MOSCOW, April 4 (RIA Novosti) - This year has more than doubled the number of aliens applying for employment permits in Moscow, announced Anatoli Baturkin, migration service chief for the city police board.
Employers and immigrants applied on 24,000 occasions, January and February last, as against 11,000 in the same months 2004. More than that, this year's applications came from nationals of 83 countries, and from 76 last year. The greatest part of applicants have come from China, Vietnam, Turkey, Ukraine and Moldova, Mr. Baturkin went on.
The labor permit boom is due to the latest legislative amendments on fining illegal employment. A new clause added to the Criminal Code, too, to envisage underhand employers jailed for a term up to five years. Criminal proceedings have been launched on four cases for today, added the police officer.
