A ban on entry to Russia due to fines

A ban on entry to Russia due to fines under Paragraph 4 of Article 26 of Federal law No. 114

The possibility of gaining a ban on entry for 2 or more fines in 3 years is indicated  in paragraph 4 of Article 26 Federal Law No. 114  “On the Procedure for Departure and Entry”.

This ground for the ban on entry has become one of the most common reasons since 2016.

Up to this point, a ban on entry because of 2 or even 20 administrative offenses was not  imposed often. Although Federal Law No. 114 has been in force since 1996.

Why? It's simple - the Federal Migration Service dealt with migration issues; fines were usually imposed by police officers. They were different departments then and rarely exchanged information. In addition, the bases worked poorly. Accordingly, the FMS simply did not know the amount of fines for a particular foreigner.

But there was an exception - obtaining a Temporary Residence Permit, a Permanent Residence Permit or a Citizenship. According to the regulations, all applicants for a Temporary Residence Permit, a Permanent Residence Permit or a Citizenship must be checked for compliance with the law for all departmental bases, from the police to the tax and FSB. At that moment fines surfaced.

Under such circumstances our first principal with a ban on this article, received a ban on part 4 of article 26 of Federal Law No. 114 - he submitted documents for a Temporary Residence Permit, but he got a denial on a Temporary Residence Permit and received a ban on entry.

The FMS decision was cancelled by the appeals panel of the St. Petersburg City Court as unlawful and unreasonable.

After the merger of the Federal Migration Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a real flurry of cases began under the ban on Part 4 of Article 26 of the Federal Law No. 114. And it continues.

Therefore, we will clarify some points, dispel myths and give some advice.

• The fines are already paid. Myth number 1
• A ban can only be imposed for a fine. Myth number 2
• If a person has a Temporary Residence Permit, a ban due to fines wont be imposed. Myth number 3
• The ban can be imposed only for the police report. Myth number 4
• A ban won’t be imposed if all the fines are from the traffic police cameras. Myth number 5
• There should be a lot of fines. Myth number 6
• Fines must be received at regular intervals. Myth number 7

The fines are already paid. Myth number 1

The fact that all fines are paid is stated by every second client who contacts our company. And with this phrase begins communication with a lawyer.

Our answer is that paying fines does not matter for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Read carefully the contents of Part 4 of Article 26:

This Article does not say – «has been held accountable under the administrative law two or more times and did not pay a fine", which entails a ban on entry.

But only  «has been held accountable under the administrative law two or more times»  and that is that.

For illustrative purposes, let’s give an example - a person has committed a grievous crime, such as murder, was convicted, served his time in jail and was released. He suffered the full punishment, but he will remain previously convicted of the murder and will have consequences for life and have certain restrictions - he will not be able to work in the police, prosecutors, courts, be elected as a senator or a president.

The same thing with the administrative offences - you committed it, paid fines, but you will still have the ban on entry.

 

The fact of payment or non-payment of a fine for establishment a ban is not important.

 The fact of paying fines matters to the court.

If you received a ban on entry and decided to appeal it through a court, keep in mind that the court will definitely look at payments of your fines.

And draw conclusions either in your favor or against you.

 

A ban can only be imposed for a fine. Myth number 2

This is also not true. Let’s read again paragraph 4 Article 26:

 

The Article does not say «has been held accountable under the administrative law in the form of a fine».

But only «has been held accountable under the administrative law «. That is, to any kind of administrative responsibility.

What types of administrative responsibility are listed in Art. 3.2 Administrative Code:

• warning (a very rare punishment for minor violations);
• fine (the most common punishment);
• confiscation of the instrument of offense (for example, confiscation of a pneumatic gun for firing in a public place);
• arrest (most often used for offenses under Chapter 20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses - hooliganism, rallies, public danger of violation);
• deprivation of any right (for example, punishment for an oncoming traffic line in the form of deprivation of a driver’s license);
• obligatory work;
• a ban on attending sports competitions (for football hooligans);
• disqualification (not applicable to foreign citizens).

For any 2 administrative offences with any type of punishment  a person can get a ban.

Even if a foreign citizen receives a warning for this offence.

And it's not a joke.

In our practice, there was a case when a girl who was a citizen of the Republic of K. was banned because of one fine of 1 thousand rubles and one warning.

Moreover, these 2 punishments were imposed simultaneously - on the same day and by one official.

The decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on non-permission to enter was fairly cancelled by the Smolninsky District Court.

 

If a person has a Temporary Residence Permit, a ban due to fines wont be imposed. Myth number 3

Another very common misconception. The ban on entry for any ground, including and under Paragraph 4 of Art. 26 of Federal Law No. 114 can be gained by ANY foreign citizen of any citizenship (including Belarus) in the presence of ANY documents, including a Temporary Residence Permit and a Permanent Residence Permit.

If the Ministry of Internal Affairs makes a decision on entering the checklist (puts a ban on entry), then any permits (patent, a Temporary Residence Permit and a Permanent Residence Permit) are subject to cancellation.

 

The ban can be imposed only for the police report. Myth number 4

This is also a misperceprion.

For fines imposed by police officers, a foreigner will receive a ban on entry much faster and more likely. Because police fines are recorded into the police base and they also make a decision on not allowing entry.

But other authorities can also impose fines:

 

• courts (for grave and most dangerous violations);
• tax service (foreigners-heads of organizations are often get fines for violated reporting deadlines);
• Rospotrebnadzor (foreigners - heads of cafes, grocery stores get fines for violations of SanPin standards);
• FSB (for violations related to the border or border areas);
• Ministry of Emergencies (violation of fire regulations);
• customs (violation of the rules for the import of products or goods);
• district administration commission (for minor cases and violations of local laws)

Such fines last longer in the police base, but are also grounds for a ban on entry under paragraph 4 of article 26 of Federal Law No. 114.

 

A ban won’t be imposed if all the fines are from the traffic police cameras. Myth number 5

Most of the offenses that drivers commit are speeding (paragraphs 2 - 6 of article 12.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). And according to traffic police statistics, 80% of all excesses are recorded not by inspectors, but by fixation cameras.

The same is confirmed by our statistics - almost all foreign drivers with a ban under paragraph 4 of article 26 have fines from fixation cameras and naively declare “it was not me who drove”.

Unfortunately, under Russian law, the owner of the car is the person responsible for the offense committed through his car.

In this case, the presumption of innocence does not apply.

If the owner really was not driving, he will have to prove it in court himself. And often it is very difficult.

The owners of buildings and certain types of land have a similar responsibility.

We know the case when a foreigner bought a monument building for reconstruction it into a hotel. Reconstruction was not carried out (there were no funds), the building itself was painted with graffiti, homeless people settled there, lit a fire and almost burned the whole building.

It was the owner who was found guilty of non-compliance with the security regime. With subsequent prosecution. Whether he got a ban on entry, we do not know.

 

 

There should be a lot of fines. Myth number 6

For some reason, all foreigners believe that there should be a lot of fines to get a ban entry. And everyone has a different concept - someone says “I have only 2”, someone says “ I have only 7”, and one even said “I have only 56 fines! These are not criminal offenses! ” Of course, we did notebook his case. And he never lifted the ban. Despite the presence of family and children.

All this is speculation.

Let’s read the Article again:

 

The phrase "two or more times" indicates that two administrative offences in 3 years are enough for employees of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to establish a ban on entry under Part 4 of Article 26.

 

The fewer fines, the greater the chance of lifting the ban on entry through the court.

If you have a lot of fines, it is unlikely that you will succeed.

 

Fines must be received at regular intervals. Myth number 7

Another misconception is related to the continued violation of the law.

Allegedly, fines received at the same time are considered as one fine, and fines extended in time are considered separately.

This is not true.

Some examples from our practice:

 

• A citizen of Turkmenistan was driving a friend’s car and was stopped by a traffic police officer. 2 protocols with an interval of 5 minutes - this citizen was not included in the insurance and one of the headlights did not work. The result - a ban on entry for 3 years.

 

Those fines iwere mposed simultaneously, but the court of first instance considered the decisions made by the traffic police officer to be “continuous unlawful behavior”.

Although he lived in Russia for almost 8 years until the fines were imposed, he also received 2 higher educations here, he could apply for citizenship, and before that case he had never broken the law.

 

• a citizen of the Republic of K., an employee of the store, at the request of the head, turned on light advertising. She did not know and could not know that this advertising structure was not coordinated with the city authorities. The director of the store asked to take responsibility so that the company would not be fined.

The result is a ban for 3 years. Canceled in court

• a citizen of Uzbekistan bought a car (officially got his car registered in his name) and went home to visit his parents. He left the car to his brother.

Brother drives well, but fast. Collected 3 fines in just an hour and a half.

The fines came at the owner and the owner of the car never returned from his homeland. The result of appealing the ban in court is not known.

 

How can a foreigner avoid a ban on entry under Paragraph 4 of Art. 26  of Federal Law No. 114. Advice

 

1. Do not commit administrative offenses.

Not getting fines at all is very, very difficult. Especially with the special attention of police officers to foreign citizens. It is possible only if you just sit at home and travel strictly by public transport. But these are the requirements of the law.

 

2. Do not buy or register a car.

Even if a friend, brother or wife asked you to. 2 speeding on the circular road and you have a guaranteed entry ban.

Violations of the rules of the road represents about 95 percent of all prohibitions on entry under part 4 of article 26 114-FZ.

 

3. Appeal any ruling.

Even if you really violated traffic rules or committed another offense, appeal it. A good lawyer will almost always be able to detect a violation in the order of imposing a ruling and make it cancel.

It seems foolish to pay a lawyer 5-10 thousand for the cancellation of the decision, which was assigned a fine of 500 rubles, but the prospect is a ban on entry for 3 years. 3 years without work, away from family and friends.

Any decision can be appealed only within 10 days. For example, if you collected 5 fines in 2017, then 5 fines in 2018 and another 5 fines in 2019 and received a ban for them, then in 2019 you will no longer be able to file complaints with decisions. Dates will be skipped.

 

4. Do not run a company or self-employer entrepreneur

Any business is subject to constant monitoring by various departments. Each department should periodically check commercial organizations and in case of violations (and they are always and everywhere found) to fine both the organization and its directors.

If you want to do business in Russia, before obtaining Russian citizenship, it is better to hire an organization leader from among Russian citizens.

To support foreign business projects, we have a special service - a “business lawyer”. We can help a foreign businessman open a commercial organization or branch of a foreign company. Establish workflow, suggest the optimal form of management and accompany during the period of activity.

 

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