New form and procedure for notifying the Federal Migration Service of hiring foreign citizens

On May 25, 2015 Order No.149 “On amending Order No.147 of FMS of Russia ‘On forms and procedures for notifying the Federal Migration Service of foreign citizens performing labor activity in the Russian Federation’ dated June 28, 2010” of the Federal Migration Service of Russia dated March 12, 2015 (hereinafter the “Order”), aimed at unification of information provided by employers (or customers of works or services) in the event of engaging foreign citizens, entered into force.

The Order establishes new forms of notifications to be sent in the Federal Migration Service of Russia (hereinafter the “FMS”) by the employers (or customers of services) engaging foreign specialists in labor, and introduces substantial changes in the form of the current notifications.

Basic changes in information to be specified in notifications

Information about employer (or customer of works or services)

Now the employer’s location must be specified in the notification instead of the information of the employer’s legal and actual address provided earlier. In the event the foreign citizen is engaged in labor at the location of the branch or representative office of a foreign legal entity in Russia, the form must contain information about the document confirming the fact of accreditation of such branch or representative office (number of document, issue date and authority).

A new section “Contact telephone number” mandatory for filling in is added to the new form for ensuring the opportunity to clarify information provided in the notification.

We should note that the following information is to be specified in the notifications not on a mandatory basis, as earlier, but only if the employer possesses such information:

-      Taxpayer Identification Number (INN) of the employer (customer of works/services);

-      Place of birth of the foreign citizen;

-      Number of migration card.

Information about foreign employee

Now the notifications must contain not only the date but also the address of the foreign citizen at the place of stay or place of residence.

Actual information

Notification about performing the obligations on paying salary to the highly qualified foreign specialist (hereinafter the “HQS”) must now contain information about performance of obligations on paying the salary to HQS for each month of the reporting quarter, as well as in total for the entire quarter, while earlier information was to be specified for the quarter in total.

Person authorized to sign notifications

If earlier the form was to be signed by the head of the legal entity or branch / representative office of a foreign company, now the notifications can be signed by a person acting under a power of attorney.

Procedure for submitting notifications

The Order provides alternative forms for submitting notifications, in particular:

-      In hardcopy;

-      In electronic form using the “Unified portal of state and municipal services (functions)”;

-      By post with a list of enclosures and return receipt.

Term for submitting notifications

The notification on performing the obligations on paying salary to HQS

Notifications in new form are to be submitted to the FMS starting from QII, 2015, i.e. starting from the period from April 1 to June 30, 2015.

The notification on concluding and terminating an employment agreement with a foreign citizen

Pursuant to Article 13 of Federal Law “On legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation,” the notification is to be submitted to the local subdivision of the FMS within Three (3) business days from the time of entering into the employment agreement.

Anastasia Fomicheva   Senior Associate   St. Petersburg    afomicheva@cls.ru   Tel.: +7 (812) 346 79 90

Anna Chaykina   Associate    St. Petersburg       Tel.: +7 (812) 346 79 90

Additional notes

Should any questions arise in connection with the above or if you need any additional materials, please contact Anastasia Fomicheva  or Anna Chaykina , St. Petersburg Office of Capital Legal Services.

This Information letter keeps the clients of Capital Legal Services and other interested parties abreast of information that may, to any extent, affect their activity or cater to their particular interests. The opinions and commentaries expressed in this information letter shall not be deemed as legal opinions and do not cancel the need to obtain legal advice or legal opinion on separate issues.