Photo: Maxim Shipenkov / EPA

Russia’s Interior Ministry is to create a register of foreign nationals who are in the country illegally, Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Gorovoy told state-affiliated business daily Kommersant in an interview published on Thursday.

Gorovoy said anyone appearing on the register would “be unable to drive a vehicle, use banking services, register property, get married or divorced, or enrol their children in kindergartens and schools”.

Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved legislation to create the register in mid-June, which was signed into law by Vladimir Putin in August. While the register is due to come into force at some point in 2025, Gorovoy’s comments represent the first time a high-ranking government official has mentioned the plan for some time.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in July that foreign nationals whose documents had either expired or been annulled would be added to the register, as well as foreign nationals who had committed a criminal offence. He added that migrants who appeared on the register would be required to keep the police updated on their whereabouts.

Volodin also said that anyone added to the register would be expected to give a date and route for their planned departure from Russia, and that anyone failing to meet those requirements more than once would face deportation.