Employment of foreign citizens in Russia

Every year more and more foreign citizens are seeking to visit our country for not only tourism or business, but also to find a job, seeking to invest their knowledge and capital in the Russian economy. To be employed officially, foreign citizens must have a work permit and a work visa.

On this page we will tell you in detail about the process of employing foreign citizens in Russia.

How to officially employ a foreign citizen?

First of all, the employer and the prospective employee stipulate the basic working conditions, determine the position and salary. There are 3 ways to hire a foreign citizen:

Ways to employ a foreigner

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Option 1. Simplified procedure for a highly qualified specialist

If the salary of a foreign citizen is not less than 2 million rubles a year, then such an employee is recognized as a highly qualified employee (HQ). In this case, it is possible to hire a foreigner for any position. HQs have the right to receive a work permit for up to 3 years without restriction on the length of the stay. To employ a foreign citizen correctly, you need to obtain a work permit and a work invitation, which will be the basis for issuing a long-term work visa. An advantage of hiring an HQ is simplified paperwork, the whole process will take about 1 month.

Option 2. Registration of a foreign worker by quota

If an employee cannot be appointed a high salary or provided an above quota position, then the company will have to receive a quota for employing a foreigner. A regular process of employing a foreigner is identical to the process of employing one for an above-quota position, however, you must first apply for a quota and wait for the decision of the Department of Labour and Social Protection whether to approve the application or to refuse it. The government allocates a limited number of quotas to attract foreign employees from visa-requiring countries annually, so obtaining a quota is a lengthy process and success is not guaranteed.

Option 3. Work permits for above quota positions

If the salary of a foreigner is going to be less than 2 million rubles a year, it is possible to hire them for one of the above quota positions according to the classifier. Please note that the job list is published and changed annually. With this option, the salary size doesn’t matter, but the position must strictly correspond to the classifier. In this case, the whole process will take about 3 months and will require a lot of different documents. A foreign citizen is granted a work permit for a period of 1 year and the possibility of a renewal in the future.

For more information on how to properly employ a foreigner and on the rules for doing it officially see The procedure for employment.

Here you will find information on what documents are required for the employment of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation..

Please note that in addition to a work permit and a work visa to employ a foreign citizen it is important to the timely submission of a notice on the conclusion/termination of the employment contract and a salary notice (only for HQs). you can learn more about this on our website).

The main law regulating the employment of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation is the Federal Law No. 115-FZ "On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation". In the event of its violation, companies face fines for the illegal employment of foreign citizens.