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Residency Permits to Be Offered Again in May

By Robin Munro (Moscowtimes.com)
Staff Writer People who want to obtain a temporary residence permit either as a Russian equivalent of the U.S. green card or as a step toward Russian citizenship will finally be able to do so after the May holidays, Viktor Kuznetsov, deputy head of the presidential department on citizenship, said Monday.

The permits were provided for under the law on foreigners, which came into effect Nov. 1, but an Interior Ministry order on how to issue them has just been published, he said at a seminar organized by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Moscow State Law Academy.

The order specified what stamps and application forms are to be used.

"We have had difficulty implementing the citizenship law because there was a condition of first having a temporary residence permit," Kuznetsov said.

Applications for citizenship have been suspended since the new, stricter citizenship law came into force last July 1, although human rights activists say many administrators stopped accepting applications even earlier.

Once an application for a temporary residence permit is made, officials have six months to approve it. The permit, which is subject to a quota -- 439,080 for 2003 -- will allow the holder to live in Russia for up to three years.

Holders of temporary residence permits must inform the authorities of any change of residence, submit to fingerprinting and register annually, but do not need work permits and can vote in local elections.

Some permit holders have preferential rights to gain permanent residence or citizenship. These include refugees, those married to a Russian citizen for at least three years and those born in Russia. These people can gain permanent residence or citizenship in one year rather than three years or five years, respectively.

One disadvantage to residency permits in the past was that holders were required to apply for permission to leave Russia, a process that could take 45 days.

However, exit visas are not needed under the new legislation, said Leonid Gerbanovksy, deputy head of the Interior Ministry's passport and visa service.