Russia equated foreign tourists to guest workers

The state once again showed the relation to the priority Tourism project and not ability to exercise control of foreign citizens and having shifted responsibility to business

In what essence of the new law?

The companies and the natural persons inviting foreigners to Russia will be responsible for observance by guests of rules of stay in the country. Since January 16, 2019 two relevant laws came into force. They are adopted within the new migration policy of the government aimed, in particular, at strengthening of control of illegal immigration, first of all labor. Nevertheless laws directly concern the travel agencies and hotels acting as inviting party for foreign tourists.

Still the law did not oblige inviting party to control the actual observance by foreigners of the mode of stay in Russia. Now such duty appeared, and together with it and considerable penalties for its violation.

In particular, the Ministry of Internal Affairs proposes to inviting party such measures:

– delivery to the foreigner after his arrival in the country under the signature of the notice of need of observance in Russia the entrance purposes and also a warning of responsibility for its non-compliance;

– providing conditions for observance by the invited foreign citizen of a stated purpose of entrance;

– maintenance of communication with the invited foreign citizen, if necessary, maintaining correspondence with it;

– informing territorial authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation within five working days from the moment of identification about the non-compliance facts by the invited foreigner of a stated purpose of entrance or about loss of communication with it.

What do heads of travel agencies think?

For heads of travel agencies to which we communicated the message about new duties became big surprise. The CEO of the Tsar-Voyazh company Elena Lardi hopes that the innovation will change nothing in her daily work. “We are also so extremely careful. In particular, never we do invitations to foreigners if there is no confirmation and payment of a tour. Yes, it happened when people for any of several reasons took off from Russia after the specified time, but problems never arose, the visa quietly lasted”, – she explained RATA-news.

At the same time, according to her, new measures do not match at all desire of Russia to attract more foreign tourists. “It is a pity, there are all conditions for development of an entrance stream now. New Year’s holidays at us took place very successfully. Many tourists visited St. Petersburg and even more Moscow which so got prettier recently”. Control strengthening, according to her, should be directed not on lawfully working travel agencies, and on firms-vizoviki which throw down a challenge to both the tourist market, and migration policy.

The managing director of the Taree Tour company Igor Kuzmin is more categorical: “Absurdity at the level of the state. It is obvious that it is, first of all, about labor migrants, workers and employers. What does it have to do with tourism? It seems that the Ministry of Internal Affairs so still did not understand a difference between tourists and guest workers”.

Really, visitors from the neighboring countries to whom the visa to entry into our country is not required break the migration law, generally, and amendments to the law concern those who come to Russia by the visa. Here one of the brightest offers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: “Preliminary, not later than ten days before expiration of the visa, the reminder to the invited foreign citizen about need of departure from the Russian Federation upon termination of period of validity of the visa directed by the registered mail with the notice or handed to personally foreign citizen under the signature”. Agree, it is difficult to think up more “hospitable” gesture in relation to foreign tourists.

At last, implementation of new requirements will be for inviting parties business expensive not only on time, but also on finance. There has to be someone in the company who on a constant basis will “inform”, “warn” and “report”.