The Moscow Migration Center (Миграционный центр Москвы), the migration authority cited in the material, has announced that the experiment involving the “Amina” app will be extended to certain categories of foreign nationals from visa-free-entry countries. The date specified is September 1, 2026. For a company, this is primarily a reason to conduct a targeted review of its foreign workforce and the grounds for their employment, not a reason to automatically change the entire HR process.
Which workers are included in the stated list
The announcement concerns visa-free foreign nationals. The groups expressly named include people working under a Russian work patent (патент) and citizens of EAEU member states (граждане государств ЕАЭС) who came to Russia for employment. These two categories require separate checks: their grounds for employment differ, although both categories are mentioned in the context of the experiment.
The list also includes foreign nationals who change their purpose of stay to employment-related after entering Russia. For an employer, the actual circumstances of the particular employee are what matter: it is not enough to rely only on the initial information about the purpose of the visit if it was subsequently changed to employment-related.
Certain relatives of Russian citizens, foreign nationals with residence permits, and migrant workers are also named, if their stay in Russia exceeds 90 days. The reviewed material does not specify which relatives are included in this group. Therefore, the HR department should not independently expand this list to cover all family members of employees.
How to use the information in an HR review
In practical terms, it is useful to start not with a mass message to employees, but with data segmentation. Within the list of foreign workers, identify visa-free nationals first, then mark those working under a patent and EAEU citizens who came for employment. This will show which cases directly correspond to the published list.
Separate monitoring is needed for employees who changed their purpose of stay to employment-related. This check helps distinguish them from foreign nationals whose purpose of stay was stated as employment-related upon entry. The announcement itself does not establish a new HR document or a new processing procedure, so the list should be used as a reference point for checking against the official rules of the experiment (официальные правила эксперимента), which govern the pilot project.
If the company has information about employees’ relatives, it is important to respect the limits of the available information and not base conclusions solely on the family relationship. The material sets a condition that the stay must exceed 90 days and states that only certain relatives are meant. Without a clarifying official document, it is not possible to reliably determine whether the rule applies to a particular person.
What will change in hiring planning
The date on which the experiment will be extended—September 1, 2026—makes it possible to take this issue into account when planning to hire visa-free foreign nationals. In particular, when recruiting workers under patents, EAEU citizens, and candidates who have changed their purpose of stay, the HR function can plan in advance to check their category against the official rules.
At the same time, the source does not provide an individual start date for use of the app by a particular foreign national. Nor does it specify a deadline for registration with any authority. Therefore, September 1, 2026 cannot be turned into a universal deadline for every candidate or current employee.
For a recruiter or HR specialist, the reasonable outcome of the check is not a new package of requirements, but an accurate map of cases: who may potentially fall into the listed categories, on what basis, and which provisions of the official rules require further review. This approach reduces the risk of incorrectly imposing requirements on an employee that are not contained in the confirmed material.
What conclusions should not be drawn
The published information names no sanctions for either the employer or the foreign national. It also contains no information about fines, employers’ obligations to submit information, the monitoring procedure, or the consequences of not using the app. These topics should not be supplemented with assumptions, even if the company is preparing to change its processes.
The source recommends that employers check the status and basis of employment of foreign employees against the official rules of the experiment. This is the confirmed practical action. The material provided contains no other mandatory steps for employers.
Until detailed official explanations appear, it is particularly important not to introduce wording about new obligations for employees or managers into internal regulations. Category checks should help provide more accurate guidance on the rules, rather than create unconfirmed barriers to hiring and the continuation of employment relationships.
What to check
- Identify employees from visa-free-entry countries in your workforce.
- Check which of them work under a patent and which are EAEU citizens who came for employment.
- Separately mark employees who changed their purpose of visit to employment-related after entering Russia.
- Check the official rules of the experiment when they apply to the particular situation.
- Do not introduce new HR procedures or announce sanctions without confirmation in an official document.