Starting September 1, 2025, Russia will enforce a new digital requirement for foreign workers in Moscow and the Moscow region. Citizens of nine countries—including Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Ukraine—must now register their address through the Amina mobile app, which is linked to constant GPS monitoring.
This move represents a major shift from Russia’s traditional paper-based migration procedures to a real-time digital system, placing compliance directly on workers’ smartphones. Officials say the measure is intended to strengthen migration control and improve administrative accuracy, but for workers, it introduces new challenges of constant connectivity and surveillance.
Who Is Affected by the New Rules
The new regulation targets foreign citizens working in Moscow and its surrounding areas. These nine countries represent the largest share of the capital’s migrant labor force, particularly in construction, retail, and public services.
Families of workers remain exempt, but the rule applies strictly to individuals employed in Moscow. Importantly, even those who already reside in Russia must re-register through the Amina app every time they enter Moscow or return from travel outside the city.
How the Amina App Works
The Amina app is described as an “experimental system” but functions as a comprehensive tracking tool. Workers must:
- Download and register their residential address.
- Maintain continuous GPS tracking, with the app transmitting their location at all times.
- Avoid interruptions, as losing signal, turning off the phone, or disabling location services cancels registration.
Once registration is cancelled, workers must start the process over again to remain compliant. This system is designed to prevent false address declarations and unauthorized movement, but it also makes workers entirely dependent on their devices.
Strict Enforcement and Penalties
Authorities have made it clear that compliance is mandatory. Non-compliance can result in fines, loss of legal status, or deportation. For workers, this means their phones must remain charged, GPS enabled, and connected at all times.
Even small lapses—such as a dead battery, a temporary loss of internet access, or forgetting to re-enable location services—could invalidate their registration. For many migrants who rely on continuous employment to support families back home, such risks carry serious consequences.
Why Russia Is Making the Change
Russia has long required address registration for foreigners, but previous processes relied on paper forms submitted at migration offices. While bureaucratic, the old system was predictable. The new digital framework ties residency to constant geolocation tracking, reflecting Russia’s growing reliance on digital tools for migration control.
Authorities frame Amina as a pilot project, but its scope and enforcement mechanisms suggest a long-term strategy. If effective, the system could be expanded to other Russian cities or applied to more categories of foreigners in the future.
Impact on Migrant Communities
Moscow’s economy is heavily dependent on migrant workers from Central Asia and the Caucasus. These workers play vital roles in construction, cleaning, transportation, and services. For them, the new digital requirement introduces both financial and practical burdens.
- Smartphone dependency: Not all workers own modern GPS-enabled phones. Some may need to purchase new devices to comply.
- Battery and data costs: Workers must keep their phones charged and connected at all times, adding to daily expenses.
- Privacy concerns: Since the app constantly monitors movement, many fear the system blurs the line between address verification and personal surveillance.
Though officials stress the system is purely administrative, migrant communities remain skeptical, raising questions about data use, privacy, and rights.
Preparing for Compliance
For those planning to work in Moscow under the new system, preparation is essential. Authorities and migrant support groups advise workers to:
- Download and install the Amina app before travel.
- Ensure their smartphones support continuous GPS tracking.
- Carry portable chargers to avoid disconnections.
- Never disable location services, even accidentally.
These requirements may sound simple, but for workers balancing long shifts, limited resources, and family obligations, maintaining constant compliance could be difficult.
Broader Implications
Russia’s rollout of Amina highlights a global trend in which governments increasingly use technology to regulate migration. However, Russia’s approach is unusually strict, tying legal residency directly to uninterrupted location tracking.
This policy underscores the tension between security and personal freedom. While the system may reduce administrative loopholes and unauthorized migration, it also creates a climate of constant surveillance. For many workers, compliance now means being permanently traceable.
A New Reality for Migrant Life in Moscow
The introduction of Amina is more than just a technological update—it is a paradigm shift in migration policy. For thousands of foreign workers, life in Moscow will now mean carrying a charged, GPS-enabled smartphone at all times to prove compliance.
Although authorities frame the system as experimental, the severe penalties for non-compliance indicate that it is a fully enforced requirement rather than a small-scale test. For many migrants, it adds another layer of difficulty to the already complex realities of working abroad.
Conclusion
As of September 2025, foreign workers from nine countries—including Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Moldova—must register through the Amina mobile app with continuous GPS tracking to work legally in Moscow.
This new digital system replaces traditional paperwork with real-time surveillance, marking a turning point in Russia’s approach to migration control. For workers, it means compliance is no longer about forms but about being constantly connected, charged, and traceable.
While officials see Amina as a tool for administrative accuracy, its impact on migrant communities raises critical questions about privacy, rights, and the cost of digital oversight. Whether it remains limited to Moscow or spreads nationwide, this policy sets the stage for a new era of technology-driven migration control in Russia.
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