Smyrno construction site: Russia tightened control over hiring foreigners
In Russia, companies began to be massively fined for failure to inform about the recruitment of migrants to work, even if an employment contract was not concluded with them, Izvestia found out. The tightening of control is confirmed by lawyers, as well as an increase in the number of court cases. A business can be fined up to 1 million rubles for each identified "illegal immigrant", and it also threatens to suspend operations. At the same time, the number of unscheduled migration checks of businesses increased by 35% in 2026. Why supervision has been tightened and what it leads to is in the Izvestia article.
What is the threat for the illegal hiring of migrants
In Russia, the verification of the implementation of migration legislation has been sharply intensified. This jump is especially noticeable among the regulatory authorities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Leningrad regions, said Alexander Yukaev, legal adviser at Autorus Group.
There is a growing number of cases in the country involving fines for companies for failure to inform about the employment of a foreigner, even if they have not signed an employment contract with him. Last year, the number of such court rulings (with the application of Article 18.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation — illegal employment) increased tenfold compared to the previous one, said Alexey Moshkin, General Director of the Tax Assistance Center. However, there are no complete statistics.
— For entrepreneurs, foreigners are cheap labor. It is a powerful source of budget replenishment for inspectors. Employers themselves often create reasons for fines and large additional charges. They consciously use aggressive forms of tax optimization or unknowingly fail to comply with numerous legal requirements. But in general, we definitely see an increase in the attention of government agencies to such offenses," he stressed.
As the Izvestia analysis showed, the trend continues in 2026. For example, this year the Supreme Court considered a case in which an individual entrepreneur allowed an Uzbek citizen to work, but did not submit a notification to the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on time. The defense insisted: since there was no written contract, there is no obligation to report the work. However, the court rejected this argument.
Another case occurred in Khabarovsk — an entrepreneur was fined 750 thousand rubles for employing six foreigners. They worked without contracts.
Such a practice results in enormous financial and operational risks for businesses, warned Irina Sozdatel, Vice President of the Association of Exporters and Importers. According to her, the fines reach 400-800 thousand rubles. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Leningrad regions, they reach up to 1 million.
An alternative measure of punishment is the suspension of business activities for up to 90 days, which for most companies is equivalent to a fatal collapse of all processes. In addition, the courts are less likely to use mitigation mechanisms. If the organization has already been held accountable, then it will not be able to count on concessions in any way, said Irina Assessor.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Labor and the Federal Tax Service. They advised me to contact the Interior Ministry. The editorial board asked the agency to comment on whether the number of such cases is really growing and what is the reason for this.
Why are controls being tightened?
The tightening of control is primarily explained by the growing number of illegal foreign workers and the implementation of the concept of the state migration policy for 2026-2030, explained Irina Assessor. The main vector is aimed at large-scale whitewashing of the market, and employment and registration of foreigners are under special joint control of law enforcement and tax authorities, she added.
— Regulatory authorities don't even always need to go out with inspections. Algorithms allow you to detect violations automatically. For example, the Federal Tax Service immediately records the absence of personal income tax and insurance contributions for a foreign citizen for whom a patent has been issued," the expert explained.
A patent is required for people from countries with which the Russian Federation has established a visa—free regime, such as Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It does not need to be issued to foreigners with a temporary residence permit, residence permit (residence permit), citizens of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (it includes Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus), as well as people from other countries with a refugee or migrant certificate.
Alexander Yukaev from the Avtorus Group of Companies agreed: the increase in the number of court cases in this area is due to the tightening of state policy regarding migration legislation. Law enforcement agencies are now paying more and more attention to this problem.
One of the innovations was adopted quite recently. In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on tightening financial security requirements for migrants, obliging them to confirm incomes at least below the regional subsistence level. Otherwise, the employment contract will be considered terminated.
The increase in the number of newcomers is also affecting the tightening. As Izvestia wrote, in the first half of the year, a record 147 thousand work permits were issued in the Russian Federation. Employees from China, India and Indonesia have been invited one and a half times more often this year.
The key problem is a common misconception among employers: many believe that if you do not sign an employment contract with a foreign citizen, you will not be liable, said Elena Cherepanova, head of the labor law practice at BBNP law firm.
In fact, attempts at trickery and the lack of a formalized relationship will not protect you from responsibility. This is confirmed by modern judicial practice. The courts massively reject the arguments of employers and look at the formal composition of the offense, confirmed Irina Assessor.
In addition, regulatory authorities can identify illegal relationships based on the totality of evidence, continued Elena Cherepanova. For example, through complaints (often violations are reported by foreign workers themselves, for example, due to delayed salaries), as well as scheduled and unscheduled inspections. The number of the latter increased by 35% in 2026, the expert added.
During the inspections, inspectors record the presence of foreign citizens actually doing the work and request documents from the employer. And then they look for inconsistencies, for example, when there is a record of working hours, but there is no employment contract. Then the data is checked against information systems. They also use additional sources of evidence: surveillance camera recordings, correspondence in corporate chats, said Elena Cherepanova.
The tax authority can also identify suspicious transactions when analyzing bank transfers. For example, the constant transactions of large sums to citizens who are not employed in the company or to "foremen" who distribute salaries among unofficial employees, said Alexey Moshkin from the Tax Assistance Center.
According to Elena Cherepanova, thanks to the exchange of information between Rostrud, the Federal Tax Service, the prosecutor's office and other agencies, it is almost impossible to hide the facts of attracting foreigners to work.
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