Fingerprinting to become mandatory for foreigners at Tatarstan airports
Nearly 100,000 migrants in Tatarstan: what changes await them in 2024
About 100,000 migrants live in Tatarstan
By February 1, there were 97,500 migrants in Tatarstan, the ministry of internal affairs of the republic reported. 75,400 people had valid migration registration at their place of residence, and 22,000 had a temporary residence permit and a residence permit. This figure is unstable and changes throughout the year, Anton Gubachev, the deputy head of the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, said at a press conference on changes in Russian legislation in the field of migration.
“About 100 thousand foreign citizens live in the republic. The number changes throughout the year: [they] come and go. More than 400,000 people entered the republic. The purposes of entry are different: tourism, work, study," the speaker said.
More than 4,000 migrants were expelled from Tatarstan, he added. The largest number of foreigners come to the republic from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and citizens of Turkmenistan are increasingly arriving.
According to the agency, almost 21,700 visas were issued to foreigners last year, about 9,700 invitations for entry and 3,300 temporary residence permits were issued. Employment has become one of the most common reasons for coming to Russia. 1,700 work permits and more than 57,000 patents have been issued to foreigners in the republic. This exceeds the figures for 2023: then they amounted to 915 and 52,900, respectively. Last year, the republic's budget received 2.5 billion rubles in the form of a fixed advance payment.
166 migrants joined the SVO last year
A contract with the Russian ministry of defence was signed last year by 166 migrants and 42 persons who had previously acquired citizenship, the press service of the ministry of internal affairs of Tatarstan said. In 2025, 24 foreigners and two persons who had previously acquired citizenship of our country have already made a similar decision.
According to Anton Gubachev, a foreigner who has signed a contract can obtain a Russian passport within a month after submitting the documents. “He comes with documents and a signed contract, submits documents for citizenship. We make a decision within 30 days," he explained.
A contract soldier gets a new passport after completing his service. Sometimes foreigners are allowed to go on vacation for this, Gubachev noted.
According to the press service of the ministry of internal affairs of the republic, 660 crimes committed by migrants were investigated in Tatarstan last year. The thefts were the most common — 198 facts. In addition, among the crimes committed by foreigners there are 122 cases of drug trafficking, 61 cases of forgery of documents and 49 cases of fraud. Last year, there were also cases of migrant traffic violations (35), illegal crossing of state borders (35), bribery (26) or death threats (15).
For comparison, in 2023, migrants committed 560 crimes in Tatarstan. Violations of the law by foreigners had no significant impact on the overall criminal situation in the region, the department noted.
Tatarstan airports want to introduce fingerprinting
It is impossible to say how many foreigners are staying in the republic illegally, Gubachev stressed. “If I had known, I would have caught them all," he replied to a question from reporters. However, it is known that there are 6,000 people in the register of controlled persons, which includes data on illegal migrants.
The list is still very rough, said the deputy head of the migration department of the ministry of internal affairs of Tatarstan. The list will be finalised by May 5.
What other measures to control illegal migration are needed today? According to Gubachev, fingerprinting of migrants could significantly facilitate the work of law enforcement agencies. For example, migrants are already submitting biometrics at Moscow airports and at the Mashtakovo automobile checkpoint in the Orenburg region.
“Our government has reached out to the Cabinet of Ministers of Russia so that we can also join the pilot project. They offer to install scanners at airports for full biometric registration of foreign citizens upon arrival. If the initiative is accepted, we will remove at least the people who are wanted or have changed their identification information. We know that foreigners who are expelled return to their homeland, change their identification data and come back," the speaker explained.