Russia Tightens Requirements For Tajiks To Enter

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution tightening the requirements for Tajik nationals to enter the country.

The text of the resolution was placed on the Russian cabinet's website on June 23.

As of January 1, 2015, Tajik citizens will no longer be able to enter the Russian Federation only with their national identification documents, known as "internal passports."

They must now obtain travel documents, such as regular, service, or diplomatic passports.

The resolution will affect the estimated 1.5 million labor migrants from Tajikistan who work in Russia on a permanent basis and periodically travel between the two countries.

Moscow had announced earlier that it intends to tighten by 2015 the regulations for entering Russia by nationals of former Soviet republics who are nonmembers of the Russian-led customs union and Eurasian Economic Union.