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Federal Migration Service
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| Federal Migration Service of the Russian Government FMS of Russia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | FMS |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | June 14, 1992 |
| Preceding agencies |
|
| Dissolved | 5 April 2016 |
| Superseding agency | Directorate for Migration Affairs of MVD |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | RUS |
| Governing body | Government of Russia |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Upper Radishchevskaya Street 4 D. str. 1, Tagansky District in Moscow, Russia |
| Elected officer responsible | |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Government of Russia |
| Child agency |
|
| Notables | |
| Anniversary |
|
| Website | |
| http://www.fms.gov.ru/ | |
The Federal Migration Service (Федеральная миграционная служба, ФМС России) was a federal law enforcement agency of Russia responsible for implementing the state policy on migration and also performing law enforcement functions, functions for control, supervision, and provision of public services in the field of migration. The Federal Migration Service was responsible for the issuing of Russian international passports, resident registration and immigration control in Russia.[1] Headquartered in Moscow, the FMS was charged with the investigation and enforcement of over 500 federal statutes within the Russian Federation. The FMS was led by a Director who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Russia.
The FMS was one of the largest investigative agencies in the Russian government, following the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, Investigative Committee of Russia and the FSKN.
The Russian Federal Migration Service was created on June 14, 1992, replacing the Migration Committee of the Ministry of Labor and Employment. The service was established on the basis of Governmental Decree No. 740 from September 22, 1992.
On April 5, 2016, the FMS was dissolved, and its functions and authorities were transferred to the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs, part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
History
[edit]The Russian Federal Migration Service was created on June 14, 1992, replacing the Migration Committee of the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
In 1999, President of Russia Boris Yeltsin signed a decree to dissolve the FMS and reestablish it as Ministry for Federation Affairs, Nationalities and Migration Policy.
In 2001, the Ministry was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the MVD.
On February 23, 2002, President Putin organized the establishment of the Department for Migration Affairs under the MVD.
On July 19, 2004, President Putin signed a decree to re-establish the Federal Migration Service. The service was reorganized in its current form by Presidential Decree No. 928 of July 19, 2004 "Issues of the Federal Migration Service".[2]
The territorial organs of the FMS of Russia were established on January 1, 2006, bringing together the Passport and Visa Service[3] and the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Until 2012, the service was under the jurisdiction of the MVD. From 2012 til 2016, FMS was under direct subordinate of the Russian Government.[4]
Structure
[edit]- Law Directorate
- Directorate for Analytic organization
- Directorate for Immigration Control (Управление иммиграционного контроля)
- Directorate for Citizenship Affairs
- Office for immigrants
- Directorate for the organization of visas and registration
- Directorate of external labor migration
- Directorate for the organization of passports and registration of public accounting
- Department of International and Public Affairs
- Directorate of Compatriots Affairs
- Inspection and Accountability Office
- Financial and Economic Affairs
- Department of organizing activities for mobilization training
- Center for[clarification needed] citizens, passport and visa issues
- Center for Logistics
- Information Center
- Centers for temporary accommodation of displaced persons
- Centers for Medical and psychological rehabilitation of displaced persons
- Department for Base material and technical resources
- Center for temporary accommodation of immigrants
- Training Center
- Federal State Institution "Center for the detention of persons subject to readmission"
Professional holiday
[edit]Since 2007, June 14 is the official Day of the worker of the Migration Service in the Russian Federation.
Directors of the Federal Migration Service
[edit]| No. | Director | Term of Office | President(s) served under | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tatyana Regent[5] | July 1992 - February 1999 | Boris Yeltsin | |
| 2. | .jpg)
|
Andrey Chernenko | 3 June 2004 — July 20, 2005 | Vladimir Putin |
| 2. | 
|
Konstantin Romodanovsky | July 20, 2005 — April 5, 2016 | Vladimir Putin Dmitry Medvedev |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Resolution of the Government of Russia from July 13, 2012, № 711". Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ Presidential Decree № 928 of July 19, 2004 'On the Federal Migration Service' Archived July 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine on Kremlin website
- ^ "Information to Russian Shared Values Visa". Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ^ Presidential Decree "On Federal Migration Service"[permanent dead link], Official FMS Website
- ^ as the director of the Migration Department in the Interior Ministry.
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Federal Migration Service of Russia.
- Official website
- FMS Moscow Archived 2021-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
- FMS Saint Petersburg
- BBC News Article detailing the FMS' poor treatment of migrants and the racist attitudes of FMS staff
International agencies comparable to FMS
[edit]Federal Migration Service
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
History
Establishment in the Post-Soviet Era
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 triggered massive population movements, with millions of ethnic Russians and other former Soviet citizens displaced from newly independent republics amid ethnic conflicts, economic collapse, and political instability.[8] Russia, as the largest successor state, became the primary destination for these flows, receiving an estimated 10.9 million migrants from post-Soviet countries between 1989 and 2002, including significant inflows from Central Asia and the Caucasus.[9] Net migration to Russia surged, peaking at 809,614 arrivals in 1994, necessitating urgent institutional responses to manage registration, resettlement, and border control amid the absence of prior comprehensive federal mechanisms.[10] In response to this crisis, President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree on June 14, 1992, establishing the Federal Migration Service (FMS) as an independent federal executive body.[11][12] The FMS was formed on the basis of the pre-existing Committee on Migration Affairs under the Ministry of Labor and Employment, absorbing its functions to centralize migration policy implementation, including refugee processing, internal displacement coordination, and initial visa and registration oversight.[13][14] This creation marked Russia's first dedicated post-Soviet agency for migration governance, prioritizing the integration of compatriots (so-called "historical Russians") through programs like the Federal Migration Program, which offered resettlement incentives but faced implementation challenges due to limited funding and regional disparities.[15] Early FMS operations focused on enacting the 1992 displacement-focused legislation, including Russia's accession to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, though enforcement was hampered by bureaucratic inefficiencies and the scale of undocumented entries.[8] By mid-1993, the agency had begun registering millions of arrivals, laying groundwork for later expansions, but its initial autonomy reflected Yeltsin's emphasis on specialized handling of what was deemed a national security issue intertwined with demographic preservation.[16] The service's establishment thus addressed the power vacuum in migration control left by the USSR's internal passport system, transitioning toward a more formalized, state-directed framework amid ongoing geopolitical fragmentation.[17]Periods of Restructuring and Expansion (1992–2016)
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) of Russia was established on June 14, 1992, by presidential decree of Boris Yeltsin, supplanting the Migration and Refugees Committee under the Ministry of Labor and Employment to address the acute migration challenges following the Soviet Union's dissolution.[11] This creation occurred amid chaotic population movements, including the return of ethnic Russians and other former Soviet citizens, with the FMS tasked initially with registration, refugee status determination, and forced migrant support under newly adopted laws like the 1993 Law on Forced Migrants.[8] By the mid-1990s, the agency had processed over 800,000 applications for forced migrant status, reflecting rapid operational scaling to manage inflows estimated at several million from former Soviet republics.[17] In May 2000, President Vladimir Putin dissolved the FMS via decree No. 867, transferring its migration functions to the newly formed Ministry for Federation Affairs, National and Migration Policy, as part of broader governmental consolidation amid economic instability and policy shifts prioritizing internal security.[18] The ministry itself was short-lived and abolished later that year, scattering responsibilities temporarily across agencies including the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). On February 23, 2002, the FMS was re-established as a specialized body within the MVD structure, enhancing coordination with law enforcement while expanding its mandate to include preliminary immigration control and border-related migration oversight.[19] This period marked initial growth in territorial presence, with regional offices proliferating to handle rising undocumented migration, though staffing remained constrained below 10,000 amid fiscal pressures. The 2004 administrative reforms under Putin transformed the FMS into an independent federal executive body directly accountable to the government, exiting MVD subordination to streamline migration policy amid surging labor inflows from Central Asia and the Caucasus.[20] From January 1, 2006, territorial FMS organs were formalized by integrating MVD's passport-visa subunits and migration departments, significantly broadening operational scope to encompass domestic passport issuance and visa processing, which doubled the agency's workload as annual migrant registrations exceeded 4 million by the late 2000s.[21] Staff numbers expanded accordingly, supporting enforcement of quota systems for foreign labor introduced in 2007, with permits issued rising from under 200,000 annually in the early 2000s to over 1.9 million by 2012.[8] By 2012, further restructuring subordinated the FMS directly to the Russian Government, reinforcing its role in national policy implementation under the new Concept of State Migration Policy to 2025, which emphasized controlled expansion for economic needs while combating illegal flows.[22] This era saw peak operational scale, with the agency overseeing refugee processing under UN conventions acceded to in 1992 and managing biometric data integration for visas, culminating in a staff ceiling of approximately 42,000 by 2016, excluding support personnel.[11] Such growth reflected causal pressures from demographic decline and labor shortages, though inefficiencies in regional enforcement persisted due to corruption reports and uneven resource allocation across Russia's 85 federal subjects.[17]Abolition and Transfer of Functions
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) was abolished by Russian Presidential Decree No. 156, signed by President Vladimir Putin on April 5, 2016.[23] This decree mandated the liquidation of the FMS as an independent federal agency, with all its functions, powers, and responsibilities transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).[24] The reorganization was part of a broader governmental restructuring that also dissolved the Federal Drug Control Service, aiming to centralize oversight under the MVD to enhance coordination and efficiency in law enforcement-related domains.[25] Within the MVD, a new entity—the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs (GUVM MVD)—was established to assume the FMS's core operations, including migration registration, visa issuance, refugee processing, and labor migration control.[26] Organizational measures for the transfer, including personnel reallocation and asset handover, were required to be completed by June 1, 2016, leading to staff reductions estimated at up to 10-15% in migration-related units to streamline operations.[27] The head of the new GUVM, initially appointed as Colonel-General Konstantin Romodanovskiy (former FMS director), oversaw the integration, ensuring continuity in service delivery despite the structural shift.[6] The abolition did not alter the substantive legal framework for migration policy but embedded it more firmly within the MVD's policing mandate, potentially increasing interagency alignment with internal security priorities while raising concerns among observers about reduced specialized focus on migration issues.[28] Post-transfer, the GUVM MVD inherited approximately 200 territorial offices and over 20,000 employees from the FMS, maintaining operational capacity amid a reported surge in administrative backlogs during the transition period.[29] This reform reflected ongoing post-Soviet efforts to consolidate federal executive bodies, reducing the number of standalone services from 21 to fewer entities by 2016.[23]Functions and Responsibilities
Core Migration Control and Registration
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) of Russia exercised primary responsibility for registering the places of residence and temporary stays of Russian citizens, enforcing compliance through the propiska system that tied access to services like healthcare and education to verified addresses. This involved maintaining centralized records to track internal population mobility and prevent administrative abuses, with territorial FMS offices processing applications and conducting verifications.[30][31] For foreign nationals, the FMS administered migration registration, requiring notification of arrival to territorial offices within seven working days via a host entity such as an employer, hotel, or private individual. This procedure entailed submission of passports, entry visas, and migration cards—issued at border points—to generate a detachable confirmation slip, enabling legal prolongation of stays and work permits.[32][33] Non-compliance, such as overstaying without reregistration, triggered fines or expulsion, with the FMS maintaining a database to monitor durations and extensions aligned with visa quotas.[34] Migration control functions focused on curbing illegal entries and overstays, including the development of preventive measures, on-site document inspections, and administrative probes into suspected violations. FMS officers, empowered by presidential decree, collaborated with border guards for internal enforcement, identifying undocumented migrants through raids and data cross-checks with entry records.[35][36] In 2013, for instance, the agency handled over 1.5 million administrative cases related to migration infractions, underscoring its role in upholding quotas for labor inflows from CIS states.[36] These efforts prioritized causal enforcement over expansive amnesties, reflecting policy emphasis on national labor market stability amid high volumes of temporary workers—peaking at around 10 million registered foreigners annually by the mid-2010s.[8]Passport Issuance and Visa Administration
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) of Russia managed the issuance of internal passports to citizens aged 14 and older, which served as primary identity documents for domestic travel, employment, and residency registration. Applications required proof of citizenship, photographs, and residency verification, processed at local FMS branches where applicants resided.[37] Renewals occurred at ages 20 and 45, or upon loss or damage, with processing times typically spanning several weeks.[37] This system ensured centralized control over citizen identification, linking passports to the propiska residency regime enforced by FMS.[38] For international travel, FMS issued foreign passports (zagranpasport) to eligible citizens, handling applications through territorial offices that verified eligibility against citizenship records.[39] By the early 2010s, FMS oversaw the rollout of biometric foreign passports incorporating electronic chips with facial images and fingerprints, enhancing security against forgery while complying with international standards.[39] Applicants submitted birth certificates, internal passports, and fees, with issuance limited to those without outstanding migration violations. Outside Russia, consulates provided these services, but domestic volume fell under FMS jurisdiction until its 2016 dissolution.[39] In visa administration, FMS did not directly issue visa stamps—that authority resided with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consular posts—but provided critical support documents, including official invitations required for private, work, and humanitarian visas.[1] These invitations, generated on standardized FMS forms, specified entry purpose, duration (often up to 90 days for single-entry private visas), and host details, with processing at FMS offices taking up to 20 working days upon submission of sponsor guarantees and fees.[40] [41] For work visas, FMS-issued invitations confirmed labor quotas and employer sponsorship.[42] Post-entry, FMS enforced visa compliance through mandatory registration of foreign visitors' migration cards and visas at local offices if stays exceeded seven days, delegated to hosts or hotels as sponsors.[32] Non-compliance risked fines or deportation, with FMS maintaining databases to track overstays and enforce exit controls.[32] This role extended to policy formulation, where FMS drafted regulations on visa quotas and entry restrictions, aligning with national security priorities amid rising irregular migration.[1] Following FMS's abolition in 2016, these functions transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, streamlining but centralizing administration under police oversight.[1]Refugee and Asylum Processing
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) of Russia served as the primary agency responsible for evaluating and granting refugee status and temporary asylum to foreign nationals and stateless persons from 1992 until its abolition in 2016, operating under the Federal Law on Refugees enacted on February 19, 1997. This law aligned Russia's procedures with the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, defining refugees as individuals outside their country of nationality fearing persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The FMS's territorial bodies handled initial registrations, interviews, and decisions, with appeals possible to higher FMS levels or courts.[43] Applications for refugee status or temporary asylum required in-person submission to an FMS territorial office within a reasonable time after arrival, typically including a written statement, identity documents, photographs, and evidence of persecution or threat. The FMS conducted preliminary screenings to exclude manifestly unfounded claims or those from safe countries of origin, followed by substantive interviews assessing credibility and risks. Decisions were mandated within three months, though processing often extended longer due to caseloads, with Moscow offices averaging several months in practice as of 2013. Successful refugee status grantees received certificates entitling them to residence permits, work rights, and social benefits, while temporary asylum—issued for humanitarian threats like armed conflicts not qualifying as persecution—was granted for up to one year and renewable annually.[44][45][46] Temporary asylum served as a broader, more frequently granted category than full refugee status, particularly for applicants from conflict zones such as Ukraine or Georgia, where the FMS recognized over 79,000 refugees cumulatively by the mid-2000s but prioritized temporary protections amid geopolitical inflows. The FMS coordinated with the UNHCR for training and monitoring, improving procedural fairness post-1997, though access barriers persisted for undocumented arrivals, and recognition rates remained low—often below 5% for refugee status due to stringent evidentiary standards and exclusions for economic migrants or criminals. Political asylum, distinct from FMS processes, was reserved for high-profile cases and decided by presidential decree.[47][48][49]Labor Migration Oversight
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) regulated labor migration by administering annual quotas for foreign workers, which were set by the Russian government to balance economic needs with domestic labor protection. These quotas determined the maximum number of foreign nationals permitted to work in Russia, with allocations distributed across regions and sectors based on projected shortages. For instance, in 2013, the government established a quota of 1.745 million foreign workers, including 410,000 from visa-regime countries.[50] By 2016, quotas were reduced to approximately 214,000, reflecting a 22.4% cut from the prior year amid efforts to prioritize Russian citizens.[51] The FMS enforced these limits through interagency coordination, evaluating employer applications and monitoring compliance to prevent overuse of migrant labor in saturated markets. In addition to quotas, the FMS issued work permits and, from 2015 onward, patents for foreign nationals from visa-free countries such as those in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Patents replaced traditional work permits and quotas for these groups, requiring migrants to obtain the document within 30 days of arrival and use it to secure employment within 60 days.[52] This system aimed to streamline temporary labor inflows while generating revenue through patent fees, though it shifted oversight burdens to regional FMS offices for verification and renewal. Earlier, from 1995 to 2000, annual work permit issuances ranged between 106,000 and 186,000, predominantly for CIS migrants filling post-Soviet labor gaps in construction and services.[8] The FMS also handled individual work permits under regulations like Order No. 589, ensuring employers met criteria such as wage parity with locals and health/safety standards.[53] Key legislative reforms under FMS purview included Federal Law No. 86-FZ of May 19, 2010, which enhanced controls on foreign labor by mandating employer notifications of migrant hiring and tightening penalties for illegal employment.[54] The agency conducted oversight raids and data exchanges with employers and regional authorities to curb unauthorized work, estimating over 700,000 violators in the early 2000s based on passport and visa infractions.[55] Despite these measures, critics noted inefficiencies, such as quota mismatches with actual demand, leading to shadow economies; however, FMS data indicated patents and quotas facilitated 4-5 million annual labor migrants in the mid-2010s, predominantly from Central Asia.[17] Upon the FMS's dissolution in 2016, these functions transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which inherited ongoing quota administration and permit processing.[1]Organizational Structure
Central Headquarters and Leadership
The central headquarters of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) of Russia was located in Moscow at 4/1 Verkhnyaya Radishchevskaya Street, Tagansky District, postal code 107078.[1] This facility served as the primary administrative hub, housing the central apparatus responsible for strategic planning, policy formulation, interagency coordination, and oversight of territorial branches across the Russian Federation.[30] The structure of the central apparatus included specialized departments for legal regulation, information technology, financial management, and international relations, with staffing determined by presidential decrees to align with operational demands.[56] Leadership of the FMS was vested in a Director appointed by the President of Russia, who reported directly to the government and held ultimate responsibility for executing federal migration policies.[4] The Director was assisted by a team of deputy directors, each supervising key functional areas such as operational migration control, citizenship issues, and enforcement activities.[56] Konstantin O. Romodanovsky, a Colonel-General, directed the FMS from 2004 until its dissolution on April 5, 2016, during which period he emphasized strengthening border registration and combating illegal migration.[5] Under his tenure, the central leadership expanded digital systems for migrant tracking, processing over 10 million registration applications annually by the mid-2010s.[4] The agency's abolition transferred these leadership functions to the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[57]Territorial and Regional Operations
The Federal Migration Service of Russia operated through a decentralized network of territorial organs structured at federal district (okrug), interregional, and regional levels to execute national migration policies on the ground.[30] These bodies were formally established on January 1, 2006, following the reorganization of prior migration entities, enabling localized administration of registration, documentation, and enforcement functions.[5] By April 2016, prior to the FMS's abolition, 77 regional managements functioned across 85 federal subjects, with some consolidated to cover multiple areas, such as the joint management for Astrakhan Oblast and the Republic of Kalmykia.[11] Territorial organs included inter-district departments, branches, and points, each led by a chief and deputies responsible for subunits like records management, general affairs, and specialized migration control.[58] In 2012, these entities employed up to 41,282 staff members, excluding those on temporary assignments, to manage operations amid high migrant volumes.[59] Regional operations focused on practical implementation, including migrant registration, work permit issuance, and raids against illegal residence, often in coordination with local law enforcement to address inflows from post-Soviet states.[36] For instance, territorial units processed notifications of arrival for foreign nationals, a key mechanism for tracking temporary stays, with data aggregated centrally for policy enforcement.[60] This structure allowed for adaptive responses to regional variations, such as higher scrutiny in migrant-heavy areas like Moscow, though inefficiencies in coordination sometimes led to uneven application of federal standards.[61]Interagency Coordination
The Federal Migration Service (FMS) of Russia conducted its operations through structured interagency mechanisms with other federal executive bodies, as outlined in its foundational regulations and specific protocols. These interactions ensured coordinated enforcement of migration policies, including data exchange, joint operations, and policy alignment across domains such as border security, labor regulation, and deportation procedures. For instance, the FMS's 2012 regulations explicitly mandated collaboration with federal state organs, organs of state power of Russian Federation subjects, local self-government bodies, and international organizations to fulfill its mandate.[62] Key coordination occurred with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and its Border Guard Service for immigration control and threat assessment, particularly in managing entry points and identifying security risks among migrants. The FMS also maintained protocols with the Ministry of Defense, governed by a dedicated instruction on information exchange and procedural alignment for migration matters involving military personnel or facilities.[63] In labor migration, the FMS exchanged applicant data with the Federal Tax Service to issue taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) as part of work permit processing, a process formalized under rules effective from 2014 that streamlined submissions but occasionally led to delays due to interagency bottlenecks.[64] Further, the FMS collaborated with the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) on enforcement actions, including the handling of detained irregular migrants and coordination for readmissions or deportations, as analyzed in legal frameworks governing their joint responsibilities. With the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), interactions focused on visa administration and consular support, including expanding FMS representations abroad to facilitate document verification and compatriot resettlement programs.[65][66] In 2014, the Russian government approved overarching rules delineating the FMS's interaction protocols with multiple ministries, emphasizing information sharing and operational synergy to address post-Soviet migration flows.[67] These mechanisms, while enhancing systemic efficiency, were sometimes critiqued for inefficiencies in real-time data synchronization across agencies.[68]Leadership and Key Figures
Notable Directors and Their Tenures
Konstantin Romodanovsky served as director of the Federal Migration Service from July 20, 2005, to April 5, 2016, leading the agency through its primary period of independent operation until its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[69] Appointed by President Vladimir Putin, his tenure addressed challenges such as mass labor migration from Central Asia and the Caucasus, implementing registration systems and quota policies.[4] From January 15, 2013, Romodanovsky held the rank of federal minister.[70] Prior to this role, he had experience in federal security structures, including as deputy head of the Federal Security Service's economic security department.[71] Before the FMS became an independent agency in 2004, Andrei Chernenko headed the migration service as part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, appointed in 2002 as deputy interior minister and service head.[72] Chernenko, a colonel-general, continued in the role into 2004, emphasizing stricter border enforcement and addressing undocumented migration, including deportations from southern regions.[73] [74] In June 2004, he succeeded Aleksandr Chekalin as director amid ongoing institutional transitions.[73]| Director | Tenure | Key Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Andrei Chernenko | 2002–2004 | Head under Ministry of Internal Affairs; focused on enforcement and deportations.[72] [73] |
| Konstantin Romodanovsky | July 20, 2005–April 5, 2016 | Longest-serving director; oversaw independent FMS operations and policy implementation.[69] |