Of 7 mln foreigners in Russia, more than half illegally employed

Of at least 6.8 million foreigners currently on the Russian territory, almost 3.7 million are employed without special permits, the head of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) said, RIA Novosti reported.

Russia is attractive to migrants from impoverished post-Soviet states who can easily enter the country and send money home to support their families.

"According to our database, there are currently 6.8 million of foreigners on the Russian territory. 3.7 million of them are foreign nationals, mainly CIS citizens, who stay in Russia legally, but have no working permits," Konstantin Romodanovsky told a roundtable held as part of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

He said that Russian migration services will be obliged to issue work permits within a two-week period.

According to the police figures, 571,000 foreign nationals have registered with Moscow's migration authorities in the first four months of 2010 alone. In 2009, the figure was 1.8 million, almost a million more than in 2008, with its steady 1.07 million.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law amendments aimed at legalizing the status of millions of foreigners working in Russia in May.

Earlier in May the upper house of Russia's parliament amended the law on foreign workers in Russia in an effort to improve control over labor migration.

Under the amendments, foreign migrants who come from former Soviet republics to Russia on a visa-free basis to work for private individuals, as nannies, housekeepers or in other domestic jobs, must have their fingerprints registered to receive a special work permit.