For the first time, the passport as a document certifying identity and the right to "leave" or cross the border, was used by the Russian state from the middle of the XVII century. and initially served as a certificate of release from prison. The decree of October 30, 1719 forbade residents of Russia to leave their places of residence and service without a legal form or passport. The establishment of the passport system in Russia is associated with the signing of Peter I in 1724 of a normative act called "Poster". The passport legislation of the XVIII century was formed primarily as a mechanism for the prosecution of fugitives and deserters. Later, the passport's functions were expanded. Thus, according to the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna of October 11, 1755, border customs were required to make notes in passports about crossing the border. In the XIX century. the legislation regulating the registration of the population and the passport regime became the legal basis of the immigration control system of the Russian Empire, which consists of three main elements that have developed in the past: border control at the entrance to and exit from Russia of various categories of the population; "places of residence", in which the place of residence of Russian and foreign citizens was established using various population registration systems; sanctions against violators of the passport regime.

The active penetration of foreign entrepreneurs into the Russian Far East after the opening of the free trade zone (porto Franco) in 1856, which lasted until 1913, forced the Russian authorities to introduce special passport and visa rules in this region. On August 18, 1860, the Ministry of Internal Affairs handed over to the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia "The Highest Order with the application of the rules on issuing passports to foreigners" dated July 29, 1860.

According to these rules, foreigners were allowed to enter Russia both on national passports and on special tickets issued at Russian missions and consulates abroad (Articles 486 and 498 of the Passport Charter). Every foreigner who came to Russia was required to report to the governor and obtain a residence permit or transfer to the empire. These documents had to indicate the purpose of arrival, religion and marital status of the foreigner. A foreigner arriving in Russia by sea received documents from the local mayor.

The legitimation pass issued by the Russian consulate had to indicate the age, height, hair color, size of eyebrows and nose, eye color, type of chin and special signs. In the passport - citizenship, place of birth, marital status and type of activity that the foreigner is engaged in. Since November 21, 1860, the text of foreign passports was given both in Russian and in a foreign language [GAIO, d.10, l. 20-26, 39].

At the same time, the issue of the period for which foreigners can stay in Russia on their own business was resolved. Foreigners arriving in the Russian Far East on their own terms

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national passports were allowed for six months not to apply for "a special type established for foreigners staying in the empire." Foreigners who stayed in Russia for up to one and a half years were released abroad through any border point using their own passports (which were marked by the governor or mayor in Russian ports), as well as certificates of the local police authorities [GAIO, d.10, l. 103-104].

It should be noted that the directives aimed at the Far East then corresponded to the passport and visa rules adopted in the European part.

But few foreigners arriving in the Russian Far East at that time took advantage of these rules. Thus, in the 1960s and 70s of the 19th century, thousands of Koreans fled Korea secretly from their authorities and contrary to the laws that forbade them to leave the kingdom on pain of death. Therefore, Korean migrants initially did not have national passports. As a rule, Chinese citizens who temporarily visited Russia for seasonal work also did not have a passport: until 1893, they were forbidden to leave their homeland without special permission from the authorities.

Russian authorities have sought to streamline passport and visa controls. From May 26, 1867, a new passport model was introduced in the form of a book with two coupons: one was cut off at the entrance, the other at the exit. Due to the lack of customs offices in Eastern Siberia, border commissioners and other officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were responsible for buying coupons and viewing passports. Sometimes this was done by the commanders of Cossack detachments [GAIO, D. 31, cardboard 2030, l. 8-9].

October 12, 1867 was followed by another innovation concerning the issuance of passports on the Russian-Chinese border. The Kyakhta border Commissioner was now able to detain suspicious foreigners and report them to the military Governor of the Trans-Baikal Region. Residents of the border zone (Russians, Koreans, Chinese) were allowed to cross the border without having foreign passports. However, they had to purchase trade tickets, in which their identity was marked [GAIO, D. 31, cardboard 2030, l. 37].

In the instructions of the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia to the Governor of the Primorsky Region dated October 31, 1868, it was reported that only three roads were open to Chinese traveling to Eastern Siberia, namely through the Posyet Bay, the Munirai Valley and the village of Kamen-Rybalov. Every Chinese crossing the border was required to have a ticket from their government. On this occasion, the chief of the Suifong district was ordered to "enter into explanations" with the Chinese authorities.

Finally, in 1884, the Russian administration adopted temporary rules on the procedure for issuing Russian passports to the Chinese. According to these rules, the Chinese were divided into two groups. The first category included those who settled in the region before 1860, they were issued perpetual passports indicating their permanent place of residence and occupation with the payment of 80 kopecks of stamp duty. The second category consisted of Chinese who temporarily arrived in Russia to work. They had to comply with the general rules of entry and residence for foreigners, and cross the border only in certain places where their passports were issued with a payment of 30 kopecks. collection point. According to the visa passport, a Chinese person had the right to live in the region for one month, and then had to get a Russian residence permit for 1 RUB. 20 kopecks. Tickets were issued for a period of one year in cities by the police chief, in districts-by district chiefs and district bailiffs, in villages-by atamans. Stowaways and passport-free foreigners were sent abroad by the Russian authorities. Failure to obtain the necessary documents was subject to a fine of 5 rubles. [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1060, l. 6].

From May 1, 1885, passport and visa regulations were introduced in the Primorye Region, and from August 1, 1886 - in the Amur region. Since 1899, the rules also applied to the Trans-Baikal Region. Based on these rules, the Amur Governor-General was granted the right to tax Chinese and Koreans if they "did not own property

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in the region and did not produce trade turnover" with certain fees [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d. 1140, l. 25].

The passport system was dissatisfied with the Heilongjiang jianzun (governor), who repeatedly appealed to the Russian authorities in 1886-1887 with a request not to impose passport and other fees on Chinese citizens (at that time - 1 rub. 10 kopecks), referring to the benefits granted to the Chinese in Russia by the Aigun Treaty of 1858. It is known that Chinese merchants before and after the conclusion of the Russo-Chinese treaty of 1860 (Peking) paid trade duties, and the fee was used to pay for stamped paper, from which passports are made [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d. 1140, l. 69-88].

In 1895, the passport and visa fee for Chinese citizens was increased to 5 rubles. while maintaining the fine in the same amount. This new fee consisted of a tax to the treasury (4 rubles. 10 kopecks), a fee for office expenses (30 kopecks) and stamp duty (60 kopecks). In 1902, the order of passport approval was changed. Due to the fact that a large number of criminals entered under false documents, the right to issue passports was also assigned to Foreign Ministry officials who worked abroad and directly encountered Chinese workers. For the sighting, 2 rubles and 80 kopecks were charged. The visa allowed a Chinese citizen to live on a national passport in the Russian East for one month, after which he had to purchase a residence permit for 5 rubles and 15 kopecks. [RGVIA, 1050, l. 114 vol.].

The introduction of customs in the Far East in 1901 led to the publication, at the initiative of the Ministry of Finance, of an article in the Passport Charter, according to which only customs agencies and ranks of a separate border guard corps subordinate to the Ministry of Finance could pass persons coming from abroad [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, L. 14].

In 1901-1905 the validity of these rules was extended by imperial decrees, and in 1905 - by the Government of the Russian Federation. it was extended on the initiative of the Amur Governor-General until January 1, 1910.

In the run-up to the end of these rules in 1910, the provincial Russian authorities tried to enforce stricter passport and visa laws for Chinese and Korean citizens.

On June 3, 1908, the Amur Governor-General P. F. Unterberger submitted to Comrade Minister of Internal Affairs Kryzhanovsky the final edited "Draft rules for admission to the Amur Governor-General and the Trans-Baikal Region and residence of Chinese and Koreans". It proposed: to force the Chinese and Koreans to purchase annual residence tickets within the Russian Empire at a price of 10 rubles. for an adult (earlier than 5 rubles); renew the ticket after one week after the deadline specified in it; do not allow sick, old and generally disabled Chinese and Koreans to enter the territory of the region; allow various officials to send Chinese and Koreans abroad or charge them fines; prohibit individuals and organizations from renting out housing, contracts and provide rental services to Chinese and Koreans who do not have the appropriate permission from the Russian authorities. In case of non-compliance with this order, it was planned to charge violators 10 rubles of a fine [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d. 2755, l. 49-50].

In June 1908, the head of the region, without waiting for the approval of the rules in St. Petersburg, banned the entry of Chinese workers to the region without purchasing Russian tickets. But at the request of the gold miners of the Zey Mountain district, the Minister of Internal Affairs, under pressure from the Ministry of Finance, canceled the order of the Governor-General. At the same time, in the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Internal Affairs managed to support his subordinate by legalizing in July 1908 his right to expel suspicious foreigners from the region [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d. 2755, l.132 - 132 vol.].

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially supported the idea of introducing new passport and visa regulations. The Foreign Ministry believed that Russia as an independent state

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there remains "complete freedom to adopt those measures that restrict the rights of foreigners in a certain part of the Empire, as long as these measures (were) extended to all foreign subjects without exception" [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d. 2755, l. 144 vol.]. On February 1, 1909, in a letter of confidence to P. A. Stolypin was informed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs that " prohibitive measures alone are absolutely not enough to actually keep the region in our hands." Before introducing new passport and visa rules, the minister suggested that they should "raise the moral level of provincial grassroots authorities in direct contact with migrants, and completely close the northern territories of Primorye to foreign migrants, forming a separate Kamchatka region there" [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d.2755, l. 94].

On April 18 and May 27, 1909, the Council of Ministers discussed the issue. The Chairman of the Council, P. A. Stolypin, managed to influence the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Council of Ministers decided to grant the Minister of Internal Affairs the right to come up with a legislative initiative to introduce "Rules on the admission of Chinese and Korean subjects to the Amur General Government and the Trans-Baikal Region" [RGVIA, d.7050, l. 50-52].

But representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs triumphed early. On August 4, 1909, when a meeting of the special commission of the Council of Ministers was held, it was decided to continue the practice of collecting taxes from the Korean and Chinese population until October 1, 1910. At the same time, at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it found it necessary to transfer the right of passport and visa collection from the jurisdiction of the Governor-General to officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry [AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d.2755, l. 175-177].

The leadership of the Amur Region, represented by the new (since 1911) Governor-General N. L. Gondatti and the Minister of Internal Affairs, continued to insist on tightening the passport and visa legislation in the east of the empire.

On February 15, 1911, the Governor-General issued an order obliging Chinese people to hand over their national passports to the police stations, without which they were not allowed to work [Denisov, 1913, p. 23]. This order stated that owners of sea and river vessels were prohibited from landing Chinese citizens who did not have a consular visa in their passports on the territory of the General Government. For violation of the order, three months in prison or a fine of 3,000 rubles were required [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 999, l. 63]. In April 1912, N. L. Gondatti changed the passport rules that allowed Chinese citizens to obtain a residence permit in Russia for one month and ordered them to buy it back immediately after arriving in Russia (Nesterova, 2001, p. 117). For Chinese people living in the cities of Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk, Nikolaevsk and Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, according to the decree of April 12, 1912, personal books were introduced, the cost of which was 2 rubles. 75 kopecks. In addition, Asian workers in the mines were required to purchase personal workbooks. When they were purchased, a hospital fee was paid [Materials..., 1916, p. 39 ^ 0].

These orders of the Governor-General of the Amur Region are reflected in the relevant legislative acts-articles of the Siberian Institution and the Charter on Passports. Thus, according to Article 1120 of the Passport Charter, foreigners found in the Far East without appropriate documents had to pay a fine within two weeks, and if they did not do so, they could be prosecuted (arrest for three months) [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1059, l. 183]. According to Article 1230 of the Passport Charter, not only foreign workers were subject to monetary penalties, but also shipowners on whose ships foreigners arrived, as well as drovers and cabmen who brought foreigners to their place of work [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d.1059, l. 249].

In May 1912, N. L. Gondatti submitted to the Minister of Internal Affairs a draft law "On the conditions of settling in the Amur General-Governorate and the Trans-Baikal region of the Irkutsk General-Governorate of foreign subjects and their residence within these regions". The main points of the project were the following: to allow foreigners to enter the empire through the checkpoints defined by law on the basis of the approved ros-

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Russian consuls of national passports; in their absence, allow migrants to enter after they have purchased a Russian ticket; Russian residence tickets should be issued for a period of one year for a fee of 10 rubles. In addition, charge 75 kopecks of stamp duty and 2 rubles. 25 kopecks. the consular fee. Seven days after the end of the validity period of the ticket, it had to be renewed in the institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the region; foreigners - the feeble - minded, mentally ill, chronically and contagiously ill, minors (up to 15 years), or those without a family-were forbidden access to the region. In addition, entry to Russia was restricted for disabled persons with less than 20 rubles for each family member; Russian residence tickets could be issued by customs and gendarmerie-police departments of railways, cities and rural areas within the border line; passengers traveling through the region in transit, railway employees were exempt from purchasing Russian tickets. roads and foreign ships; foreign nationals who did not purchase a ticket and refused to pay a special fine (10 rubles). in addition to the purchase of a ticket), were sent abroad; foreign citizens who were punished for crimes and misdemeanors within Russian borders, vagrancy and the spread of diseases, using financial assistance from other persons and organizations, could be sent abroad by local authorities. In addition, the regional administration itself should have received the right to exempt certain foreigners from paying a fine; all private, public and government persons and institutions located in the region are prohibited from keeping foreigners without a ticket as tenants, art workers, tenants, contractors and workers. For violation of this rule, a 100-ruble fine was threatened [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, l. 40-41].

Based on these proposals, the Ministry of Internal Affairs submitted a draft law introducing new passport and visa rules in the region. According to the provisions of the draft law, the so-called immigration fund was created at the expense of passport fees and fines from foreign citizens, intended for administrative, police and medical and sanitary expenses related to the admission and residence of foreign citizens in the region. The Immigration Fund was supposed to operate on the basis of Article 642 of the General Provincial Institution and Article 41 of the Medical Charter. These articles gave the right to make additional payments to doctors, paramedics and police officials at the expense of the fund [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, l. 38]. The Ministry of Internal Affairs bill on the immigration Law was considered in March 1913 at a special interdepartmental meeting chaired by N. L. Gondatti. The meeting supported the Ministry of Internal Affairs by a majority vote and referred the bill to the Council of Ministers for discussion. At a meeting on April 9, 1913, the Committee for the Settlement of the Far East presented the "Rules" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs prohibiting foreigners from settling within a radius of 50 versts from the Amur Railway. An exception to these rules was allowed only for foreigners who received a settlement permit from the Irkutsk and Amur governors-General. Foreigners who arrived in the Amur Road area without permission (the rules did not apply to passengers) were removed on the basis of Article 205 of the Statute on Crimes. The expulsion was carried out at the expense of the treasury, while Russian citizens guilty of bringing a foreigner were fined 50 rubles. per person [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1055, l. 154].

The Russian Foreign Ministry opposed the publication of new passport and visa rules. Even before the meeting of the Council of Ministers, in a letter dated April 20, 1913, addressed to the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out the shortcomings of the project. He recommended limiting the influx of foreigners by drawing up a list that would list the social groups of undesirable foreigners and strategic areas where foreign citizens would not have access rights [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d.1055, l. 159]. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was particularly opposed to the provision of the draft law, according to which foreigners were required to take a Russian residence card immediately after crossing the border. This clause contradicted the treaties of Russia with Japan and Germany [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, l. 22].

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As a result of the comments made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs made changes for transit passengers-foreigners and wealthy foreigners. The latter were exempted from obtaining a residence permit if they arrived in Russia in first and second class by sea and rail [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, l. 32]. This was intended to avoid the difficulties caused by the agreements with Japan and Germany, and to preserve the articles of the passport and visa draft on undesirable immigrants [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, l. 33-34].

In April, 1914. The Amur Governor-General N. L. Gondatti, in a memo to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers I. L. Goremykin, proposed to issue new passport and visa rules as a matter of urgency, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs S. D. Sazonov again opposed this [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d.1056, l. 21]. In a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated April 10, 1914, No. 315, the diplomatic department emphasized that there is "an indisputable contractual right to stay in Russia on a national passport for six months from the time of entry into Russian borders" for Japanese and German subjects [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1056, l. 30].

On May 7, 1914, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent another letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which set out its position on the publication of passport and visa rules common to all foreigners. It was noted that in the 1907 treaty between Russia and Japan, Article 3. indicated the existence of a category of "undesirable immigrants" who could be banned from entering. This point, according to the Foreign Ministry, could serve as the basis for migration policy. It was proposed to make a list of categories of foreigners who were forbidden to visit the empire. The collection of increased passport and visa fees, representatives of the diplomatic department noted, is contrary to the treaties, and the article of the rules prohibiting the "mentally ill, disabled and elderly" from coming to the region is generally incomprehensible. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this clause denies the right to travel in Siberia to representatives of the wealthy class and even the Japanese Prime Minister Okuma, as an elderly person who has been deprived of a leg for 30 years [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d.1056, l. 34].

Prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Ministry of Internal Affairs ' initiatives to adopt new passport and visa regulations were rejected by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The situation changed only during the First World War, when there was a shortage of workers and Russia decided to change the passport and visa rules for Chinese citizens that were previously in force.

8 a special journal of the Council of Ministers dated July 30, 1915, included an entry on the temporary cancellation of the Russian ticket (residence permit) [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1059, l. 8-9]. By order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, circulars were sent to the Siberian and Far Eastern governors and mayors on August 29, 1915, stating the cancellation of the Russian residence permit [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1059, l. 9].

In 1916, there was a further change in the passport and visa legislation for Chinese and Koreans. Chairman of the Council of Ministers I. L. Goremykin authorized the Ministry of Agriculture to hold an interdepartmental meeting, and on March 2, 1916, the Ministry of Agriculture submitted to the Council of Ministers a new draft of rules for the admission of foreign workers to the region. According to it, the transfer of foreign workers by whole parties was allowed. The party was to be headed by a headman with a single passing certificate. Sanitary and police supervision of hiring workers was assigned to the Amur Governor-General, who carried it out through the Vladivostok and Khabarovsk information bureaus. Trains with Asian workers were to be accompanied by Russian officials and a 10 - to 15-person convoy. Meals and transportation were paid for by the employer. The transfer of Chinese and Korean workers from one enterprise to another was possible only with the permission of the local administration [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1059, l. 96 vol. - 97].

On March 15 and 16, 1916, the Council of Ministers issued a new regulation on the admission of Asian workers to work outside the Empire. According to it, Chinese and Koreans were skipped

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through border checkpoints in batches upon presentation of a visa-issued passport at the border checkpoint. The headman of the workers ' party handed over to the border authorities not only passports, but also a passing certificate with a list of all members of the party and an indication of the place of work. The party was examined by a Russian doctor and then escorted to the train. During the transportation, a group of Chinese people had to be accompanied by an agent of the information bureau. The workers ' parties were headed by responsible officials of the Field Construction Department, formed on January 10, 1916 by order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Upon arrival, the Chinese were handed over to local police agencies and employers for supervision. The rules of reverse following occurred on the same grounds [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1060, l. 59].

On August 23, 1916, the Council of Ministers, having considered the issue of allowing Chinese people to work in mining enterprises in Eastern Siberia, decided that admission could now be made using national visa-issued passports. The registration of passports was carried out upon submission of lists of specified passports by the gold industry enterprises. 30 kopecks were charged for crossing the border. Within three months from the date of crossing the border, a Chinese worker had to choose a Russian ticket with a payment of 5 rubles and 10 kopecks. Gold miners were required to provide a weekly report on the number of Chinese. In case of settlement, entrepreneurs had to send the Chinese passport to the administration of the mountain district. Instead of a passport, a Chinese person was issued a document on traveling to China [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1059, l. 287].

On September 6, 1916, the Council of Ministers decided to put the matter of hiring Chinese people on stream and decided to entrust the organization and supervision of labor immigration to the CER administration. The Chinese were exempted from collecting a Russian passport, were transported in the fourth class to Russia, and received free food and medical care on the way [AVPRI, f. 148, op. 487, d. 1059, l. 294 ob].

Thus, the Chinese and Koreans did not enjoy the most-favored-nation status in Russia, so a special passport system was introduced for them in the 80s of the XIX century, which performed not only a controlling, but also a fiscal function.

Before the First World War in 1914, the Ministry of Internal Affairs tried, on the one hand, to tighten the system of passport and visa control over Chinese and Koreans, and on the other-to extend it to other foreigners who arrived in the region. But these initiatives were rejected by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The situation changed only during the First World War, when Russia began to lack workers. To attract them from abroad, Russia decided to change the passport and visa rules that were previously in force for Chinese citizens and Korean citizens.

list of literature

Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI).

State Archive of the Irkutsk region (GAIO). F. 24 Main Directorate of Eastern Siberia. Op. 9.

Denisov V. I. Russia in the Far East. St. Petersburg: Riemana Publ., 1913.

Materials on the study of the Amur region. Mining in the Amur region. On reports of mining engineers and other materials for 1914 and 1915, Issue XXIV. Khabarovsk: Printing house of the Office of the Amur Governor-General, 1916.

Nesterova E. I. Chinese immigration. Politics of the Russian Empire and the USA (the second half of the XIX-early XX centuries). Vladivostok. 2001. N 3.

Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA). F. 2000 Glavnoe upravlenie Generalnogo shtaba [Main Directorate of the General Staff]. Op. 1.

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