Migration quotas aim to provide Azerbaijani citizens with jobs: official
By Nigar Orujova
The number of foreign nationals visiting Azerbaijan has increased in recent years, head of the State Migration Service Firudin Nabiyev said at a meeting with members of the Caspian European Integration Business Club on May 29.
Nabiyev said that if foreign citizens want to work in Azerbaijan, they must follow the country's laws.
"633 foundations and organizations were inspected in 2012. Illegal migrants engaged in illegal labor activity were revealed in some 322 of them," he said.
Nabiyev emphasized that businesses hiring foreign citizens must obtain a relevant permit.
He said the quota for labor migrants was 11,900 in 2011 and reached 12,000 in 2012.
The aim of setting quotas is to primarily provide Azerbaijani citizens with jobs.
On May 24, the Azerbaijani parliament passed the Migration Code in its second reading.
Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and State Building Ali Huseynli, who presented the updated bill, said the Code sets standards for public policy in migration, regulation of the migration processes, as well as rules on the legal status of foreigners and persons without citizenship in Azerbaijan.
According to the Code, the term of the temporary stay of foreigners or stateless persons who came to Azerbaijan with a visa should not exceed the time indicated in the visa, while the people who arrived in the country under a visa-free regime should not overstay the 90-day period, with the exception of the cases envisaged in international agreements joined by Azerbaijan. Foreigners and stateless people should undergo registration at the place of residence after three days' sojourn in the country.
After the Code is approved, 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.