Moscow to Spend 1.3 Billion Rubles on Migrant Database Upgrade Which Will Include the Ability to Collect “Genomic Data”

Moscow’s Department of Information Technology signed a contract for the development of the information system of the Multifunctional Migration Center, IStories has found out. The contract is valued at 1.3 billion rubles.

The creation of this information system has been underway since 2015. Its purpose is to automate the functions of the Moscow migration center — for example, allowing online applications for work permits. The system accumulates all personal data of migrants: citizenship, registration address, information on medical examinations, employment contracts, relatives, fingerprints, and personal income tax payments.

The new contract for system upgrades will allow “foreign citizens” to also submit applications for the collection of “genomic data.” The application will be forwarded to the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the contract text does not clarify whether this genomic data will subsequently be stored in the system. The document states that this is a “voluntary” submission.

A bill on mandatory genomic registration of labor migrants was introduced in the State Duma this spring, but did not pass due to the absence of a government conclusion, as it entailed additional budget expenditures. The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, advocated for mandatory DNA collection from migrants — according to him, this would “create an additional barrier to the entry of criminal elements into our labor market.” In October 2024, the Sibirskiy Express reported, that Investigative Committee officers in Krasnoyarsk Krai conducted a raid in which more than 200 foreign workers were detained and “genomic material” was collected from them due to “serious violations of migration law” (such as fictitious registration).