In Moscow and Moscow Oblast, Migrants Will Be Required to Install an App Transmitting Their Geolocation to the Interior Ministry Starting September 1

Starting September 1 in Moscow and Moscow Oblast, based on the law adopted in May law the “experimental regime for registering the location of foreign citizens” will go into effect, intended to replace the current system of migration registration.

As reported by the Moscow Multifunctional Migration Center (MMC), as part of the experiment, citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Ukraine arriving in the capital for work will be required to install the mobile application Amina.

It is assumed that through the app, foreigners must register with the MMC and notify the Interior Ministry of their place of residence. After that, Amina will regularly transmit the migrant’s geolocation to the police. If the app detects that data has not been transmitted for several days, the foreigner will be asked to confirm their address or report a change. If geolocation data is not received for more than three days, the person will be removed from the MMC’s registry.

This may become grounds for adding information about them to the register of controlled persons, notes the MMC. This means that such a migrant will be prohibited from using banks, buying a car, getting married, enrolling children in school, and so on. If these prohibitions are violated, they may be deported.

The app is already available in test mode. The MMC suggests downloading it and starting to use it. According to the center, it should simplify the registration of foreigners and “make compliance with migration law even more convenient.”

However, dozens of users on RuStore complain that using Amina is impossible. IStories reviewed their comments. The most common complaint is that the app does not function at all and asks to install an update, but it is unclear where to find the link. In response, users are advised to call technical support.

Some of those who managed to install the update still find that the app does not work. For others, it works but does not allow them to confirm their phone number, upload a photo, change their registration address, or send their geolocation. Those who managed to pass verification and submit an application for registration do not receive a response from the Interior Ministry.

There are also complaints that constant geolocation transmission causes the phone to lose battery quickly. “It eats up a lot of charge,” notes Odilbek in the comments on RuStore. “Make geolocation data transmission in hourly pulses. With constant data transmission, the phone overheats. Think about that too,” suggests a user under the nickname Alex.

Other questions from users are: what to do if the registration address differs from the actual place of residence, and what to do if a migrant works night shifts and cannot confirm their geolocation from home at that time. And is it necessary to “run around the courtyards” if the geolocation is displayed incorrectly, which can happen due to GPS signal interference. Officials leave such questions unanswered or recommend contacting the hotline or the Interior Ministry.

In addition, the app currently cannot be opened on iPhones. According to the official MMC page on VK, this version is still in development. There is no exact timeline for when it will appear.

A web version of the service is also not provided. It is also impossible to submit data in person at the police station. On the city hall’s website, the only alternative offered is to “restore the operation of the mobile application as soon as possible.”

• The State Duma adopted the law on conducting the experiment on May 20, and on July 31 it was signed by Vladimir Putin. According to the law, the experiment to introduce additional mechanisms for registering foreigners will last four years — until September 2029. Its participants will be migrants in Russia without a visa and working under a patent, those who have the right to work without a patent in accordance with laws or international treaties (except citizens of Belarus), as well as those staying in the region for more than 90 days not for employment.

• Last year, the State Duma passed a law that, starting in spring 2025, will prohibit admitting children of migrants who have not passed a Russian language exam to schools. At that time, IStories calculated, that this discriminatory rule could affect every hundredth schoolchild.

• In fall 2024, the State Duma adopted four laws at once aimed at “combating illegal migration.” They have already toughened the punishment for organizing illegal migration and made illegal stay in the country an aggravating circumstance for crimes, as well as announced a “register of controlled persons” for illegals. IStories previously reported on the Russian authorities’ anti-migrant campaign.