Etibar Khalilov, the Chief of the Consulate Department of the Azerbaijan Embassy to Russia informed Trend Correspondent to Moscow that the Consulate Service presented 3,000 documents to our compatriots living and working on the territory of Russia. In 2006, the Department presented 21,620 certificates for the returnees to Azerbaijan. Foreign citizens received 368 visas to visit our country. 2,500 inquiries were sent to the Azerbaijan Interior Ministry. 1,500 letters were sent to different offices and agencies of Russia.
According to the Azerbaijan diplomat, every day the Consulate receives 100-120 Azerbaijan citizens on average. They receive all necessary documents every day. The people mainly appeal to the Consulate to receive a certificate for return, reference on previous convictions, and citizenship holding. Mr. Khalilov said that there had been delays, since documents require time on the person who want to obtain this or that document.
However, the negotiations on loosing this procedure are currently holding with the corresponding offices and agencies in Baku, he said. Commenting the question of whether the number of our compatriots, who appeal to the Consulate due to the introduction of the new migration rules decreased, Mr. Khalilov said that their number had not reduced, since there had been a need in obtaining different references to legalize and employ our citizens in Russia. Everybody has expected that the outflow of our compatriots will be significant, but many of them have turned to become legal in Russia. The mater is that many citizens have lived without corresponding documents for a long time, and it has been quite possible. Today, the new migration rule has been put into practice. It tightens the responsibility for breaching these rules. Due to that, the outflow of our citizens who need different references is set up to decrease, since everybody has to put all their documents into order, said Mr. Khalilov.