What should an employer and highly qualified specialist do if they have lost documents outside the Russian Federation?

In this article we will consider the situation that both foreign citizens and their employers quite often encounter when, being outside of Russia, a foreign citizen loses all documents, including a passport, work permit, etc., after which both sides are convulsively trying to resolve issues with the recovery of all documents by any means, which is not always possible to do quickly and in full accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Unfortunately for employers and employees themselves - foreign citizens, the Administrative Regulation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the provision of public services for issuing permits to hire foreign workers and work permits for foreign citizens and stateless persons who do not provide a clear understanding of the course of action in this situation.

Consider the difficult case, when a foreign citizen from a visa country with the Russian Federation lost his passport and work permit outside the Russian Federation at first it is necessary to obtain a new passport, and to recover a Russian visa.

In practice, the procedure for recovery a visa is quite simple, if the Russian consulate abroad decides to help a foreign citizen. In general, the procedure is as follows:

• obtaining a certificate from the police (another authorized body in the country for applying for a certificate from the authority) about the loss of documents;
• obtaining a new passport;
• appeal to the consulate of the Russian Federation with a request to recover a previously issued visa subject to the provision of a police certificate, a copy of a previously available visa, a copy of a previously available entry invitation.

This option works only on condition that the consulate meets the foreign citizen halfway and draws up / recover the visa for the same terms for which it was issued earlier. In this case, a foreign citizen can enter the Russian Federation and engage in the recovery of permits already on the territory of the Russian Federation.

However, often the Consulates of various countries refuse to transfer a visa for the same period, shortening its validity period from one month to six months, which additionally requires further extension of the visa in the Russian Federation after changes / recovery of a previously issued work permit.

The situation when the consulate refuses to grant a visa to a foreign citizen will be examined in the second part of this article.

Entry into the Russian Federation and further recovery of documents.

There are several ways to recover the documents after entering the Russian Federation.

The first - one of the most common methods - is to get a duplicate of a work permit that can be issued under the condition of a certificate from the competent authorities about the loss of documents. If the certificate was received outside the Russian Federation, it is necessary to provide a notarized translation. The processing time for issuing a duplicate work permit is 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application.

However, as practice shows us, not all inspectors in government agencies accept documents according to this scheme, motivating this by the fact that a foreign citizen has a new passport. The issuance of a duplicate work permit implies the recovery of a previously issued permit, including all the data previously indicated in it, and therefore - the passport number.
Moreover, it is worth remembering the obligation of a foreign citizen to submit documents for amending the work permit within 7 days from the moment of entering the Russian Federation if passport data has changed abroad.

The second option is to submit documents to amend the work permit in connection with the receipt of a new passport. At the same time, pay attention to the fact that in accordance with the Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, when submitting documents for amendments to a work permit, it is required to provide the original work permit, which is being amended. But it is impossible to provide the original, since it is lost. The result is a vicious circle when neither a foreign citizen nor his employer knows what to do in this situation.

The third option is to apply for a new work permit. Inspectors are absolutely not confused by the already existing labor relations between the employee and the employer, the existence of a labor agreement, as well as the absence of a changes in any details other than passport details: the region of validity of the work permit, position, and so on.

Any of the cases described above is not enshrined in existing regulations. The Confidence Group advises in each specific situation to make an appointment with the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs department, where it is planned to submit such documents and coordinate the submission according to one or another option.

It was denied in recovery of the visa: how to return to the Russian Federation?

In a much more difficult position are those foreign citizens who have been refused in recovery of a visa, and without it, they cannot actually enter the Russian Federation.

In this case, entry of the employee to the Russian Federation is possible only after receiving multiple invitations to work, on the basis of which he will apply for a visa abroad. The difficulty lies in the fact that the employer cannot issue an invitation, because in order to issue a multiple work invitation, a foreign employee must have a work permit with the same passport number as the requested invitation.

In the practice of our company, there have been many cases when foreign citizens and their employers were in such a situation. To enter the Russian Federation, a foreign citizen received tourist visa support or an invitation for the purpose of entry, "business", on the basis of which he received a tourist or business visa to enter the Russian Federation. Within 7 working days (from the moment of entry to the Russian Federation), the documents were submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to amend the previously issued work permit or to issue a duplicate. After receiving a stamp on acceptance of documents, the employer applied for a multiple working invitation for his employee.

In order to comply with the migration and labor legislation of the Russian Federation in terms of compliance with the stated purpose of entry, foreign citizens took a vacation / suspension from work for the period of their stay in the Russian Federation with the purpose of stay “tourism” or “business / commercial”.

The processing time to receive an invitation is 14 working days. As a rule, foreign citizens do not wait for the invitation to be ready, but after submitting documents, they depart from the Russian Federation. After the invitation is ready and received by a foreign citizen abroad, it is possible to obtain a multiple work visa for a period of a previously issued work permit. Only after this, the employee can come to the Russian Federation and then receive an adjusted or recovered work permit.

As follows from the above, the process of recovering permits is quite complicated and involves various specific requirements, as well as the fulfillment of certain conditions and meeting deadlines. In this regard, the Confidence Group strongly recommends that foreign citizens and their employers seek help of professionals who will give clear instructions on how to deal with this situation, which will significantly speed up the process and minimize migration risks and the consequences of the absence of an employee at the workplace.