Azerbaijan expected to pass Migration Code soon
By Nigar Orujova
Migration issues will be regulated by a single document in Azerbaijan, a senior lawmaker said Thursday.
Ali Huseynli, chairman of the Azerbaijani parliamentary committee on legal policy and state building, said at a meeting on migration reforms in Baku that the Presidential Administration has introduced a draft Migration Code to the parliament. Within the next month the Code will be discussed in the committees and at a plenary session of the Milli Majlis.
"It is planned to approve the Code at the spring session of the parliament. The main purpose of its adoption is to regulate migration processes by a single document," Huseynli said.
After its approval, both foreigners and citizens of Azerbaijan will be governed only by this legal act, which is expected to be very effective. The code will regulate not only migration issues regarding foreign nationals, but also migration within the country.
The state migration law allows immigrants to work in Azerbaijan for five years by paying 1,000 manats ($1,272) in taxes every year.
The statistics shows that labor migrants mostly came to Azerbaijan from neighboring Turkey and Georgia. Turkish migrants are mainly involved in the construction sector.
Azerbaijan with its developing construction sector has a high demand for workforce, unlike Europe with the lower scale of construction work.