“Previously, a foreign citizen found guilty of these kinds of religious offenses faced only a minor administrative fine,” says Voice of the Martyrs Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. “But beginning in November, these amendments to Federal Law No. 294-FZ maintain the fines but add a mandatory requirement for administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation. The mandatory requirement means that courts are legally prohibited from waiving the expulsion based on factors like the individual’s length of residence or family status in Russia.” 

Representative Foley says that means even a long-time foreign resident of Russia could face mandatory expulsion for engaging in what the law defines as “illegal missionary activities”, even if the resident is not a missionary but is an ordinary person having a public conversation based on faith or inviting a neighbor to church. “Even being married to a Russian citizen doesn’t shield a foreigner from expulsion under these new amendments,” she says. 

Under the new amendments, police officers can detain a foreigner suspected of a religious offense, investigate the violation, and submit the case to a court. Only a judge has the authority to formally hand down the verdict, which will now include both the mandatory fine and the order for administrative expulsion. For the 45 offenses listed in the law, including the religious offenses, the judge is legally prohibited from waiving the expulsion order.  

Representative Foley says her organization believes that foreigners from evangelical groups like Baptists and Pentecostals are most likely to face difficulty under the new amendments because of the tendency of such groups to engage in outdoor evangelism and casual conversations about faith.  

She notes that there is one “loophole” in the new law. 

“Foreign citizens who sign a contract and serve in the Russian Armed Forces cannot be deported,” she says.