20 February 2003
Six hundred Russian migration cards issued at Polish border in first two days
Visa and passport officials have so far issued none, as foreign travelers prefer to use border guards' services, Anatoly Gerasimchuk, who heads the Brest regional police department's passport and visa service, told reporters in Brest on Wednesday.
Under an agreement with Russia, Belarusian border control and police departments are to issue migration cards free of charge, collect them when completed, and send them to Russia.
They are not required to count the number of cards issued and they have no right to force travelers to fill in them. There have been several cases of foreign citizens refusing to fill in migration cards, said Mr. Gerasimchuk.
Each card consists of two slips, one of which is to be sent to Russia, and the other, remain with the Belarusian border control authorities.
Russia's official reasoning behind the migration cards is that they will allow authorities to count the number of foreigners who remain in Russia after their visas have expired, in other words, determine the number of illegal migrants.
The issue of migration cards was launched at almost 60 Belarusian border checkpoints and the interior ministry's offices. Russia, for its part, has pledged to monitor third-country nationals traveling to Belarus through Russia.
An agreement on the issuance of Russian migration cards in Belarus was reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin's January 19-20 stay in Minsk.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news364.html