Russia: Changes to the

Immigration Rules

Who is talking?

Maude Burger-Smith

Peregrine Immigra3on Management

Who is talking?

Ta3ana Andryushechkina

VISTA Foreign Business Support

tandryushechkina@v@s.ru

+7 495 933 7822

Categories, as they were

HQS Highly Qualied Specialists

Work Permit
Standard work permit (Ltd or Branch oce)
Accredita3on card (Representa3ve oce)
CIS na3onal (visa waiver) versions of the above
Registra3on only Belarus, Kazakhstan

Backgroundbefore 2010..
Prior

to 2010 Russian
applica3ons were subject to:

Work permit quota restric3ons

Local labour market search
Company & personal work
permit applica3ons
Legalised degrees
Average of 6 months
processing 3me

Highly Qualified Specialists

- Exempt from quotas and no corporate work permits; simplied

rules, expedited processing (3 weeks)
- Restricted to Russian legal en33es and accredited branch oces of
foreign legal en33es (no Representa3ve oces)
- Applicants annual gross income must exceed two million rubles
(currently around US $30,000) and be paid in Russia
- Increased validity of work permit (3 years)
- Can be issued for mul3ple regions (not restricted to one)
- Tax no3ca3ons every 3 months

Then and now?

2010 to 2014 - likle change
2012 - rumour of language tes3ng requirement

June 2014 - further easing of HQS route in IT industry

12 Dec 2014 SMALL CHANGES

1 Jan 2015 BIG CHANGES!

small

changes?

Star(ng 12th of December 2014 all employers of foreign na(onals are required to:

sign unlimited term agreements with most foreign employees

enter work authoriza3on details into the text of labour agreements
enter medical insurance details into the text of labour agreements

Employers now also have a right to:

transfer a foreign employee to another job posi3on within the company for up
to 1 month within a calendar year without rst applying for a work permit
amendment;
suspend a foreign employee from work ac3vi3es for up to 1 month, should
employee's work permit expire. Previously employers were required to
terminate labour agreements in this case

BIG changes

MORE HQS eligibility Representa3ve oces can now
sponsor HQS permits
NO MORE Russian State Registra3on Chamber
DIFFERENT no3ca3ons
COMPULSORY Russian language, history and basics of
legal knowledge tests for standard work permit/patent
applicants
NEW process for CIS na3onals work patent

COMPULSORY Russian language, history and

basics of legal knowledge tests

Labour Forecast + Quota + Local labour market search + Advance local
medical (as of May 2014) + legalisa3on of university cer3cate +
Corporate and personal work permit approvals = Extended processing
3mes
+++ Russian language, history and legal system tests in RUSSIAN

NEW Work Patent

Issued for the maximum term of 12 months and can be extended once
Allows work for private persons as well as companies***except Branch/Rep
Oces
Income tax is paid by the applicants themselves for the whole period of
employment (max. 12 months) before work patent is issued to them;
Will give right to work in a par3cular Russian region only;
Will not contain job posi3on, which will allow for transfer without need to
amend the document;
Applicant does not require an employer to apply for the ini3al 12 months work
patent, only subsequent extension will have to be sponsored by employer;
Russian language, history and basics of legal knowledge test apply and medical
tes3ng as well as ngerprin3ng procedure remain in place
Employers will need to provide medical Insurance from companies registered in
Russia and in some regions only from companies determined by the governor

Work Patent - Process

Entry to
Russia with
inten3on of
work

UFMS
Registra3on

Medical &
Russian
Language
Tests

Work Patent
Applica3on

Employment
Contract
Submission

Work Patent Regional Discretion

Governors of Russian regions will have the right to:

Hire third party organiza3ons to process work patent applica3ons;
Stop issuance of work patents any 3me basing their decision on Labour
Authori3es proposals;
Determine whether job posi3ons should be stated on work patents;
Ban issuance of patents for certain job posi3ons or orders to dismiss all the
work patent holders employed in such posi3ons who received the patents
before a ban in ques3on was introduced;
Determine medical centers which will be allowed to assist work patent
applicants with medical examina3on; the schools and universi3es which will
be allowed to test work patent applicants on Russian language, history and
legal basics knowledge and the insurance companies which will have right
to issue medical insurance to work patents applicants;

Categories, as they are now

HQS Highly Qualied Specialists (for more situa3ons;
dierent
n
o3ca3ons)

Work Patent (CIS Na3onals) (totally new)
Work Permit
Standard work permit (Ltd or Branch) (+ Russian
language etc tests)
Accredita3on card (Representa3ve oce) (may fall
away)
CIS na3onal (visa waiver) versions of the above
Registra3on only Belarus, Kazakhstan (and Armenia..)

What is next?

Increased HQS Applica3ons

Work Patent Implementa3on

Representa3ve Oce Clarica3on
Fingerprin3ng Requirements (Visas)
Increased Penal3es
Migra3on Centre outside of the city of Moscow

Russia: Changes to the

Immigration Rules