On 26th May 2008 the Moscow branch of the Federal Migration Service temporarily stopped accepting new applications for work permits for non-Russian employees. The above information became available after the Federal Migration Service placed a sign in their office stating that work permit applications were no longer being accepted. The sign also mentioned that applications could still be sent by mail but not from Moscow or Moscow Region.
Later the representative of the Moscow Federal Migration Service explained the legal grounds for such suspension: the annual quota of work permits to be issued (300 000) for non-Russian employees in Moscow had been reached. We also discovered from an unofficial source that another reason for this suspension was as a result of the internal restructuring of the Federal Migration Service.
All applications that were submitted before 26th May 2008 will be processed in the normal manner.
A similar suspension occurred in September 2007. It was also connected with quota issues; the quota was increased and in October the Service began accepting and issuing work permits again.
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The original publication date for this article was 05/06/2008.