On June 14th of 2019, the 3rd Seminar and Meeting of the Association of International Students (AIS) was held at Russian State Geological Prospecting University (previously known as Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute (MGRI)). The event is organized jointly with universities, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Border Guard Service.
Among the event’s participants were staff members from more than 70 universities of different regions of Russia, representatives of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudichestvo), the Russian Association of Leading Universities, and the Global Alumni Alliance.
South Ural State University was represented by Marina Davydova, Head of the Immigration Services of the International Office.
The goal of the Seminar and Meeting was to discuss the relevant problems of the stay of foreign citizens studying on the territory of the Russian Federation and the ways of solving these problems.
The Seminar and Meeting was opened with a welcome speech by the MGRI Vice-Rector for International Activity and Regional Collaboration Anastasiya Mashkova, who presented the main fields of activity of Russian State Geological Prospecting University to the guests, and specifically focused on the international collaboration, which, according to her, “is first and foremost related to the necessity of integrating the university into the world educational system and ensuring that the quality of training of MGRI students complies with the world standards”.
After that, the speeches were delivered by: AIS President Adu Yao Nikez; employee of the Control Department of the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service of Russia Vladimir Shiyan; Advisor to the Head of Rossotrudichestvo for Educational Issues Dmitry Guzhelya; President of the Global Alumni Alliance Vladimir Chetiy; Deputy Head of the Department of Migration Registration and Visas Processing of the Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow Grigory Mironov.
Information on promoting the educational services at the international level was presented; the changes in the migration legislation were covered; and the relevant problems, which foreign citizens crossing the state border face, were discussed. Information on the programs of adaptation for foreign citizens in universities was also presented.
As Deputy Head of the Department of Migration Registration and Visas Processing of the Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow Grigory Mironov stressed: “Our common task is the observing of the migration legislation by all the parties participating in this process. It has been important to make sure that the attendees understood the necessity of actively working with international students, so that we could prevent the violations, for which a hosting organization is held responsible, and these are punitive sanctions, which are very tangible for universities”.