The Numbers
In January 2025, the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP), cited by TASS, released its figures for 2024. The headline figure: more than 80,000 foreign nationals were forcibly expelled from Russia by court decision during the calendar year, a near-doubling of the approximately 44,200 expulsions recorded in 2023 (26,600 in 2022).
The FSSP figure covers a single enforcement action:
- Administrative expulsion (administrativnoye vydvoreniye): ordered by a court and carried out by the bailiffs. The foreigners counted in 2024 were found guilty under Article 18.8 of the Code of Administrative Offences (breach of the rules of entry or stay).
Two other measures exist, but they are not part of this total:
- Deportation (deportatsiya): decided by the MVD, not a court, for individuals whose legal basis for stay has been cancelled (revoked visa, annulled residence permit) and who fail to depart voluntarily within the prescribed period.
- Undesirable stay decisions (nezhelatelnost prebyvaniya): issued by the FSB or MVD when a foreign national is deemed a threat to national security, public order, or public health.
Who Was Expelled
The FSSP statement relayed by TASS gives no breakdown by nationality or by type of violation. What it does say is that the 2024 expulsions punished breaches of the rules of entry and stay under Article 18.8 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which covers overstaying, breaches of the migration registration rules and evading departure. Working without a work patent or permit falls under a separate article, 18.10, which can also carry expulsion.
the expulsions counted by the FSSP punish administrative breaches of the rules of entry and stay, such as overstaying or skipping migration registration. They are avoidable with basic documentation discipline: track your 90-day counter, confirm your work patent is active before the first day of employment, and file migration registration within seven business days of any move.
Why the Doubling
Several factors contributed to the sharp increase in 2024:
Increased Enforcement Operations
The MVD stepped up checks in 2024. Operation Nelegal-2024, run jointly by the MVD, the FSB and Rosfinmonitoring, uncovered more than 106,000 breaches of migration law and led to 20,000 foreigners being deported, according to MVD spokeswoman Irina Volk (Izvestia, November 8, 2024).
New Surveillance Technology
The authorities' technical means have grown too. Biometric data collection at the border started on December 1, 2024, and Moscow's video surveillance network, which covers the metro and public transport, uses facial recognition.
Post-Attack Security Measures
Following the Crocus City Hall attack in March 2024, which killed more than 140 people, Russian authorities significantly tightened immigration enforcement. President Putin publicly stated the need for stronger migration controls, and the MVD was directed to increase inspections of migrant workers and expedite the processing of expulsion cases. The attack, attributed to individuals from Tajikistan, intensified scrutiny of Central Asian migrants in particular.
Legislative Changes
The new 90-days-per-calendar-year rule (Federal Law No. 260-FZ of August 8, 2024), in force since January 1, 2025, belongs to the same tightening, alongside the irregular foreigners registry created by the same law.
Consequences of Expulsion
Entry Bans
All forms of expulsion carry mandatory entry bans:
- Administrative expulsion: five-year entry ban.
- Deportation: five-year entry ban.
- Undesirable stay decision: entry is refused for as long as the decision stands; Article 27 of Law No. 114-FZ sets no fixed duration.
- Repeat expulsion: two or more administrative expulsions or deportations carry a ten-year entry ban from the date of the last one.
Financial Costs
Expelled individuals bear the cost of their departure. If they cannot pay, the cost is charged to their employer (if identifiable) or to the government, which then seeks reimbursement.
Impact on Future Immigration
An expulsion record effectively bars the individual from obtaining any Russian immigration document (visa, work patent, RVP, VNZh) for the duration of the entry ban. Even after the ban expires, the history of expulsion may weigh on future applications.
Moscow and Its Region
Moscow and the Moscow region accounted for about 23,000 expulsions, more than a quarter of the national total according to the FSSP, reflecting the concentration of foreign workers in the capital region. The FSSP statement does not detail the other regions.
Impact on Sending Countries
The FSSP gives no breakdown by nationality, but the Central Asian countries, whose workers form the bulk of labour migration to Russia, are the most exposed to any tightening.
Uzbekistan
Uzbek remittances from Russia totaled $11.5 billion in 2024, 77% of the $14.8 billion the country received from abroad (Central Bank of Uzbekistan), making Russia by far the country's first source of remittances.
Tajikistan
Remittances, most of them sent by Tajiks working in Russia, amounted to 48% of Tajikistan's GDP in 2024 (World Bank data compiled by Our World in Data), making the country particularly vulnerable to disruptions in the migration corridor.
Context
The 80,000 expulsions should be understood in the context of Russia's total foreign population. With 6.17 million foreign nationals on the MVD's migration register on 1 September 2024, the expulsion rate represents roughly 1.3% of the foreign population. In absolute terms, this remains well below the United States, which carried out more than 700,000 removals and returns in fiscal year 2024 (preliminary DHS data), but above the European Union, which returned 92,540 third-country nationals to a third country in 2023, out of 489,335 ordered to leave (Eurostat).
What distinguishes the Russian data is the speed of increase (a doubling in a single year) and the systemic nature of the legislative changes accompanying it. The creation of the irregular foreigners registry, the 90-day rule reform, and the military service requirement for residence permits all suggest that the enforcement trend will continue into 2025 and beyond.
Key Legal References
- Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, Articles 18.8-18.11.
- Federal Law No. 115-FZ of July 25, 2002, "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation."
- Federal Law No. 114-FZ of August 15, 1996, "On the Procedure for Exit from and Entry into the Russian Federation."
Foreign nationals in Russia should ensure their documentation is current and compliant. Those who are uncertain about their status should seek legal advice before their situation deteriorates into an enforcement action.
