New regulations for foreign employees in Russia in force

The law establishes new requirements for the issuance of permits to highly qualified foreign specialists (HQS):

1. The salary amount required to grant to HQS status will be increased from RUB 167,000 per month to RUB 750,000 per quarter for all HQS, except for certain categories, including:

• scientific workers and teachers;
• medical, pedagogical, or scientific workers if they are invited to engage in relevant activities on the territory of the international medical cluster; and
• foreign citizens participating in the Skolkovo project and some other initiatives.

2. The timeframe for leaving the Russian Federation in case of early termination of labour or civil law contracts will be reduced to 30 calendar days instead of 30 working days.

3. A work permit will be revoked if it is not received within 30 calendar days from the date of issue (previously the permit could wait for its holder much longer).

4. Employers will be prohibited from employing foreign citizens for two years in cases where there is a delay in fulfilling the requirement to transfer information about employee salaries and amounts of personal income tax to the tax authorities.

However, there are more optimistic changes as well – HQS and their family members can obtain indefinite residence permits in the Russian Federation if the HQS has been working in the Russian Federation for at least two years (the law also provides several other grounds to obtain residence permits). A residence permit provides certain advantages, such as the ability to work in any region of Russia, free medical care that Russian citizens are entitled to, and exemption from the need to secure visas for entry, etc.

A highly qualified specialist (HQS), according to the migration legislation of the Russian Federation, is a foreign citizen with work experience and skills, if the conditions of their involvement in labour activity in the Russian Federation imply that they will receive a salary, the minimum amount of which is established by law. 

The employer independently assesses the competence and qualification level of the employee; the law does not set requirements, and the migration service, with a certain number of exceptions, does not check these requirements.

The HQS permit is in many ways attractive due to its accelerated procedure for obtaining a residence permit, and the validity period of the permit is a maximum of three years in contrast to the usual permit maximum of one year.

Another positive feature of HQS status is the application of a personal income tax rate of 13% or 15% (depending on the level of income), regardless of the number of days of residence in Russian Federation territory. As a general rule, if a person is in the Russian Federation for less than 183 days per year, they are considered a non-resident and subject to an income tax rate of 30%.

Ekaterina Kabanova is Head of the Corporate Department and has over 10 years' experience in providing legal advice in company restructuring and employment matters.