Russian parliament passes bill to track migrants via mobile app

Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has adopted a bill introducing a pilot scheme to register migrants in Moscow and the Moscow region via a mobile app, according to information published by the Duma on Tuesday.

The pilot scheme, which is expected to be rubber-stamped by the upper house of parliament and signed into law by Vladimir Putin in the coming weeks, will run from 1 September 2025 to 1 September 2029. The bill will apply to all foreigners except minors, diplomats and members of their families, and citizens of Belarus.

According to the bill, migrants in Moscow and the Moscow region will have to register via a special mobile app, consent to the processing of their personal data, including their telephone’s geolocation, and send proof of their whereabouts to the police. The migrants will be obliged to provide their fingerprints, register at a fixed address and have a biometric photograph taken.

Foreign citizens who do not transmit their location every three days can lose their registration and be added to the National Register of Illegal Migrants, a centralised list of foreign citizens in Russia who do not have a legal basis for presence in the country.

The Russian authorities launched the register in February. Anyone whose name is in the register has certain rights curtailed, such as the right to move house legally, to get married, and to buy vehicles or real estate. Companies or organisations that employ people in the register or provide services to them are also subject to fines.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said in March that 685,000 names had been put on the register within its first month. Immediately following the launch, many foreigners complained of being placed on the list by mistake, which had led to bank accounts being blocked and other problems.