Armenia wants concessions from Russia in another field

Secretary of the Armenian National Security Council Artur Bagdasaryan recently asked his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev to let Armenian labour migrants stay longer in Russia because Armenia is a strategic partner of Russia. Renat Karimov, head of the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Labour Migrants, says that the Armenian authorities were not searching for simplification of the visa regime with Russia in the field where it could give such concessions.

Karimov clarifies that all labour migrants had equal terms of residence in Russia, regardless of their membership in the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan). Moreover, Measures taken on January 1, 2014, made things even harder for migrants. Armenian migrants could stay in Russia for 90 days and could then fly to Kiev, for example, to get visas for another 90 days of stay. According to new rules, foreign workers may stay in Russia for only 90 days in every half a year.

What Bagdasaryan was asking Patrushev for were changes to the said rule, the expert explains. But such changes would then be followed by similar requests from other countries. Belarusian and Ukrainian migrants can stay in Russia for 90 days, though the latter is not in the Customs Union. Armenians need to register in 7 days. Lifting the need to register could become one of the preferences granted to Armenia as a new member of the Customs Union, Karimov assumes.

The expert adds that citizens of member-states of the Customs Union are allowed to work in Russia without permits. It could be a great advantage for Armenia to have similar rules because the quota for foreign labour migrants is limited. Karimov says that there are about 10 million migrants in Russia at a quota of about 1.5 million, quota of 150,000 in Moscow. That means that 9 out of 10 migrants in Moscow have to work without quotas and pay money to contractors, reminds the expert.

Secretary of the Armenian National Security Council Artur Bagdasaryan recently asked his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev to let Armenian labour migrants stay longer in Russia because Armenia is a strategic partner of Russia. Renat Karimov, head of the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Labour Migrants, says that the Armenian authorities were not searching for simplification of the visa regime with Russia in the field where it could give such concessions.Karimov clarifies that all labour migrants had equal terms of residence in Russia, regardless of their membership in the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan). Moreover, Measures taken on January 1, 2014, made things even harder for migrants. Armenian migrants could stay in Russia for 90 days and could then fly to Kiev, for example, to get visas for another 90 days of stay. According to new rules, foreign workers may stay in Russia for only 90 days in every half a year.What Bagdasaryan was asking Patrushev for were changes to the said rule, the expert explains. But such changes would then be followed by similar requests from other countries. Belarusian and Ukrainian migrants can stay in Russia for 90 days, though the latter is not in the Customs Union. Armenians need to register in 7 days. Lifting the need to register could become one of the preferences granted to Armenia as a new member of the Customs Union, Karimov assumes.The expert adds that citizens of member-states of the Customs Union are allowed to work in Russia without permits. It could be a great advantage for Armenia to have similar rules because the quota for foreign labour migrants is limited.. Karimov says that there are about 10 million migrants in Russia at a quota of about 1.5 million, quota of 150,000 in Moscow. That means that 9 out of 10 migrants in Moscow have to work without quotas and pay money to contractors, reminds the expert