Moldovan president’s advisers, Maxim Lebedinschi and Andrei Neguta, gave a news conference today. The officials informed about the way of enforcement of the procedure of amnestying of Moldovan citizens who exceeded the stay regime or committed administrative contraventions in Russia.
According to Maxim Lebedinschi, starting from 2 March 2017, according to an agreement reached between the Moldovan and Russian presidents, Igor Dodon, and Vladimir Putin, respectively, about 250,000 Moldovan citizens, who violated the migration regime and are in Russia, may ask for migration amnesty. Thus, the concerned people till 20 March this year should contact the territorial subdivisions of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the extension of the term of stay in Russia. “The addressing may be made only provided that the Moldovan citizen has a valid passport when submitting the application. The term in which Moldova’s citizens can ask for amnesty is 2-20 March, “Lebedinschi stressed.
The adviser also said that the appropriate instructions had been already conveyed to all Russian regions and more Moldovan citizens have already managed to benefit from possibility given to extend the term of their stay in Russia.
Maxim Lebedinschi explained how the procedure of amnestying takes place: “The stamp will be applied and a migration certificate will be issued in the appropriate sections. The citizens will be obliged, in a seven-day period, to register in the migration record at the place of stay, having possibility to be in Russia during 90 days and are to process the legal documents, i.e. the licence, during 30 days.”
Lebedinschi informed about the categories of citizens to whom the migration amnesty does not apply. According to him, these are the Moldovan citizens:
- who have earlier violated the regime of stay in Russia and were expelled/deported following a court decision; care, anterior,
- who, while having a ban from entering Russia, entered through Belarus;
- who are in “the centres of migrants’ temporary detention,” expecting a court decision;
Referring to citizens staying in Moldova and are banned from entering Russia, Maxim Lebedinschi stressed that about 17,500 citizens, who were banned from entering Russia, in line with the Article 26, paragraph (4) and paragraph (8) of Russian Federation’s Law on exit from and entrance in Russia, from 5 August 1996, would be able to enjoy migration amnesty.
“This right will enter into force starting from 15 March this year. Interested persons may check their presence in these lists through the webpage on the site www.services.fms.gov.ru, after introducing the identification number in a special column. You should not try your luck in customs. By accessing this webpage, each citizen of Moldova will be able to check whether he/she is included or not in the list of people having right to return to Russia,” Lebedinschi said.
The presidential advisers warned that the citizens should not resort to any intermediaries and any remunerations, as the services are provided for free.
Andrei Neguta also said that questions related to amnesty may be put by Moldovan citizens at the following hotline phone number, launched at Moldova’s Embassy in Russia: + 7 929 964 90 79.