The numbers did not pass: sales of SIM cards to foreigners have almost stopped in the Russian Federation

The new rules for the sale of SIM cards to foreigners have practically reduced their sale to migrants to zero, Izvestia has learned. Stricter conditions will help combat mobile fraud and make life more difficult for illegal immigrants — just recently, about 80% of the SIM cards they bought went to the "gray" market and were used for illegal activities, experts say. These are not the only measures taken by the state to combat fraud and illegal migration, they add. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

What does a foreigner need now to buy a Russian SIM card

A high-ranking source in the cellular market and one of their major sellers told Izvestia that foreigners who come to the Russian Federation have actually stopped buying SIM cards from domestic operators. This is confirmed by an interlocutor of the editorial office, who is close to a partner company of several mobile operators.

In January-February 2025, sales of SIM cards on foreign passports decreased fivefold compared to the last months of 2024, a source in the cellular market estimated. Earlier, according to him, the sale of SIM cards to foreigners accounted for 10-30% of sales of contracts of Russian mobile operators. Now we are talking about single purchases of Sim cards by migrants, the seller claims. It has become especially difficult for guests from abroad to connect eSIM, the use of which in the Russian Federation is still largely experimental, another Izvestia interlocutor noted.

Photo: TASS/Egor Aleev

Izvestia's sources attribute the sharp decline to the new rules for the sale of SIM cards to migrants, which entered into force on January 1, 2025. It follows from the amendments to the law "On Communications" that now a non-citizen of the Russian Federation who wants to use Russian cellular communications must register on "Public Services". At the same time, he needs to obtain a either from a Russian employer, or from the Social Fund of Russia (SFR) or the IFC SNILS and register in the Unified Biometric System (EBS) at one of the bank branches. A notarized passport translation will also be required. After that, he will be able to purchase no more than 10 SIM cards at the mobile phone store. You will not be able to move the card from one device to another: upon purchase, the operator must require the subscriber to provide the identification number of the mobile device in which it will be located (IMEI).

Foreigners who have arrived in Russia are already complaining on social media about problems with obtaining Russian SIM cards. An Italian citizen who visited the MTS communication salon with an interpreter was redirected to the MFC. There they learned that it would take several days to complete the necessary documents for the purchase of a SIM card. Another foreigner, a Swiss citizen, needed to restore an account in a Russian bank, and for this he needed a Russian SIM card. But, as the Swiss found out, he will be able to register with the EBS by entering voice data only in Russian, which he does not know.

Photo: TASS/Oleg Yelkov

— The decline in sales of SIM cards to foreigners is a natural result of stricter control over their turnover as part of the fight against cybercrime. At the same time, bona fide foreign citizens continue to buy SIM cards according to the new rules," the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia. — Starting from January 1, 2025, the procedure for purchasing SIM cards by foreigners in Russia has become stricter.

The new measures are aimed at combating the spread of "gray" SIM cards and their distribution channels, as well as preventing fraudulent schemes. The changes do not apply to Russians — we are talking only about foreign citizens and stateless persons, the department added.

Disconnect from the rules: Russians will be able to set a ban on buying SIM cards without their presence

Will the impossibility of contracting by intermediaries stop fraudsters and how did the industry feel about the initiative?

Izvestia has sent requests to mobile operators.

— According to the new rules, you cannot purchase SIM cards without biometrics, SNILS and much more — this makes the market more transparent and controlled. But it naturally cuts off all those who do not have the right to purchase them, including illegal migrants," said an employee of the SIM card company.

Photo: TASS/dpa/picture-alliance/Paul Zinken

Sales of SIM cards to foreigners have dropped to almost zero - migrant workers solve this issue somehow within their community, and law—abiding tourists found themselves virtually without connections, said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group. Undoubtedly, there will also be a "gray" market for SIM cards for migrants "with their own hands", but these will most likely be hundreds of contracts against tens of thousands earlier, he believes.

Who are affected by restrictions on the implementation of cellular contracts

Since the beginning of 2024, the number of illegal migrants in Russia has increased by 40%, as of October 1 last year there were more than 740 thousand such people in Russia, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said earlier. In total, there were more than 6.5 million foreigners in Russia at that time.

The decline in sales of SIM cards for foreign passports may indicate a real level of illegal migration in Russia, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Kryazhev

— Law-abiding foreigners who have arrived in the Russian Federation, as a rule, already have Russian cellular numbers, they do not need SIM cards in large numbers, for example, to perform some illegal operations. Again, they can go through the complicated procedure necessary to obtain SIM cards. But those who are in the Russian Federation illegally and, therefore, do not want to contact certain government agencies are now cut off from official sales channels," the expert points out.

Sergey Polovnikov, the head of the Content-Review project, noted that the new rules practically blocked the supply of SIM cards by migrants to the "gray" market. About 80% of the SIM cards bought by illegal immigrants did not go to real people, but to SIM boxes (devices for various kinds of illegal actions, for example, for number substitution), fraudulent and spam contact centers, and were used for other illegal practices, he believes.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko

The restrictions apply to all categories of citizens of other states and stateless persons, with the exception of diplomatic workers and their family members, officials of international organizations, specifies the rules introduced by the CEO of the law firm Enterprise Legal Solutions Anna Barabash.

— Accordingly, regardless of the purpose and duration of stay in the territory of the Russian Federation, tourists, migrants, expats and other categories of persons are subject to these restrictions. For the same tourists, taking into account the complexity and time required to complete the authentication procedure, this creates insurmountable obstacles to purchasing a Russian SIM card. This means that this practice may disappear in the foreseeable future. I do not think that Russian operators will suffer any losses in this regard, because at the same time their incomes will increase due to the provision of roaming services to foreign citizens, she believes.

This measure will at least limit the growth rate of the database of phone numbers used by fraudsters for criminal purposes, as it is mainly replenished with numbers registered to representatives of marginal segments of the population, tourists and migrant workers, added Anna Barabash.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev

In general, the rules for the sale of SIM cards are being tightened all over the world, said Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research. In particular, in India from February 2025, both locals and foreigners can buy a SIM card only after registering in the national biometric system UIDAI. Not only does the retailer have to verify the customer's SIM card number in UIDAI, they also have to photograph it from 10 different angles. In January 2025, the telecom regulator in Thailand, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), gave the country's cellular operators 180 days to create a system for mandatory delivery of biometric data when purchasing a SIM card for everyone, the expert continued. Biometric identification is also mandatory in Tanzania and China.

— So far, there is too little practice of collecting biometrics when selling SIM cards in the world, but it is obvious that this creates inconveniences for visitors, requiring extra time and money," he noted.

But will it allow to defeat the SIM-boxes and other types of phone fraud are still a question: attackers, as a rule, find new ways to get additional SIM cards, the expert concluded.