Pronto disponible en español

Mass fingerprinting of foreign citizens has begun

According to the Federal Migration Service of Russia for the Leningrad Region and St. Petersburg, more than 170 foreign citizens who tried to enter the country under assumed names were identified during less than a year of operation of a fingerprinting terminal on the Russian border.

In Russia, fingerprint registration is compulsory for foreigners who receive temporary residence (TRP), permanent residence and labor permits.

At the places of entry of foreign citizens into the territory of Russia, the Federal Migration Service will install systems that allow scanning fingerprints at the border. This process will take place within the framework of the «step-by-step development of information control by the state on the territory of Russia and the stay of foreigners in the Russian Federation».

There are about four hundred entry points to Russia, including two hundred passenger points. Each of them must be equipped with a new fingerprint technology for checking fingerprints when crossing the border. This plan is for four years, i.e. from 2016 to 2020 all points will have to be fully equipped for reading fingerprints of the arrived to Russia from other states.

Since 2014, some terminals for rapid fingerprinting of the arrived to Russia have already been functioning at St. Petersburg and Moscow airports as an experiment. According to the Federal Migration Service of Russia for the Leningrad Region and St. Petersburg, more than 170 foreign citizens who tried to enter the country under assumed names were identified during less than a year of operation of the fingerprinting station on the Russian border. In addition, revealed were more than three thousand of the arrived who previously violated the Russian migration legislation, therefore were banned to enter Russia again.

Source: Migrant Media.ru