An inspection in Samara Region shows that terminating a contract with a foreign worker does not always conclude an employer’s immigration compliance obligations. According to the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (ГУ МВД по Самарской области), 20 administrative offense reports were issued against a construction company and fines totaling RUB 8 million were imposed. This case is important for companies that act as the inviting party for foreign nationals.
What the Ministry of Internal Affairs Established in This Case
The inspection was conducted by the migration affairs unit of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Samara Region. The agency’s statement refers to 20 citizens of Turkmenistan who worked for the construction company. Following the inspection, 20 administrative offense reports were issued against the organization—one episode for each foreign worker identified in the publication.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ statement, all reports were prepared under Part 2 of Article 18.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (КоАП РФ). The agency linked the violations to the company’s failure, after terminating the contracts, to ensure compliance with requirements concerning the timely departure of the invited foreign nationals. The total amount of the imposed fines was RUB 8 million.
Why Contract Termination Requires Separate Immigration Compliance Checks
For an employer, this example means that dismissal or another form of contract termination should not be treated solely as an HR operation. If the company has the status of an inviting party, it must separately check the actions connected with the immigration support of the invited foreign national after the employment relationship ends.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also reported that information about the contract termination was not submitted on time. It is therefore useful to divide the process into two control blocks: submitting the required notification and carrying out the prescribed measures relating to the foreign national’s departure. Neither block can be considered automatically closed merely because the contract has already been terminated.
How to Build an Internal Process Without Omissions
In practice, this requires coordination between the HR department, the employee responsible for immigration matters, and those who retain supporting documents. The notification of contract termination should reach the person responsible for immigration compliance immediately so that they can determine the next steps for the specific invited worker.
Internal controls should be organized around each foreign national’s status: whether the company is the inviting party, whether the contract has been terminated, whether the required notification has been sent, which departure-related measures must be checked, and which documents confirm the actions taken. Such a register does not replace a legal assessment, but it reduces the risk of information being lost between departments.
What to Check Before Closing the HR Case
After the contract ends, the company should establish whether the worker is among the foreign nationals it invited. It should then check whether and when the required information about the contract termination was submitted, as well as whether confirmation of the action is available. If the documents contain discrepancies, they must not be ignored before the internal review is closed.
The company should separately verify which measures the inviting party must take in connection with the foreign national’s departure. The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ publication does not disclose the specific list of such measures or the deadline for submitting the notification. Therefore, they cannot be inferred from the fine announcement itself: the applicable procedure and deadline must be checked against official regulations.
How to Use This Case in Compliance Controls
The source does not report the introduction of new rules and does not change the applicable requirements. This is an example of enforcement practice: the Ministry of Internal Affairs described the application of Part 2 of Article 18.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (КоАП РФ) to one construction company. For an employer, the value of the case lies in the scale of the consequences when there are multiple episodes: the case involved 20 foreign workers and 20 administrative offense reports.
The amount of the fines or the circumstances of this case should not be applied to every other company. However, the control approach itself is useful: check not only the formal termination of the contract, but also the company’s subsequent actions as the inviting party. Documents confirming these actions should be retained as part of the worker’s immigration file.
What to Check
- Determine whether the company acts as the inviting party for each foreign worker.
- Pass information about contract termination to the person responsible for immigration compliance.
- Check whether the required notification of contract termination was submitted and retain confirmation.
- Verify the applicable deadline for submitting the information against official regulations: the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ statement does not specify it.
- Check that the prescribed measures relating to the invited foreign national’s departure have been carried out.
- Retain documents confirming the organization’s actions for each worker.