one of my informants pointed out, it is actually your wage, which in Russia decides whether you are a highly

qualified specialist, or not (Ismailov: 070.10.11). In the law “On the legal status of Foreign citizens in the RF, the extensive second paragraph of article 13 on “Conditions for the participation of foreign citizens in work relations”, is devoted to the “special conditions for the work activity of highly qualified foreign specialists.”¹⁷ Short term labour migrants from Central Asia most often do not fit into this category, but it is interesting to notice that differentiation is entering Russian migration management. What did concern Central Asian labour migrants, though, was another paragraph in the same article, also a 2010 amendment, which pointed directly to the short term labour migrants from the visa-free regime. This is the patent system, a way of legalizing the labour of foreign citizens who are working for private persons.

The Patent is a legal mechanism independent of the quotas for work permits. Many migrants are working for individuals, they help building dachas, villas and garages, they work as nannies and gardeners. The patent is obtained at the local organ of the FMS, the UFMS, based on an application form, the presentation of the migration card, some kind of personal identification, and a receipt, showing that the fee for the patent is paid. Irina Ivakhnyuk describes the patent as a tax payment in advance. And this is exactly what it is. The migrants pay 1000 roubles a month, and only the first time the receipt must be shown at the UFMS.

The next 11 months it is sufficient to pay the fee (for one to three months at the time) at the bank, and the bank receipt is then validating your patent. After one year, the procedure at the

17 The Federal law, N 115 –F3,”Особенности осуществления трудовой деятельности иностранными гражданами – высококвалифицированными специалистами”

45 UFMS will have to be repeated.¹⁸ (Article 13.3, 19.05.2010 N 86-F3) The state‟s intention with this legislation was clearly to legalize a group of migrants that earlier had been outside the legal framework. The patent was thought to give an overview of the scope of this particular labour migration, and to provide some taxes for the treasury. The system was, however, not spared criticisms:

“The first 6 months the migrants tax rate is 30 % - before it then becomes equal to other citizens‟ 13 % (except from the high qualified) It is hence calculated that the person will earn around 3000, but in reality the salary is probably higher. It is then thought that the migrant him or herself shall go and pay the remaining tax gap. This is a joke” (Ivakhnyuk: 06.06.2011)

“I am against this system. It does not satisfy me. Firstly: this people do not get a work permit. They just buy the patent. There is no medical control of these people. In the law it is written that the migrants must bring some medical confirmations that prove that they are not bringing with them any diseases harmful for their social environment. I asked (in a meeting with government officials) “what then about the patents?” They answered that if you hire someone, you yourself are interested in the health of your worker, and you could take him or her to the doctor. This is not at all a governmental approach, rather some kind of nonsense” (Ibid)

According to some sources, the actual legal content of the patent was far from clear to all, and a myth was created among migrants that by paying 1000 rubles a month any foreign citizen from within the visa-free regime could work peacefully (Lukanin: 2011, 20). The stay in Russia is hence prolonged by paying the monthly fee, and the receipt given to the migrant when the fee is paid is the confirmation of the migrant‟s legal stay in Russia. According to Aleksandr Lukanin, who works with migration issues in Sverdlovsk Federal Subject, the receipt is often only a printed copy, which makes it easy to fabricate for swindlers. The migrant might believe that the tax is paid, although it is not registered as such (Ibid). The newspaper Rossiĭskaya gazeta also reports to have spoken with migrants in Moscow who due to unbearably long queues at the UFMS in the end bought false patents from middlemen for more than twice the set price (Ignatova: 2011).

Some state officials, however, speak very warmly of the patent. Konstantin Surkov, deputy chairman of the Federal Council committee on constitutional law, said in his speech on 24.05.2011 that the implementation of the patent had already showed positive results.

From the 1^st of July 2010 until the 30^th of December, 156,471 patents were made, and 133,590 were issued. Citizens of Uzbekistan were the incontestable patent leaders, obtaining 73,475, or 45.8 % of the total amount. Tajiks were following with 33,195 (20.7%) and Kyrgyz citizens with 17,127 (10.7%) (Surkov: 2010). Romodanovskiĭ, the head of the FMS, has reported that in 2010 around 160 thousand patens were issued, which brought the Federal

18 Ibid. Article 13.3: Особенности трудовой деятельности иностранных граждан у физических лиц

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budget 330 million roubles. ¹⁹ He admitted that these numbers were far lower than the FMS had expected and that he was not satisfied. He emphasized, though, that they (the state and FMS) were “aiming to solve the economical tasks in a way which served Russia‟s interests, and that they are subordinating and adjusting all institutions and mechanisms to address this main task.”²⁰ Despite intentions in an economical pragmatic direction, the patent remains a somewhat simplistic method:

“The patent must be included in a system of gaining a work permit. It shows the necessity of many different channels for different kinds of migrants. But to make this work one needs to create an

advanced system, and they (The FMS – the State) just decided that the migrants should buy a patent and that‟s all…” (Ivakhnyuk: 06.06.2011)

In 2011 the FMS itself started to talk about further improvements of the migration legislation.

Romodanovskiĭ has stated that the quota system needs to be changed into a system of new organizational mechanisms for recruiting workers. The head of the FMS press service, Konstantin Poltaranin stated in April:”...We have to create a clear, simple and transparent mechanism, which allows the employer to hire a foreigner if there is a need for it”. He stressed, however, that hiring foreigners can only be justified when the employers` needs for work force cannot be covered by Russia‟s own workers. Another point emphasised by Poltaranin, when speaking about improvements in the migration management, was the necessity to “prevent the middlemen, the officials, including the FMS, from lining their pockets” ²¹ In the following sections I will look closer at the FMS and the institutional framework for state migration management in Russia.

19 Migrant.Ferganas‟ web-page, available at http://migrant.ferghana.ru/newslaw/analyze/raschet-na-torgovlyu-patentami-dlya-migrantov-ne-opravdal-ozhidaniya-fms.html, accessed 20.11.2011

20 Ibid: «Мы настроены на то, чтобы решать экономические задачи в интересах России, и именно под эту главную задачу мы подстраиваем все институты и механизмы»

21Migratsia i Zakon`s web-page, available at www.migrocenter.org/main/1303725278, accessed 10.09.2011

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