One of the most popular reasons for a ban on entry into Russia is the illness of a foreign citizen. As a rule, a foreigner may be diagnosed with the disease itself at a medical examination and signs of such a disease, and when this information reaches Russia, an entry ban will be established.
We will tell you about the types of cases of entry ban due to illness and how you can appeal them using legal methods in Russia.
What is an entry ban due to illness?
Every year about 10 million people come to Russia for different purposes: some to work, some to get an education, some want to buy real estate. Foreigners who come to Russia for work or other purposes for a period of more than three months must go a medical examination at accredited institutions.
During a medical examination, a foreign citizen goes through doctors who take a full look at his health.
The list of dangerous diseases was established by Order of the Ministry of Health No. 1079n dated November 19, 2021. It identifies several diseases for which entry into Russia is prohibited.
This:
- tuberculosis;
- leprosy (Hansen’s disease);
- syphilis;
If, after a medical commission, a foreigner is found to have one of these diseases, he will receive an entry ban. An entry ban means that a foreigner will not be able to enter Russia for a certain period of time or indefinitely.
Rospotrebnadzor is the government body in Russia that imposes a ban on entry due to illness, and we will work with it.
As you can see, the diseases that we wrote about above can be divided into several types: curable and incurable. Depending on the disease, there are different ways to appeal the 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.
Entry ban due to curable diseases
An entry ban due to curable diseases can be appealed and lifted, and we will tell you how to do this using Russian law.
Curable diseases include tuberculosis, syphilis, and leprosy. If you undergo a course of therapy, a person can become completely healthy.
The entry ban due to tuberculosis can be lifted to complete recovery and get a medical certificate confirming the absence of the disease.
That is, we must fulfill two conditions: recover and obtain a medical certificate.
Step 1 We undergo therapy and recover
You need to see a doctor and undergo a full course of treatment, then make sure that all the symptoms of the disease have gone away.
Step 2 Obtaining a medical report
This is an important stage. After a foreign citizen has recovered, he must contact a medical institution in his country and receive a certificate that he is healthy.
The medical conclusion must contain:
- Name of the medical institution;
- Date, name of the foreigner;
- Information that the foreigner is healthy;
- Name of the doctor, signature, seal of the doctor and medical institution.
A medical conclusion must be legalized in order for it to be recognized in Russia. To do this, you need to contact the Russian consulate, pay a state fee and they will put an Apostille there.
If an apostille has been placed, it means the conclusion will be recognized in Russia.
Step 3 Application to Rospotrebnadzor
Here our goal is to obtain a temporary entry permit in order to undergo a medical examination in Russia. To do this, you need to send an application to Rospotrebnadzor.
The application must write the following:
- Describe the situation, what happened and why the entry ban was imposed.
- Write that the foreign citizen underwent a course of treatment, recovered and received a conclusion that he has recovered.
- Require that the entry ban be temporarily lifted in order to undergo a medical examination in Russia.
It is very important to attach a scan of the passport with a notarized translation and a medical conclusion that the foreigner received in his country to the application.
An example of an application to Rospotrebnadzor is here.
The authority has 30 days to respond to a foreign citizen’s application, but may respond earlier.
Based on the results of consideration of the application, Rospotrebnadzor will open entry into Russia for the foreigner to undergo a medical examination in Russia.
Step 4 Medical commission in Russia
Next, the foreigner must undergo a medical examination in Russia and confirm the fact that he has recovered. The foreigner will receive another medical conclusion with confirmation. The location of the medical examination depends on the region of Russia where the foreigner is coming.
We recommend arriving in Russia 2-2.5 months after a foreigner has received permission to enter from Rospotrebnadzor. Entry databases can take a long time to update.
Here again you will need to send an application to Rospotrebnadzor so that it lifts the entry ban. It must be attached by a scan of your passport with a notarized translation and a medical conclusion from Russia.
An example of such a statement is here.
Next you need to wait for a response from Rospotrebnadzor. Duration: up to 30 days. Rospotrebnadzor, if all is well, should lift the entry ban.
After the ban is lifted, you also need to wait for the databases to be updated.
What if Rospotrebnadzor has not lifted the entry ban?
Any decision of the authority can be appealed in court. This is a more complex procedure that requires knowledge of procedural law.
In this situation, you need to write an administrative claim to the court with a demand to cancel the decision of Rospotrebnadzor on the entry ban.
The statement of claim is written according to the rules of the procedural law of Russia. In the statement of claim you must write:
- Data of the foreigner (name, surname, passport data, address, date of birth), data of Rospotrebnadzor, they can be found on the website of the authority;
- Description of the main facts, we write when and what happened, that an entry ban was established, foreigner passed a medical examination, etc.
- Legal position. This is the position of a foreigner, why he is right from the point of view of the law. Below we will write useful rules of law.
- Requirements. We ask court to cancel the decision of Rospotrebnadzor on the entry ban.
- In the application to the claim we attach all the documents that we need. (passport with notarized translation, decisions of Rospotrebnadzor, medical conclusions, etc.).
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 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 will help you find the most necessary norms of international law and Russian law to improve your legal position.
What does the court pay attention to?
There are facts that, according to practice, the court pays attention to. If a foreigner has some kind of connection with Russia, then this will be a big plus.
If the foreigner has:
- Close relatives in Russia;
- Real estate in Russia;
- Studies in Russia, works in Russia;
- Has a business in Russia or has invested in the Russian economy.
If these facts exist, then they need to be written in the statement of claim or applications to Rospotrebnadzor.
Based on the results of consideration of the claim, the court may cancel the decision of Rospotrebnadzor and lift the entry ban.
Entry ban due to incurable illness
HIV cannot be cured, but you can undergo treatment to keep the disease at a low, non-dangerous level. A foreigner must do this.
An entry ban due to HIV can be appealed in court, because Rospotrebnadzor will not lift such a ban.
Use our tips on how to write a statement of claim to the court that we gave above. Here it will also be important whether the foreigner has a connection with Russia (relatives, work, study, etc.). You also need to write that the foreigner is undergoing a course of treatment, with the help of which he is not dangerous to society.
The court decision must then be sent with an application to Rospotrebnadzor with a request to lift the ban on entry by court decision. An example of such a statement is here.
If the ban is lifted, then you need to wait, the entry databases must be updated.
Conclusion
The procedure for appealing an entry ban has many legal nuances that an ordinary person may not know. Only a lawyer specializing in migration law can help you correctly appeal an entry ban due to illness, prepare a legal position, statements and a claim.