Work Culture in Russia

The entry of a foreign citizen into the Russian Federation and their exit from the Russian Federation take place under a visa, on identity documents that are valid and recognised as such by the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty of the Russian Federation, by that federal law itself or by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation (Federal Law No. 114-FZ of 15 August 1996, article 24, first paragraph). The text therefore knows no free-standing category of visa-free entry: the exemption follows from a treaty, from a provision of that same law or from a presidential act. This page lists no exempt State and does not indicate whether any given nationality falls under an exemption; those lists follow from separate agreements and acts that were not read. The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes that a visa is required for a foreign citizen to enter, that entry without a visa is possible where an agreement so provides, and publishes the entry conditions by State.

The same article deals with persons who already hold a permit. The holder of a temporary residence permit, including one issued for the purpose of study, enters and leaves the Russian Federation on valid identity documents and on a temporary resident visa, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Russian Federation, by that federal law itself or by decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. A foreign citizen holding a permanent residence permit enters and leaves on their identity documents and on that permit (article 24, paragraphs 3 and 4).

A visa is diplomatic, service, ordinary, transit or temporary resident, or else it is issued in the form of a unified e-visa as an electronic document (article 25.1). The ordinary visa is subdivided, according to the purpose of entry and stay, into private, business, tourist, study, work and humanitarian visas, and the visa for entry for the purpose of obtaining asylum or a temporary residence permit (article 25.6). The ordinary work visa is issued to a foreign citizen entering in order to carry on a professional activity, for the term of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, and for no more than one year. For a person who enters in order to work under article 13.2 or article 13.5 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25 July 2002, or who already carries on such an activity, that visa is drawn up as a multiple-entry visa and issued for the term of the employment contract or civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services concluded, for no more than three years from their entry into the Russian Federation, and is then extended for the term of that same contract, for no more than three years on each extension. The same article carries other forms of the ordinary work visa. It is issued as a single-entry or double-entry visa, for a period of no more than three months, to a foreign citizen employed by a foreign legal person that manufactures or supplies technical equipment delivered to the Russian Federation and that carries out installation work or the supervision of installation, provides servicing and maintenance under warranty or performs post-warranty repair of that equipment, the validity of that visa being extendable thereafter by up to 90 days. It is issued as a multiple-entry visa, for the term of the employment contract concluded and for no more than three years from entry into the Russian Federation, to a foreign citizen who has concluded, with a resident of a priority development territory located in the Far Eastern Federal District or with a resident of the free port of Vladivostok, an employment contract connected with the implementation of an investment project, and to the members of that person's family. Article 25.6 carries further provisions that this page does not reproduce.

The family members of a foreign citizen who is a highly qualified specialist within the meaning of article 13.2 receive ordinary multiple-entry work visas, issued for the term of the visa issued to that specialist, with the right to carry on a professional activity in the manner established by federal law, to receive education and to carry on any other activity not prohibited by the legislation, the validity of those visas likewise being extended where the visa issued to the specialist is extended. Law No. 115-FZ states what the qualifier in the manner established by federal law covers: during the validity of the work permit issued to the specialist, the members of that person's family carry on a professional activity if they themselves hold a work permit obtained in accordance with that same federal law (article 13.2, point 12.1). The ordinary business visa is issued for up to one year, or for up to five years on a basis of reciprocity, to a foreign citizen entering for business trips, with the right to carry on research or teaching activity in the case the article covers by cross-reference to Law No. 115-FZ; the article provides other durations for other cases that it likewise designates by cross-reference, among them a duration of no more than 30 days, and this page does not reproduce those cross-references.

The unified e-visa opens entry into the Russian Federation and stay in the Russian Federation for a private or business visit, as a tourist, and in order to take part in scientific, cultural, sociopolitical, economic or sporting events and to form the corresponding ties and contacts (article 25.16-1, inserted by Federal Law No. 305-FZ of 31 July 2020). Carrying on a professional activity does not appear in that list, and the official unified e-visa portal states that if the purpose of the trip is none of those, an ordinary visa, not an electronic one, must be applied for at a diplomatic mission or a consular post of the Russian Federation. The visa is drawn up for nationals of the States on a list determined by the government, and both entry and exit take place through the State border crossing points determined by the government; this page neither reproduces nor counts those two lists, which the portal publishes. The visa is single-entry. Its validity is 120 days from its issue, with a permitted stay of no more than 30 days from entry into the territory, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 257-FZ of 23 July 2025. The time limit for issue is no more than four calendar days from the filing of the application.

The portal adds conditions of its own. The application is filed from a personal account on the specialised website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or through its mobile application, no earlier than 86 days and no later than four days before the intended date of entry. The passport must be machine-readable, issued by the State of nationality, valid for at least six months from the filing of the application, and carry enough space for border crossing stamps. A fee is charged for processing the application, non-refundable whatever the outcome, and no consular fee is charged for children under six; the portal does not put a figure on that fee and this page therefore does not write one. The holder must hold medical insurance valid on the territory of the Russian Federation for the whole of their stay, unless they are a national of a State that the portal exempts from that requirement on a basis of reciprocity. The portal states, finally, that the holder's freedom of movement extends to the whole territory, with the exception of the territories, organisations and facilities to which access requires special authorisation under the federal laws; those texts were not read and this page does not describe their content.

For a visa applied for at a consular post, the Consular Department writes that the application is filed with the Russian consular post of the applicant's place of permanent residence, and that, whatever the visa category, the file comprises a valid passport, an application form completed in electronic form on the specialised website visa.kdmid.ru and a photograph 3.5 by 4.5 centimetres, the general section of the page asking for one and the sections by visa category asking for two. A fee is charged on a basis of reciprocity, the tariff for which is published by each Russian consular post abroad; the Consular Department publishes no single schedule and no amount is therefore written here. As a general rule the passport must not expire less than six months after the end of the visa's validity, and, for a study or work visa, its validity must run for at least one year and six months from the start of the visa's validity. The work visa and the study visa additionally require the original of the invitation to enter issued by the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on paper or as a printout of an invitation drawn up in electronic form, and a certificate of the absence of HIV infection valid for three months.

The Consular Department publishes a cap that covers visa holders: whatever the number of visas obtained, the aggregate duration of a foreign citizen's stay on the territory of the Russian Federation may not exceed 90 days per 180-day period, and that provision does not apply to foreign nationals entering on a work visa or on a study visa. The law for its part lays down a cap that covers persons who entered under a procedure not requiring a visa: the duration of their temporary stay may not exceed 90 days in aggregate within any one calendar year, save in the cases provided for by the law or by international treaties of the Russian Federation and save extension, the continuous duration itself not being allowed to exceed 90 days (Law No. 115-FZ, article 5, point 1, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 260-FZ of 8 August 2024). The consolidated text carries that wording as its running text; the transitional provisions of the amending law were not read, so this page does not date the change and does not compare it with any earlier state.

Law No. 115-FZ also deals with the duration of temporary stay. That duration is determined by the validity of the visa issued, save in the cases the law provides for. For a foreign citizen who entered under a procedure not requiring a visa and who is a highly qualified specialist, and for the members of that person's family, it is the duration of the work permit issued under article 13.2 (Law No. 115-FZ, article 5, point 1). Temporary stay is extended on the issue of a work permit to the foreign citizen or on the extension of the validity of that permit in accordance with article 13.2 or article 13.5 (article 5, point 5, first paragraph). It is extended on the issue of a patent, on the extension of its validity or on its renewal in accordance with article 13.3, save in the cases that federal law provides for; and the temporary stay of the children of a patent holder who have not reached the age of 18, including adopted children and children under guardianship or curatorship, is extended for the term of the patent issued, extended or renewed to that holder, on condition that they are dependent on that holder (second paragraph). Extension under the first to third paragraphs is not allowed for foreign citizens who arrived under a procedure not requiring a visa and who carry on a professional activity in accordance with article 13.3, where, under intergovernmental agreements on reciprocal visa-free travel, those foreign citizens are required to obtain a visa in order to enter the Russian Federation for the purpose of carrying on a professional activity beyond the periods those agreements establish (fourth paragraph). And where the validity of the patent held has not been extended, or the patent issued has been annulled, the foreign citizen is required to leave the Russian Federation on the expiry of the duration of their temporary stay (fifth paragraph).

On the travel-guidance side, where your own foreign ministry publishes travel guidance for Russia, that guidance is the reference that applies to your nationality. No travel guidance of any State was read for this page, so this section states no travel-guidance measure and names no source for one; that gap is declared here rather than filled in.

Several things are not established in this section, and they are not filled in. The list of States whose nationals enter without a visa is not reproduced: it follows from treaties and presidential acts, never from a single statutory list, and it was not read. The list of States eligible for the unified e-visa and the list of border crossing points open to that visa are determined by government acts that the portal references without serving their text; neither was read. Finally, neither the amount of the unified e-visa fee nor the consular tariffs by visa category were read, and the State duties in the Tax Code are another category that does not stand in for them.

The two documents are defined in point 1 of article 2 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25 July 2002. The work permit is the document certifying the right of a foreign citizen who arrived in the Russian Federation under a procedure requiring a visa, and of other categories of foreign citizens in the cases that federal law provides for, to carry on a professional activity temporarily on the territory of the Russian Federation, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 357-FZ of 24 November 2014. The patent is the document certifying, in accordance with that federal law, the right of a foreign citizen who arrived in the Russian Federation under a procedure not requiring a visa, with the exception of certain categories of foreign citizens in the cases that federal law provides for, to carry on a professional activity temporarily on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, unless that federal law provides otherwise, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 121-FZ of 23 May 2025.

Each definition carries its own territorial scope: the work permit runs on the territory of the Russian Federation, the patent on the territory of a single constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and the patent therefore does not allow work outside the constituent entity that issued it. The visa criterion is not enough to characterise either of them: the work permit also reaches other categories in the cases the law provides for, and the patent excepts certain categories in the cases the law provides for. Article 2 therefore does not create an exhaustive dichotomy between the two procedures.

The general rule of authorisation and its derogation are read in the same article. The employer and the customer of work (services) have the right to attract and use foreign workers if they hold a permit to attract and use foreign workers, and the foreign citizen has the right to carry on a professional activity if that person has reached the age of 18 and holds a work permit or a patent (article 13, point 4). The same point then lists categories to which that procedure does not apply, among them persons residing permanently or temporarily in the Russian Federation; that list continues beyond those categories, and this page does not reproduce it, does not count it and does not present it as complete. Point 4.5 bounds the rule in point 4: the permit to attract and use is not required where the foreign citizens arrived under a procedure not requiring a visa, are highly qualified specialists attracted under article 13.2, are members of the family of such a specialist, or are attracted under article 13.5.

The same article lays down limits and obligations. A foreign citizen in temporary stay does not have the right to carry on a professional activity outside the boundaries of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on whose territory their work permit or their patent was issued to them, save in the cases that federal law provides for, or in a profession (speciality, position, type of professional activity) not stated in the work permit; and the employer or the customer of work (services) does not have the right to employ that foreign citizen outside the boundaries of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on whose territory the work permit or the patent was issued to that person, or in a profession (speciality, position, type of professional activity) not stated in the work permit, save in the cases provided for by that federal law and by other federal laws (article 13, point 4.2). Point 6 of the same article allows the federal executive authority empowered by the government to establish, taking account of the particular features of regional economic ties, cases in which the activity may be carried on outside the boundaries of the constituent entity where the permit was issued or temporary residence authorised. State fingerprint registration and photography are compulsory on obtaining a work permit under article 13.2 and article 13.5, and, for those entering without a visa, on applying for a patent (point 4.6); the block on the steps that follow arrival deals with the time limits for that formality. Finally, an employer or customer of work (services) who attracts and uses a foreign citizen is required to notify the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on whose territory that person carries on their activity of both the conclusion and the termination of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, within a period of no more than three working days from the date of conclusion or termination of the contract concerned (point 8, first paragraph). The same point continues: where the foreign citizen carries on their professional activity on the territories of two constituent entities of the Russian Federation in accordance with article 13.3-1 of the same law, the employer or the customer of work (services) files the notification referred to in the first paragraph with the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of each of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on whose territories that person carries on their activity. The same paragraph continues: where the foreign citizen for whom the employer or the customer of work (services) has already filed the notification referred to in the first paragraph begins to carry on their professional activity on the territory of another constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the employer or the customer of work (services) files that notification with the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on whose territory the activity begins to be carried on, within three working days from the start of that activity (second paragraph, added by Federal Law No. 121-FZ of 23 May 2025). The following paragraphs of the same point govern the channels for filing that notification, its form, the check on the entry of the employer or customer of work (services) in the State registers and the exchange of information between authorities, and this page does not reproduce them.

The patent is governed by article 13.3, point 1 of which states who has the right to engage those workers. Employers and customers of work (services) that are legal persons or individual entrepreneurs, or else private notaries, advocates who have established a law office or other persons whose professional activity is subject, under the federal laws, to State registration or licensing, have the right to engage in a professional activity foreign citizens lawfully present on the territory of the Russian Federation who arrived under a procedure not requiring a visa and have reached the age of 18, each of them holding a patent issued in accordance with that federal law (point 1, first paragraph). Employers and customers of work (services) who are citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to engage such foreign citizens, on the same conditions as to patent and age, for the satisfaction of personal, domestic and other similar needs unconnected with the carrying on by the employer or by the customer of work (services) of an entrepreneurial activity (second paragraph). And the right to engage foreign citizens on the conditions that article establishes belongs to employers and customers of work (services) who, at the time of concluding with the foreign citizen the employment contract or the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, are not subject to any unenforced decision imposing an administrative penalty for the unlawful engagement of foreign citizens in a professional activity in the Russian Federation (third paragraph). To obtain the patent, the foreign citizen files their application with the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 30 calendar days of their entry. The file comprises the application, the identity document recognised by Russia, the migration card stating work as the purpose of the visit, a contract or policy of voluntary medical insurance valid in Russia or a contract for paid medical services or a compulsory medical insurance policy, the medical documents and the certificate of the absence of HIV infection, and, in the cases article 15.1 provides for, the document certifying knowledge of Russian, of the history of Russia and of the fundamentals of the legislation. Where the documents are filed after the 30 calendar day period, proof of payment of the fine for exceeding the application period is added.

The time limit for processing a patent application is no more than ten working days, reduced to five working days where the authority already holds the information on the foreign citizen's registration with the tax authorities. The patent is issued for a period of one to twelve months. Its term may be extended repeatedly, for a period of at least one month, the total duration not being allowed to exceed twelve months from issue. It is deemed extended for the period in respect of which personal income tax has been paid in the form of a fixed advance payment, without any step being required with the territorial bodies; failing that, the patent's validity ceases on the day after the last day of the period paid for. Within two months of issue, the holder sends the authority that issued it a notification of the carrying on of the professional activity. Attached to that notification is a copy of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services concluded between the employer or the customer of work (services) and the foreign citizen; or else, where the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services was concluded orally, the notification itself carries the information relating to that contract. Renewal is applied for no later than ten working days before the twelve months expire. A person who came for other purposes may carry on a professional activity by changing the purpose of their visit, declaring it in their patent application: once the patent is issued, the purpose of their visit is deemed to be work (article 13.3, point 2.1).

Certifying knowledge of Russian, of the history of Russia and of the fundamentals of the legislation falls under article 15.1. Unless an international treaty of the Russian Federation or the same article provides otherwise, a foreign citizen must, in order to obtain a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit, a work permit or a patent, certify that knowledge by one of the documents the article lists: a certificate of examination at the level corresponding to the subject of the application; an education document of the State model, of a level at least equal to basic general education, issued by an educational institution on the territory of a State that formed part of the USSR, before 1 September 1991; an education or qualification document issued to persons who passed the State final attestation on the territory of the Russian Federation from 1 September 1991 onwards; a decision recognising the person as a native speaker of Russian taken before 26 October 2023 (article 15.1, points 1 and 2). The certificate is issued by public institutions on a list established by the government, the examination is taken against payment of an amount determined by the government, and the certificate's period of validity is established by the government (points 2 and 4). Neither that amount nor that period of validity is established here: the government acts that fix them were not read. The article also carries exemptions that this page does not reproduce in full.

On the side of the employer and the customer of work (services), article 18 organises the invitation to enter for the purpose of a professional activity. The quota for issuing invitations to enter for the purpose of a professional activity, for foreign citizens other than those who arrived under a procedure not requiring a visa, is approved each year by the government on proposals from the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, taking account of the demographic situation of the constituent entity concerned and of its capacity to receive them; those proposals are formed on the principle of the priority use of national labour resources, taking account of the situation on the labour market. The invitation to enter of a foreign worker for the purpose of a professional activity, with the exception of a foreign citizen who arrived under a procedure not requiring a visa, is issued by the federal executive authority responsible for internal affairs or its territorial body, on the application of the employer or of the customer of work (services). The documents needed for the issue of the work permit of each foreign worker are produced together with the application, and the work permit is handed to the employer or to the customer of work (services) together with the invitation. When examining the application, the authority checks, on the basis of the information held by the federal authority responsible for internal affairs, that the employer or the customer of work (services) holds the permit to attract and use foreign workers, unless that federal law provides otherwise and unless the employer or the customer of work (services) produced that permit of their own motion. That permit is itself issued by the federal authority responsible for internal affairs or its territorial body, on the opinion of the public employment service body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation concerned, and it is issued for one year (article 18, points 3 and 4).

Article 18.1 adds levers that this page names without putting figures on them. The government may establish quotas for issuing work permits to foreign citizens arriving on the basis of a visa, on the territory of one or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation or across the whole territory, quotas that may be established by reference to profession, speciality, qualification, country of origin or other economic or social criteria, taking account of the regional particularities of the labour market. The second sentence of the same point sets those quotas aside for foreign citizens who are qualified specialists employed in the profession, or the speciality, that they hold, in accordance with the list of professions, specialities and positions approved by the federal executive authority exercising the functions of developing State policy and legal regulation in the field of employment of the population, in agreement with the federal executive authority exercising the functions of developing State policy and legal regulation in the field of socio-economic development and trade. The government may establish each year the permissible share of foreign workers employed in the various sectors of the economy by economic entities carrying on their activity on the territory of one or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation as well as across the whole territory of the Russian Federation, setting the period within which those economic entities bring the number of foreign workers they employ into line with it. Finally, the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation may establish each year, for certain types of economic activity, a prohibition on economic entities carrying on their activity on the territory of that constituent entity employing foreign citizens working on the basis of a patent, likewise setting the period within which those economic entities bring the number of foreign workers they employ into line with that prohibition. The values of those quotas and of that permissible share in force are not written here: the acts that fix them for the year were not read.

Law No. 115-FZ fixes, in none of the articles read here, a maximum duration for the ordinary work permit, that is, outside the regimes of article 13.2 and article 13.5. It refers the procedure for issuing the work permit, the procedure for issuing a duplicate of it, the procedure for amending its particulars and the list of documents to be produced to an act of the federal executive authority responsible for internal affairs (article 18, point 6); that act was not read and this page therefore writes no duration. The one-year cap on the ordinary work visa is not substituted for it: it is another instrument, laid down by another law.

The expression highly qualified specialist is that of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25 July 2002, which defines it in article 13.2. A foreign citizen is recognised as a highly qualified specialist, for the purposes of that law, if that person has professional experience, skills or achievements in a given field of activity and the conditions of their recruitment in the Russian Federation provide for them to receive a salary (remuneration) of an amount fixed by point 1 of that article. That point 1 fixes, according to the paragraph the person falls under, an amount of salary (remuneration) or the absence of any amount requirement. The category therefore turns on what the law states, and not on a judgement passed on the person. The article also lays down express prohibitions as to engagement in that capacity. Foreign citizens may not be engaged in a professional activity in the Russian Federation as highly qualified specialists for the carrying on of preaching or other religious activity, including the celebration of services, other religious rites and ceremonies, the teaching of religion and the religious education of the adherents of any religion (article 13.2, point 1.2). The employer or the customer of work (services) does not have the right to engage foreign workers as highly qualified specialists for the commercial service of customers in the retail trade in everyday consumer goods, including pharmaceutical products, whatever the assortment of goods sold, the sales areas and the forms of customer service, with the exception of workers who provide the management and coordination of the activity connected with the trade; the list of professions (positions, specialities) of those workers and the qualification requirements applicable to them are approved by the federal executive authority responsible for developing and implementing State policy and legal regulation in the field of employment of the population and unemployment (article 13.2, point 1.3). This page compares this regime with no other in terms of qualification, merit or level.

Point 1 fixes several regimes. The amount the law sets for other foreign citizens is at least RUB 750,000 per quarter, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 316-FZ of 10 July 2023. An amount of at least RUB 83,500 per calendar month covers specialists who are researchers or teachers, where they are invited for research or teaching activity under bachelor's, specialist's, master's, residency or assistantship-traineeship programmes holding State accreditation, or under programmes for training scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel in doctoral studies, by higher education institutions, State academies of sciences or their regional branches, national research centres or State scientific centres; the same amount covers specialists attracted by residents of special economic zones of the industrial and production, tourist and recreational or port type, those residents being taken with the exception of individual entrepreneurs, and by the organisations designated in the second and third paragraphs of item 1 of point 5 of the same article, operating in the field of information technology and holding the State accreditation document issued under the procedure established by the government, those organisations being taken with the exception of those that have the status of resident of a special economic zone of the technology and innovation type. An amount of at least RUB 58,500 per calendar month covers foreign citizens attracted by residents of a special economic zone of the technology and innovation type, those residents being taken with the exception of individual entrepreneurs. An amount of at least RUB 1,000,000 calculated over a year of 365 calendar days covers specialists who are medical, teaching or scientific personnel invited for the corresponding activity on the territory of the international medical cluster. Other paragraphs of the same point expressly set the amount requirement aside, and this page does not describe them.

That list is not complete: point 1 contains other paragraphs, which this page does not reproduce and does not count.

The status sets aside several general rules. The quota for issuing invitations to enter for the purpose of a professional activity, the quota for issuing work permits and the permissible share of foreign workers employed in the various sectors of the economy by economic entities carrying on their activity on the territory of one or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation as well as across the whole territory of the Russian Federation, established by the government, apply neither to highly qualified specialists nor to the members of their families (article 13.2, point 2). The employer and the customer of work (services) have the right to attract and use foreign workers without a permit to attract and use foreign workers where the foreign citizens are highly qualified specialists attracted to a professional activity in the Russian Federation in accordance with article 13.2, as well as where they are members of the family of a highly qualified specialist so attracted (article 13, point 4.5). The specialist is exempt from certifying knowledge of Russian, of the history of Russia and of the fundamentals of the legislation when applying for a work permit (article 15.1, point 6). That person is also exempt from that certification, together with the members of their family, when applying for the permanent residence permit referred to in point 27 of article 13.2 (article 15.1, point 5); that point 5 also covers other categories, which this page does not reproduce, does not count and does not characterise. The block on the work permit and the patent deals with the general rule on that certification.

The law defines the members of the family: recognised as members of the family of a highly qualified specialist are that person's spouse, their children including adopted children, the spouses of their children, their parents including their foster parents, the spouses of their parents, their grandparents and their grandchildren (article 13.2, point 1.1). During the validity of the work permit issued to the specialist, the members of that person's family have the right to carry on a professional activity on the territory of the Russian Federation if they hold a work permit obtained in accordance with that same federal law, to receive education in organisations carrying on educational activity, and to carry on any other activity not prohibited by the legislation (point 12.1). That is what the qualifier in the manner established by federal law covers, which the law on entry and exit attaches to the work visa of family members.

The procedure is that of point 5 and the following points. The list of employers and customers of work (services) entitled to attract highly qualified specialists on the conditions of that article is set out in point 5. The time limit for examining an application to attract a highly qualified specialist is no more than 14 working days from its receipt by the federal executive authority responsible for internal affairs or its authorised territorial body (point 9). The work permit is issued for the term of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services concluded with the employer or customer of work (services) that attracts the specialist, for no more than three years, and that term may be extended repeatedly for the term of that employment contract or of that civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, for no more than three years on each extension (point 12). Where the employment contract or the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services provides that the specialist will work in separate subdivisions of the organisation, in particular branches or representative offices located outside the constituent entity in which the employer or the customer of work (services) is located, or at interdependent persons other than natural persons located on the territory of two or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the permit issued runs on the territory of those constituent entities. That is the difference in scope from the patent, which runs on the territory of a single constituent entity. In order to obtain a permit running on the territory of two or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the employer or the customer of work (services) files the application to attract the specialist with the federal executive authority responsible for internal affairs or with its authorised territorial body of the place where that employer or customer is located. The specialist is required to apply for the issue of the permit to the authority that took the decision to issue it, within 30 calendar days from the day that decision was taken; where there are valid reasons, the permit may be received at a later date, on an application from the employer or the customer of work (services) filed within that same period, that date not exceeding 30 calendar days from the receipt of that application by the authority that took the decision to issue the permit (point 15).

Where the employment contract or the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services is terminated early, the specialist has 30 working days from the termination to look for another employer or customer of work (services) among those in point 5 and to obtain a new work permit. That person's work permit, visa and permanent residence permit, together with the visa and the permanent residence permit issued to the members of their family, remain valid during that period and during the period of examination of the application filed by the employer or customer of work (services) with whom the new employment contract or the new civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services was concluded; if that application is granted, a new permanent residence permit is issued to the specialist and to the members of their family in accordance with point 3 of article 8. If the specialist has not concluded a new employment contract or civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services by the end of that period, or if the application of the employer or of the customer of work (services) has been refused, the specialist and the members of their family who have no other lawful basis of stay or residence are required to leave the Russian Federation within 30 calendar days from the expiry of that period or from the day of the decision to refuse; after those 30 calendar days, the work permit, the visa and the permanent residence permit issued to the specialist, together with the visa and the permanent residence permit issued to the members of their family, are deemed invalid (point 11). The unit changes within the same point of the law: 30 working days for the search, 30 calendar days for departure.

Obligations then run. The employers and customers of work (services) referred to in point 5 notify the federal executive authority responsible for internal affairs or its authorised territorial body each quarter, no later than the last working day of the month following the quarter that has elapsed, of the performance of their obligations to pay the salary (remuneration) of highly qualified specialists (point 13). A highly qualified specialist who is a foreign citizen in temporary stay on the territory of the Russian Federation and the members of that person's family without employment who have arrived in Russia and are foreign citizens must hold a contract or policy of medical insurance valid on the territory of the Russian Federation, or else the right, on the basis of a contract concluded for that purpose by the employer or the customer of work (services) with a medical organisation, to primary health care and specialised medical care; guaranteeing the highly qualified specialist and the members of their family that medical care for the term of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services concluded with that specialist is a compulsory condition of that employment contract and an essential condition of that civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services (point 14). Finally, a permanent residence permit may be drawn up by the territorial body of the federal executive authority responsible for internal affairs, on written application, for a highly qualified specialist who has arrived in Russia and for the members of that person's family for the term of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, refusal being allowed only where the circumstances provided for in items 1 to 7 of point 1 and in point 2 of article 9 are present, and that permit being issued for the term of the work permit issued to the specialist for the carrying on of their professional activity as a highly qualified specialist (point 27).

The particular features of the taxation of the income of highly qualified specialists who have obtained a work permit are referred by the law itself to the legislation on taxes and levies (point 30). No rate is therefore written here: the block on tax residence and the taxation of employment income deals with that question. The block on entering Russia deals with the durations of the multiple-entry work visa, and the block on the steps that follow arrival deals with the exemption from recording at the place of stay that the specialist and the members of that person's family enjoy, together with its starting point.

Migration registration is governed by Federal Law No. 109-FZ of 18 July 2006. That law distinguishes registration at the place of residence, which it governs in articles 14 to 19, from recording at the place of stay, which it governs in articles 20 to 23, and places both acts under migration registration. This block describes recording at the place of stay. A foreign citizen present at a place of stay is subject to recording at that place, under the procedure and on the conditions established in accordance with that law or with an international treaty of the Russian Federation (article 20, part 1). The notification of arrival at the place of stay is filed with the migration registration authority by the receiving party, or directly by the foreign citizen in the cases provided for in parts 3 to 3.5 and part 4 of article 22 (article 20, part 2). Those cases include, among others, accommodation that the foreign citizen owns and in which they actually live (article 22, part 3.1); accommodation taken on lease under a tenancy contract concluded with the receiving party (part 3.5); accommodation belonging to a Russian citizen who holds a personal account on the unified portal of public services and is registered in the unified identification and authentication system, on condition that the foreign citizen likewise holds that personal account and that registration (part 3.3); and, for a foreign citizen who arrived under a procedure requiring a visa, the accommodation declared as the intended place of stay in the application for the issue of the invitation to enter (part 3.4). Those last two cases do not apply where the foreign citizen is accommodated in the organisations and establishments the law designates, among them hotels and other accommodation facilities. A foreign citizen residing permanently may, with the written consent of the receiving party, notify their own arrival.

The receiving party is defined by the law. Its first sentence names as the receiving party a citizen of the Russian Federation, a foreign citizen or a stateless person residing permanently in the Russian Federation, a legal person, a branch or representative office of a legal person, a federal State authority, a State authority of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, a local self-government body, a diplomatic mission or consular post of a foreign State in the Russian Federation, an international organisation or its representative office in the Russian Federation, and the representation of a foreign State to an international organisation located in the Russian Federation, which have provided the foreign citizen or the stateless person, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, with accommodation or other premises for their actual residence, or else the organisation in which the foreign citizen carries on, under the established procedure, a professional activity or another activity not prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation, in the case provided for in part 2 of article 21. Its second sentence adds that a foreign citizen or a stateless person who owns accommodation on the territory of the Russian Federation and who has made that accommodation available, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, to a foreign citizen or a stateless person for their actual residence may act as the receiving party; without that sentence, a foreign or stateless owner would not be a receiving party, the first sentence covering only a person residing permanently (article 2, point 1, item 7, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 163-FZ of 27 June 2018 and Federal Law No. 182-FZ of 8 June 2020). The case to which the first sentence refers is that of a foreign citizen recorded at the address of the organisation in which they carry on, under the established procedure, a professional activity or another activity not prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation, where they actually live at the address of that organisation or in premises of that organisation having no address data, a building or a structure, including a temporary one (article 21, part 2).

The period is seven working days from arrival at the place of stay, or from receipt of the temporary identity certificate of a stateless person in the Russian Federation, save in the cases the law lists, the first of which covers a foreign citizen present in a hotel or another accommodation facility providing accommodation services, in a children's holiday and health organisation, in a medical organisation providing inpatient care or in a social services organisation, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 270-FZ of 31 July 2025 (article 20, part 3). In those cases the notification must be filed within the working day following the day of arrival at the place of stay; where arrival falls on a non-working day, it is filed within 24 hours of the working day immediately following (article 20, part 3.1). The recording of a foreign citizen in temporary stay is carried out for the period declared in the notification of arrival, and for no more than one year (article 22, part 6.1, added by Federal Law No. 260-FZ of 8 August 2024).

Highly qualified specialists and the foreign citizens who are members of the family of a highly qualified specialist are exempt from carrying out the steps needed for their recording at the place of stay for a period of no more than 90 days from their entry into the territory of the Russian Federation; those of them who are, under the established procedure, registered at the place of residence or recorded at the place of stay in the Russian Federation are exempt, when moving within the territory of the Russian Federation and on arriving at a new place of stay for a period of no more than 30 days, from carrying out the steps needed for their recording at that new place; once, as the case may be, the 90 days counted from entry or the 30 days of stay at the new place have elapsed, they have no more than seven working days, that period running from the expiry of the exemption and not from entry (article 20, part 4.1). Nationals of a member State of the Eurasian Economic Union who have arrived to work or to look for work, and the members of their families, are for their part exempt, for 30 days from entry, from the obligation the Treaty calls registration and recording (article 97, point 6, first paragraph, of the Treaty of 29 May 2014). Where nationals of a member State stay on the territory of another member State for more than 30 days from the date of entry, those nationals are required to register, that is, to be recorded, in accordance with the legislation of the State of entry, where that legislation establishes such an obligation (second paragraph of the same point).

The law finally provides for categories that are not subject to recording at the place of stay, among them foreign citizens who arrived in the Russian Federation for a period of no more than seven days, except where they are present in a hotel or another accommodation facility providing accommodation services, in a children's holiday and health organisation, in a medical organisation providing inpatient care or in a social services organisation (article 20, part 6). That list contains other categories that this page does not reproduce and does not count. The persons it covers have the right to notify their place of stay to the migration registration authority.

Fingerprinting falls under another law and another starting point. Under article 5, point 13, of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25 July 2002, foreign citizens who arrived for purposes other than the carrying on of a professional activity, for a period exceeding 90 calendar days, are subject to compulsory State fingerprint registration and photography within the 90 calendar days following their entry. Those who arrived for the purpose of carrying on a professional activity are subject to them within the 30 calendar days following their entry, or else on applying for a patent or on receiving the work permit in the case of article 13, point 4.6. Those who have the right to carry on a professional activity without a work permit or a patent, under that law or under an international treaty, are subject to them, where they change the purpose of their visit, within the 30 calendar days following the conclusion of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, and no later than 90 calendar days after entry; that case covers, among others, a worker falling under the Eurasian Treaty, subject to points 20 and 21 of the same article. Those who arrived for purposes other than the carrying on of a professional activity and who change the purpose of their visit are subject to them on filing the application for the issue of a patent, if that law allows them to carry on a professional activity on condition of obtaining a patent. The same point adds that foreign citizens who wish to enter for purposes other than the carrying on of a professional activity for a period exceeding 90 calendar days, or for the purpose of carrying on a professional activity, undergo State fingerprint registration and photography on the territory of the foreign States on a list established by the government, and that those of them who have not undergone them outside Russia undergo them on Russian territory in accordance with the first to fourth paragraphs of that point. The formality is carried out once only, save in the cases established by the federal authority responsible for internal affairs. The document certifying it is issued to the foreign citizens referred to in the first to fourth paragraphs of that point who have carried it out; those who carried it out outside Russia appear in person, on their arrival in the Russian Federation and within the periods the first and second paragraphs of that point establish, before the territorial body of that federal authority in order to obtain it. In order to carry out that formality, the foreign citizens referred to in the first to fourth paragraphs of that point, with the exception of those who have already carried it out in the cases provided for by that law or by the law on refugees, apply in person to the territorial body of that federal authority, or else to a subordinate enterprise or an authorised organisation (article 5, point 17). Point 20 of the same article sets aside the provisions of its points 13 and 18 in respect of stateless persons holding a temporary identity certificate of a stateless person, and in respect of foreign citizens who are nationals of the Republic of Belarus, of those who are officials of international, interstate or intergovernmental organisations who entered the Russian Federation for the performance of official duties, employees of the representative offices of those organisations on the territory of the Russian Federation, or employees of the representative offices and officials of other organisations to which an international treaty of the Russian Federation accords an analogous status, as well as the members of the families of those persons, of those who have not reached the age of six, and of those who are recognised as refugees or have obtained temporary asylum on the territory of the Russian Federation. Point 21 sets them aside in the same way, on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, in respect of the heads of diplomatic missions and consular posts of foreign States, the members of the diplomatic staff, the consular officials and the members of the administrative and technical staff of those missions and posts, the holders of diplomatic or service passports who entered the Russian Federation for the performance of the official duties of officials of foreign States, the employees and members of the administrative and technical staff of military attaches, trade missions and other missions of State authorities of foreign States, and the members of the families of those persons; point 22 entrusts the federal executive authority responsible for foreign affairs with approving the list of foreign States for certain categories of whose nationals, among those point 21 designates, points 13 and 18 apply on that basis.

The medical examination follows the same logic of distinct starting points. Under article 5, point 18, of the same law, the examination covers the presence or absence of the consumption of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances without medical prescription or of new potentially dangerous psychoactive substances, infectious diseases presenting a danger to those around the person on a list established by the federal executive authority empowered by the government, and the disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. Foreign citizens who arrived for purposes other than the carrying on of a professional activity, for a period exceeding 90 calendar days, have 90 calendar days from their entry. Those who have the right to carry on a professional activity without a work permit or a patent, where they change the purpose of their visit, have 30 calendar days from the conclusion of the employment contract or of the civil-law contract for the performance of work or the provision of services, and no later than 90 calendar days after entry; that case covers, among others, a worker falling under the Eurasian Treaty, subject to points 20 and 21 of the same article, and it carries the same starting point as the fingerprinting. Those who arrived for the purpose of carrying on a professional activity, and those covered by the fourth paragraph of point 13 of the same article, have 30 calendar days from their entry. In all those cases, the medical documents are filed with the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, directly, in the form of an electronic document through the unified portal of public services, or through an authorised enterprise or organisation. Excepted are persons who underwent such an examination within the year preceding the day of entry, in the cases provided for by that law or by the law on refugees. The examination is carried out in medical organisations located on the territory of the Russian Federation, unless an international treaty of the Russian Federation or a federal law provides otherwise, and the highest executive body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation is required to establish the list of medical organisations authorised to carry it out on its territory. The persons referred to in point 18 are required to undergo that examination again within the 30 calendar days following the expiry of one year from the day on which they underwent the medical examination provided for by that law or by the law on refugees, and to file its documents again (article 5, point 19, first paragraph). The same point then sets aside the application of that first paragraph in respect of foreign citizens who are highly qualified specialists attracted to the carrying on of a professional activity in the Russian Federation in accordance with article 13.2 of that law, and in respect of the members of their families. Those same persons are required to undergo the medical examination provided for in point 18 again within the 30 calendar days following the day of the decision to extend the validity of the work permit, or following the day of their entry into the Russian Federation if they were outside Russia on the day of that decision, and to file its documents again with the federal authority responsible for internal affairs or with its territorial body, directly, in the form of an electronic document through the unified portal of public services, or through an authorised enterprise or organisation. The arrangements for filing those medical documents, those for their transmission by the authorised enterprise or organisation and their retention period are established by the federal authority responsible for internal affairs. Point 20 of the same article sets aside the provisions of its points 13 and 18 in respect of stateless persons holding a temporary identity certificate of a stateless person, and in respect of foreign citizens who are nationals of the Republic of Belarus, of those who are officials of international, interstate or intergovernmental organisations who entered the Russian Federation for the performance of official duties, employees of the representative offices of those organisations on the territory of the Russian Federation, or employees of the representative offices and officials of other organisations to which an international treaty of the Russian Federation accords an analogous status, as well as the members of the families of those persons, of those who have not reached the age of six, and of those who are recognised as refugees or have obtained temporary asylum on the territory of the Russian Federation. Point 21 sets them aside in the same way, on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, in respect of the heads of diplomatic missions and consular posts of foreign States, the members of the diplomatic staff, the consular officials and the members of the administrative and technical staff of those missions and posts, the holders of diplomatic or service passports who entered the Russian Federation for the performance of the official duties of officials of foreign States, the employees and members of the administrative and technical staff of military attaches, trade missions and other missions of State authorities of foreign States, and the members of the families of those persons; point 22 entrusts the federal executive authority responsible for foreign affairs with approving the list of foreign States for certain categories of whose nationals, among those point 21 designates, points 13 and 18 apply on that basis.

One point on channels, and one limit. Several of these steps may be carried out in the form of an electronic document through the unified portal of State and municipal services, the law expressly providing for it for the filing of the medical documents, for the patent holder's notification of the carrying on of the activity and for the application for a permanent residence permit. This page does not describe the behaviour of that portal, which could not be reached from the drafting environment, and does not present that unavailability as a general fact. Nor does it deal with a failure to meet these time limits, and it writes nothing of what would attach to it.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation, part two, makes liable to personal income tax natural persons who are tax residents of the Russian Federation as well as natural persons receiving income from sources located in the Russian Federation without being tax residents (article 207, point 1). Unless the same article provides otherwise, natural persons actually present in the Russian Federation for at least 183 calendar days over 12 consecutive months are recognised as tax residents. The period of presence is not interrupted by short-term departures, of less than six months, for treatment or study, or by the performance of employment or other duties connected with the carrying out of work or the provision of services at offshore hydrocarbon fields (article 207, point 2).

For tax residents, article 224, point 1, in the wording introduced by Federal Law No. 176-FZ of 12 July 2024, sets a progressive scale applied to the sum of the tax bases referred to in point 2.1 of article 210: 13% where that sum is equal to or less than RUB 2,400,000 for the tax period; RUB 312,000 plus 15% of the part above RUB 2,400,000 where it exceeds that amount without exceeding RUB 5,000,000; RUB 702,000 plus 18% of the part above RUB 5,000,000 where it exceeds that amount without exceeding RUB 20,000,000; RUB 3,402,000 plus 20% of the part above RUB 20,000,000 where it exceeds that amount without exceeding RUB 50,000,000; RUB 9,402,000 plus 22% of the part above RUB 50,000,000 beyond that. The same point states that this scale applies to the whole of the taxable income of a natural person who is a tax resident, with the exception of income taxed at the rates provided for by other points of the same article, which this page does not describe.

For natural persons who are not tax residents of the Russian Federation, the rate is 30% on all income, with the exception of the income that point 3 of article 224 lists. Among those exceptions are income from the professional activity referred to in article 227.1, that is, activity carried on under a patent; income from professional activity carried on as a highly qualified specialist in accordance with Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25 July 2002; and income from professional activity carried on on the territory of the Russian Federation by taxpayers who are tax residents and nationals of member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, excluding tax residents of the Russian Federation. For that income the rate is the one in point 3.1, that is, the same scale of 13%, 15%, 18%, 20% and 22% at the same thresholds of RUB 2,400,000, RUB 5,000,000, RUB 20,000,000 and RUB 50,000,000. Article 224 excepts further income that this page does not reproduce.

The paragraph covering nationals of the member States of the Eurasian Economic Union was added to point 3 by Federal Law No. 425-FZ of 28 November 2025; this page names the amending law and states the rule, but does not date it, the final provisions of that law not having been read. And point 3.1 itself sets aside its application in respect of natural persons who had, even for a single day of the tax period in which the income is received, the status that Russian law designates as that of a foreign agent; the law defining that status was not read and this page does not describe its content. Point 3 also carries, in its last paragraph, an exclusion of its own that is not to be confused with the one in point 3.1: the provisions of its second to eleventh paragraphs do not apply to the income it covers where that income is received by natural persons who had, even for a single day of the tax period in which the income concerned is received, that same status (last paragraph of point 3, added by Federal Law No. 425-FZ of 28 November 2025). What point 3.1 sets aside is the application of its scale; what point 3 sets aside is the application of its excepting paragraphs.

The same progressive scale applies to a tax resident and to a person who is not a tax resident and works as a highly qualified specialist, and the 30% rate applies to the other income of persons who are not tax residents. This page characterises that difference neither as an advantage, nor as a favour, nor as a penalty, nor as a preferential regime.

For a patent holder, article 227.1 organises a fixed advance payment. Fixed advance payments of tax are made for the validity of the patent, at the rate of RUB 1,200 per month, subject to point 3 of the same article. That amount is indexed to the deflator coefficient established for the calendar year concerned and to a coefficient reflecting the regional particularities of the labour market, established for the calendar year concerned by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation; if that regional coefficient is not established for the coming year, its value is deemed equal to 1. The advance payment is made at the place where the activity is carried on, before the day the period for which the patent is issued, extended or renewed begins. The tax calculated by the tax agent on the holder's income is reduced by the amount of the fixed advance payments made for the validity of the patent, that reduction being applied only at a single tax agent chosen by the taxpayer and on notification from the tax authority confirming the right to the reduction. This page writes the base and the indexation mechanism and writes no effective monthly amount: neither the act fixing the deflator coefficient nor any regional law was read.

This page does not establish the current state of any bilateral treaty for the avoidance of double taxation between the Russian Federation and another State, nor the treatment of the same income in that other State. No treaty was read, no instrument suspending or amending one was checked, and no date is put forward. The Russian rate is therefore not the whole answer for a taxpayer who also has obligations in another State, and any personal situation is a matter for a qualified professional.

Social contributions due on the salary of a foreign worker and the cover they open are not described: the chapter of the Tax Code that governs them was not read, nor was the law on compulsory medical insurance, and this block writes nothing that contradicts them. And this block points to no simulator. The tax comparator and the net salary calculator on this site apply to Russia only the resident scale in article 224, point 1, and leave out both the 30% rate for persons who are not tax residents and the exceptions in point 3: they therefore silently presuppose tax residence.