Over 10 million foreign nationals came to Russia in the first half of 2013, Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky said Tuesday.
For the last three years, the number of foreigners entering Russia has grown 37 percent, with the number of foreigners temporarily and permanently residing in Russia reaching 800,000, Interfax reported.
Romodanovsky said a significant increase had been recently recorded in the number of foreign nationals arriving from Central Asia.
“The problem is not that foreigners come, the problem is that foreigners do not leave on time,” Romodanovsky said.
“The inhabitants of cities are justified in their anger, and we must react to this. Our goal is to not allow individuals to come into our country that are unproductive and don’t have full-time jobs,” Romodanovsky said during his visit to the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption.
On Tuesday, Romodanovsky and Sergei Katyrin, head of the Russian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, signed a cooperation agreement aimed at controlling labor migration. The goal of this effort will be not only to attract permanent foreign workers but also to create a selective system for foreigners to receive a residence permit.
