How to Check Russia’s Register of Controlled Persons — and Challenge an Incorrect Entry

Updated 3 August 2026.

Russia’s Register of Controlled Persons can turn an immigration-record error into an immediate legal and practical crisis. A person entered in the Register may face restrictions on banking, marriage, driving, property transactions, business registration and movement within Russia. Inclusion also activates the statutory “expulsion regime,” even if the person has not received an individual paper notice.

This article explains how to check the Register, identify the reason for an entry, request its correction and, where necessary, challenge the entry and the underlying decision in court.

Note. This article states Russian law as in force on 3 August 2026. It reflects Federal Law No. 115-FZ in the edition dated 26 June 2026, including amendments effective from 26 July 2026. Amendments scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2027 are not treated as current law.

What is the Register?

The Register of Controlled Persons — Reestr kontroliruemykh lits / Реестр контролируемых лиц, or RKL — is maintained by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, or MVD. It has operated since 5 February 2025 and records foreign nationals and stateless persons considered to be staying or residing in Russia without a lawful basis.

Inclusion is not a criminal conviction. It is a migration-control status. Nevertheless, the consequences are serious: the expulsion regime begins on the date of inclusion and ends only when the person’s information is removed.

Under Article 31.2 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ, inclusion may follow:

• expiry or cancellation of a visa, residence permit or authorised period of stay;
• an entry ban, deportation decision, administrative-expulsion order or decision declaring the person’s presence undesirable;
• an unlawful border crossing or readmission without a lawful basis to remain;
• certain negative refugee or asylum decisions;
• termination of Russian citizenship without another lawful immigration status; or
• receipt by the MVD of certain criminal or administrative decisions.

The source of the entry is therefore critical. The Register may contain a simple identity error, but it may also accurately reflect a separate decision that remains legally effective.

Why immediate action is necessary

Restrictions apply from the date of inclusion. A controlled person may be prohibited from:

• registering a company or becoming an individual entrepreneur;
• acquiring or registering real estate or vehicles;
• driving or obtaining a Russian driving licence;
• marrying;
• changing their place of residence without permission; or
• leaving the relevant region except for departure from Russia.

Banks must generally refuse to open accounts and perform many transactions. Limited exceptions include mandatory payments, incoming transfers and cash withdrawals of up to 30,000 rubles per month.

The MVD may also conduct document checks, fingerprinting and monitoring, summon the person for reporting, restrict movement and, in certain cases, detain the person or place them in a special immigration facility.

A complaint or court claim does not automatically suspend these restrictions. Interim judicial protection must usually be requested separately.

How to check the Register

1. Use an official service

The Register can be checked free of charge through:

• the official MVD website; or
• the relevant service on the Gosuslugi state-services portal.

Avoid unofficial migration databases, commercial websites and messaging bots.

2. Enter the details exactly

The official query requires:

• surname, first name and patronymic, where applicable;
• date of birth;
• series and number of the identity document; and
• the document’s date of issue.

The system returns a real-time answer stating whether matching information is present or absent.

Spelling and transliteration matter. Use the name exactly as it appears in the passport and Russian migration records. Where different Cyrillic versions have been used, conduct separate searches. If the passport was replaced, also check the former passport details where available.

3. Preserve the result

Save a screenshot or PDF showing:

• the identifiers entered;
• the result;
• the date and time; and
• the official website or service heading.

A negative result is not proof that the person’s immigration status is lawful. It only confirms that no matching entry was returned at that moment.

The public database must normally be updated within 24 hours after information is entered into or removed from the internal Register. Where lawful status was granted very recently, a second check after that period may be useful.

Importantly, Article 31.2 treats a foreign national as notified from the date the information is published on the MVD website. Receipt of a letter, SMS message or bank refusal is not required.

What to do if the result says “information present”

The public service provides only a binary answer. It does not explain why the person was included.

The person should immediately submit a written request to the territorial MVD migration unit asking for:

1. the date and statutory ground for inclusion;
2. the number and date of the underlying decision;
3. the authority and official that issued it;
4. a copy of the decision and evidence of notification;
5. the identity-document details associated with the entry; and
6. the MVD unit responsible for the record.

Most cases fall into one of three categories.

Identity or data error

The Register may contain an incorrect date of birth, defective transliteration, old passport number, duplicate record or data belonging to another person with a similar name.

The application should identify each discrepancy and attach documents proving the correct identity. Foreign-language documents may require a certified Russian translation.

Failure to process a ground for removal

The original inclusion may have been lawful, but the person may later have:

• left Russia;
• acquired a lawful basis for staying or residing;
• obtained a temporary identity document as a stateless person; or
• secured cancellation or judicial invalidation of the underlying decision.

These circumstances may require exclusion under Article 31.2(7).

An unlawful underlying decision

The Register may correctly reproduce an operative entry ban, deportation order or undesirability decision, while that decision itself is unlawful.

In that situation, a request simply asking the MVD to “delete the entry” may fail. The underlying act must be cancelled by the issuing authority or declared unlawful by a court.

Administrative correction

A reasoned application should be filed with the territorial MVD migration unit responsible for the person’s place of registration, stay or actual location. A parallel complaint may be sent to the higher regional MVD authority.

Use a method that proves submission: personal filing with an incoming stamp, registered post with a contents list, or an authenticated official electronic channel.

Depending on the case, attach:

• current and former passports;
• certified translations;
• migration card and registration notices;
• visa or residence permit;
• confirmation that a status application was accepted before expiry;
• a decision extending the permitted stay;
• border-crossing records;
• refugee or asylum documents;
• a decision cancelling the act behind the entry; and
• evidence of practical consequences, such as a bank refusal.

The documents must establish the specific legal basis for exclusion.

The application should request disclosure of the legal and factual grounds, correction of inaccurate data, exclusion from the Register under Article 31.2(7), correction of related information systems and written confirmation of completion.

Where another authority issued the underlying decision, a separate complaint or cancellation request must be sent to that authority. The MVD cannot necessarily invalidate another agency’s decision.

Once the MVD receives accepted information establishing a statutory ground for exclusion, removal from the internal Register should occur no later than one working day. The public service should then be updated within 24 hours.

However, determining whether the submitted evidence establishes such a ground may take longer. A general written appeal is ordinarily considered within 30 days and may, in exceptional circumstances, be extended by up to another 30 days.

Challenging the entry in court

Court action should be considered where:

• the MVD refuses to correct an obvious error;
• it fails to remove the entry despite conclusive evidence;
• the underlying decision is unlawful; or
• deportation, detention or another coercive measure is imminent.

Choose the correct procedure

Most decisions, actions or failures to act by the MVD are challenged under Chapter 22 of the Russian Code of Administrative Judicial Procedure ("Кодекс административного судопроизводства"), or KAS RF ("КАС РФ").

There are important exceptions. An administrative-expulsion order issued in administrative-offence proceedings must be appealed under Chapter 30 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The appeal period is only ten days from delivery or receipt of the order.

A criminal conviction must be challenged under criminal procedure. The KAS cannot replace a procedure specifically prescribed by another procedural code.

Challenge the correct act

Depending on the circumstances, the claim may need to challenge:

• the entry ban, deportation decision or undesirability decision;
• the act of including or retaining the person in the Register;
• the MVD’s failure to remove the entry; or
• a related control measure.

The authority that issued the underlying decision and the territorial MVD may need to be named separately as defendants or interested parties.

The claimant may ask the court to declare the underlying decision unlawful, declare continued retention in the Register unlawful and order the competent authority to remedy the violation.

Challenging only the database entry while leaving the source decision in force would be insufficient.

Observe the filing period

The general KAS filing period is three months from the date on which the person learned that their rights had been violated. A continuing failure to act may be challenged while the authority remains obliged to act and for three months after that obligation ends.

Because the law treats website publication as notification, the authority may argue that the period began before the person discovered the entry through a bank refusal or other consequence.

Special decisions may have shorter periods — for example, the ten-day period for appealing an administrative-expulsion order ("постановление об административном выдворении") is particularly important.

Court, fee and interim protection

An ordinary Chapter 22 claim is generally heard by a district or city court. It may usually be filed at the respondent authority’s location or, in many individual cases, at the claimant’s place of residence.

As at 3 August 2026, the state fee for an individual challenging a non-normative act, decision, action or failure to act is generally 3,000 Rubles. Statutory exemptions, reductions or deferrals may be available.

Filing a claim does not itself stop deportation. Where enforcement is imminent, the claimant should separately request preliminary protective measures, such as suspension of the contested decision or a prohibition on forced removal until judgment.

The application should explain the immediate risk, including detention, deportation, family separation or loss of access to essential funds.

After removal

After receiving confirmation that the entry has been removed:

1. repeat the official check after the 24-hour update period;
2. save the new “information absent” result;
3. retain the MVD decision or final court judgment;
4. provide those documents to banks and other organisations still relying on the old result; and
5. request a new official verification.

Removal ends the restrictions arising specifically from Register status. It does not automatically cancel unrelated restrictions imposed by another valid decision.

Common mistakes

Do not wait for a paper notice: publication on the MVD website may constitute legal notification.

Do not challenge only the Register entry if an underlying entry ban, deportation order or undesirability decision remains effective.

Do not assume that migration registration, employment or a lease independently proves lawful status.

Do not assume that filing a complaint or claim suspends restrictions or deportation.

Finally, the temporary regularisation arrangements introduced in 2025 expired on 10 September 2025. They are not a continuing migration amnesty in 2026.

This article provides general legal information only. The applicable procedure and deadline depend on the specific decision that caused the entry and the documents in the individual migration file.

Need legal help? Feel free to contact us:
Tel: +7 909 961-19-09
Email: legalsolutions@inbox.ru
Visit us: Moscow, Zubovskiy bulvar, building 4/1, office 308



You might also like the articles:

Temporary residence permit in Russia
Permanent residence permit in Russia
Deportation and removal from Russia
Educational Temporary Residence Permit in Russia