Obtaining of work permits & work visas in Russia

Dear Clients.
 

We would like to inform you on the changes in the procedures of invitation letters and visa obtaining.

 

It is necessary to draw your attention to the fact that from now on the processing of the visa in the Consulate of the Russian Federation located in the country that is not the country of foreign national citizenship will be possible only provided either the residence permit or other document allowing the person to stay in the country for more than 90 days will be presented, or in exceptional cases when the decision is to be made by the Head of the Diplomatic or Consular post of the Russian Federation.

 

The Resolution imposes restrictions for the term of stay on the territory of the Russian Federation for all foreign citizens and stateless citizens (these restrictions were imposed earlier by the Agreement between the Russian Federation and European Union on simplification of visa issue for Russian and European Union citizens): now therefore the total term of staying in Russia cannot exceed 90 days within the period of 180 days.

 

Step 1. Obtaining of  Work permits

Under Russian labor legislation, a non-Russian citizen working in Russia must have an “individual work permit” in respect of the company in which he is employed. Therefore, strictly speaking, a non-Russian citizen may not commence work for a Russian company until the Russian company obtains an individual work permit for him/her. A Russian company may only apply for an individual work permit if it has a valid general permit from the Russian migration authorities, which allows the Russian company to hire a specific number of non-Russian employees to specified positions.

 

Step 2. Registration of company with the Regional Department of FMS

A non-Russian employee of a Russian company must possess a “work visa”. In order to receive a work visa invitation for its non-Russian employees, a Russian company must register a copy of its corporate documents and file various other documents, (including a foreign labor permit and documents for each non-Russian employee) with the Regional Department of the Federal Migration Serviceat the place of the Russian company’s location.

 

Russian law imposes certain obligations on a company that hires non-Russian employees, including a requirement to: (i) submit documents necessary for the registration of a non-Russian employee at his place of residence; (ii) notify the relevant tax authorities; (iii) ensure that the non-Russian employee leaves the country upon the expiry of employment; (iv) keep a register of travel for non-Russian employees; and (v) inform the Regional Department of the Federal Migration Service if a non-Russian employee changes his place of work or residence.

 

Step 3. Obtaining of invitations and work visa

Once the company received a registration with the Regional Department of FMS it can issue work invitations for obtaining work visas.

Also the Russian company will be able to apply to the Regional Department of the Federal Migration Service to obtain a special invitation in relation to the visas required for the non-Russian employee’s spouse/family (which recognizes that the spouse/family are accompanying the non-Russian employee). Prior to receipt of such visa, the only applicable visa for the non-Russian employee’s spouse/family will be a tourist visa, which could be problematic with respect to registering children for school or finding work for the spouse.

 
Responsibility

A breach of any of these obligations may result in the imposition of an administrative fine of  250 000 - 800 000  rubles on the company;  25 000 - 50 000  on the company’s CEO and  on the employee. The court may also order the deportation of the relevant employee (although this is not a common practice with respect to qualified professionals from the U.S. and Western European countries). While the fines are relatively low, consequences of repeated breaches may be more serious, e.g. the denial of future visa applications.

 

You may contact us for obtaining of work permits >>