Foreigners in Russia: employment in 2021

Migration registration and foreigner status

Foreign citizens are subject to migration registration in Russia. To do this, upon entering the border, a foreigner receives and fills out a migration card. He gives a copy of the migration card to the receiving party in Russia.

You notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the arrival of a foreigner only if you are the receiving party, for example, if you provide housing to the future employee. This must be done no later than thirty working days from the date of arrival of a foreigner from a member country of the EAEU, fifteen working days if a foreigner arrives from Tajikistan and seven working days from the date of arrival of a foreigner from other countries. The notification is filled out for each foreigner using a special form. Attach a copy of his identity document (passport) and a copy of his migration card to the notification.

The procedure for applying for a job and making payments depends on the status of a foreign citizen. There are three statuses:

• permanent residents - the most “Russified” foreigners with a residence permit;
• temporary residents - have a temporary residence permit;
• temporarily staying - working on a visa, migration card or on the basis of a patent.

Now we’ll tell you about each status in more detail, and you’ll also learn what you need to check and how to register foreign citizens to work for you.

State fee for obtaining a work permit

The issuance of work permits to foreigners is paid with a state duty in the amount of 3,500 rubles for each permit (clause 24, clause 1, article 333.28 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The state fee must be paid before contacting the migration division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The payment receipt must be attached to the application.

Payment is made according to the details of the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to which the application is submitted. They can be found on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The receipt can also be issued on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Required documents

• an application for a work permit with a 3 by 4 cm color photograph. It can be issued by the inviting organization, the foreign citizen himself or his representative. The application can be submitted through the State Services portal.
• a copy of the foreigner’s passport with a validity period of at least 1.5 years from the date of application;
• medical documents confirming the absence of infections and dangerous diseases;
• receipt of payment of state duty;
• documents of the applicant - organization (if the foreigner’s employer applies for a work permit);
• other necessary documents.

How to register permanent and temporary residents

Most often, foreigners from the CIS countries and foreigners residing in the Russian Federation temporarily or permanently are hired. They get jobs in the same way as citizens of the Russian Federation. To apply for them, you do not need permission to attract foreign workers.

When hiring a permanent resident foreigner, request a residence permit and check the validity period. This document is issued for 5 years and can then be extended. Foreigners can work with it throughout Russia.

When hiring a temporary resident foreigner, request a temporary residence permit . A foreigner can only work in the region where he received a temporary residence permit. It is issued for a period of 3 years, as a mark in an identity document, or as a separate document. When the permit expires, the foreigner receives a residence permit or leaves the country.

Workers from Belarus are equal in labor status to citizens of our country and upon employment they present the same documents, except for military registration documents. The rules for hiring citizens of Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have also been simplified - they can work in Russia without a work permit.

Important: citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, like other foreign citizens, are subject to migration registration.

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How to register temporary stayers without a visa

Visa-free entry is established for citizens of all CIS countries, except Turkmenistan, as well as for citizens of other countries, for example, Turkey, Israel.

Since 2015, such foreigners have been hired on the basis of a patent. Until 2015, work permits were issued for employment. They remain valid until their expiration date.

Work patents for foreigners are issued for a period of 1 to 12 months. To apply for a patent, a foreigner must submit an application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 30 days from the date of entry into the Russian Federation. He needs to have with him an identity document, a document confirming his knowledge of the Russian language, knowledge of the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation (certificate) and other documents.

The fee for a patent depends on its validity period and the region in which the foreigner plans to work.

The patent is valid only in the subject of the Russian Federation where it was received. If the profession is indicated in it, the foreign citizen will not be able to work in this region in another profession.

Conditions for obtaining a work permit

Before obtaining a work permit in the Russian Federation, a foreign citizen must find an employer and negotiate employment. This stage cannot be skipped, since the documents are drawn up on behalf of the company. The employer does not have the right to demand that a foreign applicant already have a valid work permit.

A work permit for foreigners is issued to those who are employed by a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. The document is strictly tied to the employing company and to a specific subject of the country.

Citizens of visa-free and visa-free countries must obtain a work permit in Russia when applying for a HQS. For citizens of visa-free countries, with the exception of HQS, a patent must be issued instead of this document. Citizens of Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have the right to work freely in Russia without special permits.

The conditions for obtaining a work permit in Russia for highly qualified specialists, specialists for quota and non-quota positions differ. Travelmart will help a foreigner obtain a work permit for HQS, as well as in the procedure for applying for quota or non-quota positions. We take care of the entire process: we prepare a package of documents, submit them to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and receive a ready-made RPR for non-quota residents or accompany the HQS upon receipt (according to the law, only personal receipt of the RPR).

How to apply for a temporary stayer on the basis of a visa

The most difficult thing is to employ a temporarily staying foreigner on the basis of a visa. Before concluding a contract, you will need to complete a voluminous package of documents. If your company really needs to hire such a foreigner, let's see what needs to be done.

Before you decide to enter into an agreement with a foreigner temporarily staying in Russia, prepare for him a permit to attract and use foreign workers. Without this permission, you do not have the right to employ foreign citizens temporarily staying in the Russian Federation on the basis of a visa.

The permit is issued at the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for 1 year, the registration period is 30 days. You will have to pay a state fee of 10,000 for each employee and submit a package of documents, the composition of which is listed in clause 45 of the Administrative Regulations.

After you receive permission to attract foreign workers, issue an invitation to the foreigner to enter Russia to obtain a visa and work permit. This is formalized by the migration service when submitting documents:

• petition in Russian;
• identification document of the employer (inviting party);
• a copy of your passport or other identity document;
• letters of guarantee from the inviting party regarding the assumption of obligations for material, medical and housing support for the invited foreign citizen for the period of his stay in Russia;
• documents for obtaining a work permit. A package of such documents is submitted for each foreign worker simultaneously with an application for an invitation to enter. The list of documents is listed in clause 27 of the Administrative Regulations. To obtain a permit, you must pay a state fee of 3,500 rubles.

The state fee for issuing an invitation to enter for a foreign citizen, regardless of the type of invitation, is 800 rubles.

You will receive an invitation and permission to attract a foreigner or a notification of refusal within 20 working days from the date of submission of the application.

As a general rule, a work visa is issued to an employee for the duration of an employment contract or civil contract, but not more than one year.

So, processing a foreigner temporarily staying on a visa will take more than two months; you will have to spend at least 10 thousand rubles on state fees and visit the migration service several times.

After completing these formalities, you can enter into contracts with foreign citizens and register them for work.

Validity periods of a work permit

Foreign citizens have the right to obtain only a temporary work permit in Russia. The validity period of a work permit depends on which category the foreign worker belongs to: highly qualified specialists or specialists working in quota or non-quota positions (quota and non-quota workers, respectively).

On the website visa-russian.ru you can get complete information about the procedure for obtaining a work permit for foreign citizens. Our company provides qualified assistance at all stages of employment of foreign employees.

• Highly qualified specialists (HQS) receive a work permit for a maximum of 3 years . HQS are employees with a salary of at least 2 million rubles per year.

Cost of obtaining a work permit for HQS:

* An additional state fee for a work permit of 3500a is paid
* The price includes the submission of a notice of employment and support from the HQS for personally obtaining a work permit

Travelmart provides services only to legal entities registered in Moscow or the Moscow Region.

Apply for a work permit and work invitation for a HQS

• Non-quota and quota holders receive PNR for a period of up to 1 year. When employing such workers, the employer first needs to issue a RPIR - permission to attract foreign labor. The maximum validity period of the RPIRS is 1 year. Thus, provided that the FIR is issued for 1 year, the foreigner, accordingly, receives a work permit for a year.

The cost of registering a foreign employee under the non-quota procedure:

* An additional state duty for obtaining a work permit of 10000a is paid ** An additional state duty for a work permit is paid 3500a
Travelmart provides services only to legal entities registered in Moscow or the Moscow Region. The company must conduct certification of workplaces. The company must not have tax debts.

Apply for a work permit and work invitation to the Russian Federation

Cost of registration of documents for a quota:

Travelmart provides services only to legal entities registered in Moscow or the Moscow Region.
The company must conduct certification of workplaces. The company must not have tax debts. Apply for a quota

The PNR can be extended an unlimited number of times, but the validity period of each new document remains the same - up to 3 years for HQS and up to 1 year for quota and non-quota holders.

Documents for drawing up an employment contract

When applying for a job, foreign citizens must provide almost the same documents as Russian ones. To draw up an employment contract, request documents from the employee:

• passport or other identification document (temporary residence permit, residence permit, etc.);
• migration card, visa, work permit or patent (for temporarily staying foreigners);
• work book, if not, fill it out;
• insurance certificate of state pension insurance. If this is the first place of work for a foreigner, then you, as the employer, must issue an insurance certificate;
• a voluntary health insurance agreement (policy) valid on the territory of the Russian Federation (for temporarily staying foreigners). This document is not needed if the employer has entered into an agreement with a medical organization to provide paid medical services to a foreign employee;
• a document on education, qualifications or special knowledge - when applying for a job that requires special knowledge or special training.

All persons working in Russia, including foreign citizens, are required to obtain a TIN. But a foreigner can do this even after concluding an employment contract. Therefore, there is no obligation to require a TIN certificate from a foreigner - its absence does not prevent you from performing the duties of a tax agent.

Military registration documents are not required for foreign citizens. For the GPC agreement, the same documents are requested, except for the work book.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs must be notified of the conclusion and termination of employment contracts and civil service agreements with foreign citizens no later than three working days from the date of conclusion or termination of the contract. The notification forms were approved by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 2020 N 536.

Form of notification to the Ministry of Internal Affairs when receiving a foreigner

Form of notification to the Ministry of Internal Affairs upon dismissal of a foreigner

Payment of wages to a foreigner

When all the formalities are completed, the documents are completed and the employee is hired, you can calculate and pay him wages. But there is one very important nuance here.

According to the law on currency regulation and currency control, foreigners who do not have a residence permit (temporarily staying and temporarily residing in the Russian Federation) are considered non-residents. Payment of ruble amounts to a non-resident, including wages, is considered a foreign exchange transaction. This means that payments must be made only in non-cash form, that is, through bank accounts in authorized banks (Article 14 of Law No. 173-FZ; Information from Rosfinnadzor).

It is impossible to issue salaries in cash to those temporarily staying and temporarily residing in the Russian Federation. For this, the employer faces a fine from Rosfinnadzor in the amount of 75 to 100% of the amount paid.

Taxes and contributions from the salary of a foreign employee

The procedure for taxation of payments and contributions also depends on the status of a foreigner.

In order to determine the amount of personal income tax , check whether the foreigner is a tax resident or non-resident of the Russian Federation. If for 12 consecutive months a foreigner has stayed in Russia for 183 days or more, then he is a tax resident. Withhold personal income tax from his salary in the amount of 13%. If you stayed less than 183 days - 30%.

A special feature is that foreigners working in Russia on the basis of a patent pay personal income tax at a rate of 13%. The amount of the advance payment paid by the employee under the patent reduces the amount of personal income tax that the employer withholds from him in the current month. The employer needs to receive a notification from the Federal Tax Service about the right to reduce the employee’s personal income tax by the amount of the advance payment that he has already paid towards future taxes.

Another exception for citizens of the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan is that the personal income tax rate is always 13%.

Insurance premiums for payments to foreign employees are calculated in accordance with their status.

• The salaries permanently residing and temporarily residing foreigners are subject to contributions for pension, medical and social insurance in the general manner according to the organization’s tariff.
• From payments to temporarily staying foreigners, contributions are calculated only for pension insurance at the organization’s rate and for temporary disability at the rate of 1.8%. Health insurance premiums are not assessed or paid. The exception is citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Insurance premiums for them are deducted in the same way as for Russian employees according to the general tariffs of the organization.

Foreigners who are tax residents of the Russian Federation are entitled to standard tax deductions for personal income tax.

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State duty for highly qualified foreign specialists

For highly qualified specialists (HQS), a special procedure has been established for obtaining work permits. However, the state duty is paid in the same amount as the state duty for ordinary foreign workers - 3,500 rubles. (Clause 24, Clause 1, Article 333.28 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The state fee must be paid before applying for a work permit for the HQS.

In addition to the payment receipt, the migration service must provide:

• a petition to involve the Higher Consultant with his photograph;
• an employment contract that meets the established requirements (in particular, containing confirmation of remuneration for the HQS in an amount not less than required in accordance with the law, a provision for medical support for the HQS and his family members - in the form of health insurance or otherwise);
• the employer's obligation to reimburse expenses associated with the potential deportation of the HQS in case of violation of legal requirements;
• a copy of the VKS passport.

A request for the involvement of a HQS is issued by the territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on migration issues within 14 working days. The foreign citizen must receive it in person.