On Wednesday, at a plenary meeting, the Federation Council approved a law. ratifying the protocol to the treaty of the Russian Federation with South Ossetia, which exempts citizens of the contracting parties from restrictions on the duration of their stay in the territory of both countries.
The protocol was signed in Moscow on November 9, 2018. It provides for "the possibility for citizens of one contracting party to stay on the territory of another contracting party without restrictions on the length of stay established by the legislation of each of the states."
In accordance with the current version of the contract after its entry into force, the parties agreed to cancel the corresponding restrictions on the duration of stay of their citizens, provided for by the agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of South Ossetia on mutual visa-free trips of citizens of February 1, 2010. This agreement provides for that citizens of the state of one party, regardless of where they live, can enter, leave, transit and stay in the territory of the state of the other party without a visa for up to 90 days.
It is now established that citizens of the Russian Federation and citizens of the Republic of South Ossetia will not be subject to restrictions on the length of stay of citizens of one contracting party in the territory of the other party, provided not only by the agreement of 2010, but also by the legislation of the two parties.
Thus, the citizens of South Ossetia will not be subject to the provision of paragraph 1 of article 5 of the Federal law "On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation", which provides that the period of temporary stay in the Russian Federation of a foreign citizen who arrived in Russia in the order that does not require a visa, cannot exceed ninety days in total for each period of one hundred and eighty days.
As explained by the State Secretary - Deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Zubov, currently the period of temporary stay in Russia of a foreign citizen who arrived in a visa-free manner, according to the law, cannot exceed 90 days in total for each period of 180 days.
"All these restrictions on citizens of the Republic of South Ossetia are lifted in accordance with the protocol. They can stay on our territory any amount of time they deem necessary," he said on the eve of the law being considered by the Federation Council.
"Considering that the population of South Ossetia is small, almost all of it works on the territory of Russia, which is hampered by the established restrictions, we meet them halfway," the Deputy Minister added, noting that such privileges are not provided for citizens of any other state.
