From 30 June 2026, foreign nationals who are professional drivers may temporarily stay in Russia for up to 180 days during a calendar year. The notice from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД), Russia’s federal interior ministry, is addressed primarily to this category of workers, but it also affects workforce planning by carriers operating international routes. The agency also reminded them about the prior declaration of the purpose of entry, documents confirming international carriage, and the trip purpose “driver” when crossing the border.
The new rule affects planning for the driver’s stay
For a carrier, the key change is the increase in the permitted temporary stay period for a foreign professional driver: it is up to 180 days in a calendar year. The effective date of the new period is 30 June 2026. This parameter may be taken into account when planning the driver’s participation in trips and when assessing whether a particular employee belongs to the category referred to by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД).
At the same time, the publication does not establish independent obligations for an employer or carrier. It does not explain how an employer should keep track of days, what information to collect from an employee, or how to align this period with other HR and migration procedures. Therefore, the 180-day rule should not be turned into an internal policy with unconfirmed requirements.
For an international route, the purpose of entry and supporting documents are important
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД) links application of the procedure to the prior declaration of the purpose of entry and the submission of documents confirming international carriage. In addition, when crossing the Russian border, the trip purpose “driver” must be stated. For a carrier, this means that before assigning a foreign driver to an international route, it is useful to separate trip-related matters from general HR data and verify that the carriage is genuinely international.
The practical value of such a check is to reduce the risk of organizational inconsistency between the planned route, carriage documents, and the stated purpose of the trip. However, the source does not state which specific documents qualify as confirmation of international carriage. It also does not specify who exactly must submit the prior declaration, when, or by what method. These gaps must not be filled with assumptions.
What to check during hiring and trip clearance
In the HR process, it is reasonable first to establish the status of the candidate or employee: the notice applies not to all foreign nationals, but to foreign professional drivers. The planned period of work in Russia can then be compared with the limit of up to 180 days in a calendar year, and the availability of documents confirming international carriage for a specific trip can be checked separately.
At the stage of clearance for crossing the border, the stated purpose “driver” is material. Such a check does not replace the employer’s other procedures, but it helps incorporate the Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД) requirement into route and HR controls. The publication does not contain rules on how to record this purpose in the company’s internal documents, so only the confirmed fact of the requirement should be monitored, without creating forms not provided for by the source.
The experiment and the limits of the Ministry of Internal Affairs information
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД) also stated that, for foreigners arriving for work or study, the purpose of entry is additionally verified when migration-related public services are provided, based on an application from the experiment system. The experiment itself is in effect until 31 December 2027. This is important to consider as a separate notice concerning verification of the trip purpose when migration-related public services are provided.
The publication does not imply that a carrier must independently perform such verification or receives access to data from the experiment system. It also does not specify the consequences of the absence of an application, documents on international carriage, or the purpose “driver”. Therefore, based on a single notice from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД), it cannot be asserted that there will be fines, refusals, bans, or other migration decisions. For internal control, it is sufficient to record the confirmed conditions and not go beyond the source.
What to check
- Determine whether the employee or candidate belongs to the category of foreign professional driver.
- Take into account that from 30 June 2026, the temporary stay period for this category is up to 180 days in a calendar year.
- When planning international trips, check the availability of documents confirming international carriage.
- Verify that the trip purpose “driver” is stated when crossing the Russian border.
- Do not establish internal deadlines or a method for submitting the prior declaration based solely on the Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД) notice: they are not disclosed in it.
- Do not draw conclusions about sanctions or migration consequences arising from the absence of the application and supporting documents: the source does not name them.