Quite often in practice there are situations when a foreign citizen is banned from entering Russia due to illness. As a rule, this fact comes as a surprise to him, and the foreigner does not understand what to do.
Like any entry ban, it can be appealed. In this article we will talk about the reasons for which a ban may be established, how to appeal correctly, what documents to prepare, etc.
Our telegram chat about entry bans, where you can ask a question, including in non-English languages.
What is a ban on entry due to illness?
There are two terms associated with an entry ban due to illness that need to be explained.
Undesirability of stay is an administrative regime that is established by the authorities in relation to a foreign citizen. A decision that the stay of a foreign citizen or stateless person is undesirable obliges him to leave the territory of Russia.
An entry ban is the result of undesirable stay and is established indefinitely.
Rospotrebnadzor is the name of the government body in Russia that establishes undesirability of stay and a ban on entry. In our appeal procedure we will work with this authority and in court.
Next, you need to look at what illness may be grounds for an entry ban. They can be divided into curable and incurable. Our appeal procedure will depend on the type of illness.
What diseases can be grounds for an entry ban?
To do this, let’s look at Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation N 1079N. This document gives us a list of diseases:
- Tuberculosis;
- Leprosy;
- Syphilis;
Some of them can be cured, but some are incurable and can only be kept at a low level of danger.
If a foreigner in the Russian Federation is diagnosed with one of these diseases by a medical commission, he will receive an entry ban.
Find out the entry ban
If a foreigner does not know the reason for the ban and what disease the ban was established for, then in this case you will need to send a request to Rospotrebnadzor to find out the disease.
Example request. you will find it here.
You can submit this request electronically, through the website: https://petition.rospotrebnadzor.ru/petition/., but the answer will come by paper mail, so it is better to indicate a postal address in the Russian Federation.
Appeal against an entry ban due to illness
Let’s first talk about how to appeal a ban on entry due to a disease that can be cured.
These include tuberculosis, leprosy and syphilis.
So, the first and main condition of this procedure is that the foreigner must undergo a course of treatment and recover. Confirmation of the health of a foreigner is a medical certificate from the country of the foreign citizen.
Medical certificate
It is necessary to pay special attention to this document. There are required parts of a medical certificate in order for it to be recognized in Russia.
- The certificate must be from a government agency;
- There must be the name and full details of the institution;
- A note that the foreigner has completed a course of treatment;
- Stamp and signature;
This certificate is valid for three months.
In some cases, legalization of a medical certificate in Russia is necessary. This is a procedure for the legal recognition of foreign documents in Russia.
Some countries have an international agreement with Russia on the recognition of foreign documents. This means that the legalization procedure is not necessary. Before sending the certificate, you need to find out whether the country has such an agreement for foreigners.
In other cases, you need to talk about how the legalization of a medical certificate takes place in Russia.
Legalization of certificate
In order for the certificate to be recognized in Russia, a foreigner must contact the Russian consulate.
A foreigner must send a certificate with a notarized translation, a passport and pay a state duty.
An apostille is a stamp on a medical certificate, which means that the document has passes the legalization procedure and is recognized in Russia.
If the consulate has issued an apostille, then you can proceed to the next stage of the appeal procedure.
Appealing the entry ban. Instructions
So, good news, the foreigner has recovered, received a certificate, gone through the legalization procedure and now you can start working with the authorities in Russia.
At this stage, you need to write an application to Rospotrebnadzor. We ask for a temporary suspension of the entry ban in order to undergo a medical examination in Russia.
We will provide a useful link with examples of documents and tell you how to write an application correctly:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fG7GkZztsqMQzDCQin86fYpofrOK_7pE
- Description of the main facts. Write what happened, dates, events, that there was an entry ban, that a medical certificate was received.
- Legal position. You can use Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 5, 2018 No. 551 and Order of Rospotrebnadzor dated August 23, 2021 No. 467/173. A lawyer can also help you find legislation for your legal position.
- Our demand is to suspend the Order so that a foreigner can enter the Russian Federation to undergo a medical examination in the Russian Federation or cancel the Order completely.
If Rospotrebnadzor has suspended the entry ban, then you should not enter immediately. You need to wait about 45 days for the authorities to send the entry permit to the border service.
From the moment when Rospotrebnadzor temporarily allowed entry, the foreigner has three months to undergo a medical examination in Russia.
A foreigner undergoes a medical examination in Russia at a government institution, where he must confirm the fact that he has recovered.
The foreigner receives another certificate stating that he is healthy in Russia and he needs to again write an application to Rospotrebnadzor demanding that the entry ban be lifted.
We write that we have passed a second medical commission in Russia and in accordance with the law and demand that the entry ban be lifted and the undesirability of stay removed.
If Rospotrebnadzor lifts the entry ban, then you should not immediately enter Russia, you need to wait until the online database is updated.
Appealing a government decision in court
If the government authority has not lifted the entry ban, the foreigner may file a claim in court. This is a more complex procedure, and we will tell you how it happens.
The trial takes about 3-4 months. In the statement of claim, we demand that the decision of Rospotrebnadzor be declared illegal.
The statement of claim is filed with the district court at the location of the authority. The statement of claim has more nuances, more references to the law. This is absolutely impossible to do without a lawyer.
We will give you some advices on how to write a statement of claim correctly.
- On the right side of the claim we write the name and address of the court, our details and the details of Rospotrebnadzor. (You can find this data on the website of inspections of organizations – https://www.rusprofile.ru/id/1740165) You also need identification data, first name, last name, patronymic, if any, passport, telephone and email;
- The text itself can be divided into several parts. Description of the main facts, pleading and application;
- The main part of the claim is a description of our situation and our legal position. We write that the foreigner has passed all the necessary procedures, a medical commission, received a certificate, does not pose a danger to society and is completely healthy;
- In the petition part we indicate our requirements. We demand that the decision of Rospotrebnadzor be declared illegal.
- We attach all the necessary documents in the attachment. Certificates, applications, response from Rospotrebnadzor, receipts for payment of state duty and other checks, and scan of the passport and a receipt for sending the claim to Rospotrebnadzor.
Also, as practice shows, the court pays attention to the following points:
- Close relatives in Russia. (spouse, children, parents);
- Study in Russia;
- Real estate or business in Russia;
- Any other legal and economic connection with Russia will be a plus in the application;
- A foreigner does not pose a danger to Russia.
These facts can be a big plus for the court. The possibility of lifting the entry ban will increase.
If the court found the decision of Rospotrebnadzor illegal, then it is necessary to obtain the decision and send it to the authorities. Rospotrebnadzor will lift the entry ban, and the foreigner will be able to enter Russia.
You can appeal the court decision to the appellate court. This can be done within a month after the decision was made by the first court.
Useful rules of law
We can use international and Russian law.
We will give you a list of useful articles of the law:
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference in his private or family life. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” -Article 12 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
“Everyone has the right to own property, own, use and dispose of it, both individually and jointly with other persons.” – Article 35 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
“Everyone has the right to education” – Article 43 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
You can write these rules of law in a statement to the authorities or a statement of claim to the court. If you contact a specialist, he will find more specific rules of Russian law.
Appeal against entry ban. HIV
The situation with HIV is more complicated. There is no cure for this disease, but it can be kept at a low level of danger to the individual and society. In this case, the foreigner undergoes a course of therapy.
In this case, the connection between the foreigner and Russia will be important. This is what we talked about earlier. Close relatives who are citizens of the Russian Federation and the fact of undergoing therapy is something that is absolutely necessary to obtain positive court decision. Everything that shows the relationship between a foreign citizen and Russia.
As practice shows, such a ban can only be lifted through the courts. If Rospotrebnadzor refused, then we go to court.
In court, we apply the rules that we talked about earlier. It is important to show the judge that the foreigner has connections with Russia. Quite often, the court looks specifically at close relatives and family in Russia.
If the decision to ban entry was declared illegal, then we send it to Rospotrebnadzor and wait until the ban is lifted.
Here it is necessary to study all the possibilities and aspects; each situation is individual. The experience and qualifications of a lawyer can also help. As a rule, a specialist knows what needs to be paid attention to.