International migrants navigate their way in a legal space in the countries of destination, and must comply with various laws and regulations to obtain work authorization, residence registration, and maintain authorized documentary status. Law power affects people in the home countries as well. The presentation builds upon ethnographic research in Tajikistan, and discusses recent changes in Russian migration laws, introduction of re-entry bans, and the meaning of the new travel restrictions for Tajik migrants who maintained physical, social, and symbolic connections with Russia over time.