For qualified specialists

For qualified specialists, there are two options for obtaining work permits: out of quota and according to the quota. A quota is the permitted number of foreign employees that a specific employer in a specific region of the Russian Federation can engage.

Based on non-quota

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection annually approves a list of positions that are available to an employer to engage foreign employees without taking into account quotas. You can download the current list of positions here.

Advantages:

  • the opportunity to obtain a work permit to a foreign specialist, bypassing the complex and lengthy of annual quotas procedure;
  • allows the employer to pay the minimum salary to a foreign employee;
  • makes it possible for a foreign employee to obtain a Work Visa for one year and renew it annually on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Disadvantages:

  • exhaustive list of positions to engage foreign employees out of the quota;
  • process of obtaining a work permit is quite complicated, it includes several stages and takes from 3 to 4 months;
  • Work Visa is issued for up to 1 year;
  • significant list of documents for obtaining a work permit, which includes testing for knowledge of the Russian language, history and fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as a certificate of education with an apostille;
  • visas for accompanying family members can be issued by foreign citizens who work only in positions from the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation;
  • when a foreign employee changes an employer, a visa issued from one employer cannot be reissued for a visa from another employer without leaving the Russian Federation, or it is necessary to issue a work permit of HQS.

The list of documents required for obtaining a work permit for positions out of the quota can be found in the section Sample Documents section of the site.

Based on the quota

Every year the Russian government confirms quotas hiring foreign employees from abroad (from countries whose nationals must hold RF visas). The way the quota process operates is as follows. An employer makes an application for the need to hire foreign staff at the appropriate department of the local authorities in their region (constituent entity of RF). A special commission considers the application, and if it gives it a positive response, the application is included in the overall lists of foreign employees in that constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Next, the applications from the constituent entity concerned are forwarded to the Ministry of Employment, which prepares the number requirements for the whole country. These requirements are further considered by a special commission of the Russian Government and are then confirmed by the Chair of the Russian Government. Once this process has been completed, the Ministry of Employment publishes a list of employers in each constituent entity who are part of the quota system, and the positions for which foreign employees may be hired, along with the numbers of foreign employees able to be hired for each of such positions.

Advantages:

  • foreign employees may be paid minimum levels of salary;
  • possibility for the foreign employees to receive a work visa for one year, and renew it annually without having to leave the RF.

Disadvantages:

  • complex and lengthy quota procedure that must be passed annually;
  • long list of reasons for which a quota might be denied;
  • foreign employees can only hired on the basis of quotas which the company has received;
  • fnumber, positions and nationality of foreign citizens in the quota cannot be changed;
  • position once used cannot be re-used if the employee quit early;
  • process of obtaining a work permit is quite complicated, it includes several stages and takes from 3 to 4 months;
  • work visa is issued for up to 1 year;
  • when a foreign employee changes an employer, a visa issued from one employer cannot be reissued for a visa from another employer without leaving the Russian Federation, or it is necessary to issue a work permit of HQS;
  • visas for accompanying family members can be issued by foreign citizens who work only in positions from the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation;
  • significant list of documents for obtaining a work permit, which includes testing for knowledge of the Russian language, history and fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as a certificate of education with an apostille.