Work Permits for Foreign Citizens from Countries which must hold visas to enter the RF.
Based on non-quota types of job
The Ministry of Employment and Social Protection has confirmed a list of types of job, which are available to employers seeking to hire foreign staff outside the stipulations of the quota system. You can download this list of categories here.
Benefits:
- foreign specialists are able to arrange their Work Permits without going through the complex and slow-moving procedure of quota application
- the scheme allows for paying the minimum sum of salary to the foreign staff member
- affords the opportunity for the foreign staff member to receive a Work Visa for one year, and renew it annually without having to leave the Russian Federation.
Drawbacks:
- an exhaustive list of job types for hiring foreign staff outside the quota system
- the process of making application for a Work Permit is extremely complex, involving a series of different steps, and can take from between 3 and 4 months
- the Work Visa is issued for a validity period of 1 year
- there is a long list of documents which are needed to make a Work Permit application, and these include the results of medical tests for foreign nations, tests on knowledge of the Russian language, on the history of Russia, and on the legal system in Russia – in addition to documents proving the educational qualifications held by the applicant, which must be apostilled before they are submitted.
The list of documents which are required for making a Work Permit application outside the quota system may be consulted in the Sample Documents section of the site.
Based on the quota system for job types
Every year the Russian government confirms quotas hiring foreign workers 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 (their Federal Zone). A special commission considers the Application, and if it gives it a positive response, the Application is included in the overall lists of foreign workers in that Federal Zone of Russia. Next, the Applications from the Zone 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 Zone who are part of the quota system, and the positions for which foreign staff may be hired, along with the numbers of foreign staff able to be hired for each of such positions.
Benefits:
- the foreign staff member may be paid minimum levels of salary
- the possibility exists for the the foreign staff member to receive a Work Visa for one year, and renew it annually without having to leave the RF
Drawbacks:
- the quota procedure is extremely complex, and must be gone through each year.
- there is a long list of reasons for which a quota might be denied
- foreign staff can only hired on the basis of quotas which the company has received
- the processing period for Work Permits is complex, and takes from between 3 to 4 months
- the Work Visa is issued only for a maximum period of one year.
- there is an extensive list of documents required to apply for a Work Permit, which includes the results of medical tests for foreign nationals, testing in ability in the Russian language, tests in knowledge of Russian history and legal system, along with submission of the applicant's educational certificates, which must be apostilled prior to submission.