National migration or how to avoid problems of foreign citizens from visa-free countries, working in Moscow

Foreign citizens from visa-free countries have always sought to work in Russia, but the existing migration legislation was not entirely loyal to them, and now the situation is even more complicated. That is why in this article we would like to describe how difficult it is for citizens from visa-free countries to formalize their employment in Russia and at the same time to fulfill all the requirements of migration legislation, as well as give some guidelines to make life of foreign workers easier.

So, let's begin.

First of all, foreign citizens need to save a considerable sum of money in order to come to Russia for work.

The truth is that the difficulties begin even before a foreign citizens decided to go to work in Russia: first of all they should plan the financial expenses so that they have enough to pay for the ticket, the place of residence, as well as for the issue of permits (from 15 to 30 thousand rubles to be spent in the first month of the stay, plus no less than 4 thousand rubles for personal income tax payment for each subsequent month of stay in Russia).

A foreign citizen may be refused to enter Russia when crossing the border of the country.

Certainly, it is applied to those foreign citizens who have previously visited Russia. If a foreign citizen arrives in Russia not for the first time, we strongly recommend checking if there is a ban on entry into Russia on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (гувм.мвд.рф) prior to the next trip.

After that, a foreign citizen must fill out a migration card correctly when crossing the border. Please note: in order to work in Russia, a foreign citizen should specify the purpose of entry as "WORK".

Finally, a foreign citizen safely reached Moscow or another nearby region. So what comes next?

To begin with, there is a piece of good news. Citizens of the EEU member-states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan), coming to work in Russia are not required to have the patent, it is enough to find an employer and make an employment contract.

The citizens of Azerbaijan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine are obliged to obtain a patent in order to work in Russia.

Please note that before the registration of the patent, a foreign citizen must get migration registration. For this purpose, a foreign citizen has only 7 working days from the date of entry. However, if a foreign citizen decides to stay in a hotel, the administration will make the migration registration within 1 working day following the day of entry.

If a foreign citizen is not planning to work in Russia, then the possible period of stay in Russia as much as possible no more than 90 days during each period of 180 days.

Is it possible to arrange free migration registration?

A foreign citizen entering Russia, probably may face with a large number of proposals from organizations that will offer making the migration registration at the fictional apartments. Please, keep in mind that even if there is such an apartment, at any time, this apartment may be recognized as the "rubber apartment", and a foreign citizen will be deregistered without any notification and the database of the Ministry of Interior will contain the ban on further entry into Russia.

The lack of opportunities of migration registration is not a problem if a foreign citizen wants to issue the patent. The Migration Center in Sakharovo, for example, may help to put on migration registration for free, assuming the future appeal for obtaining the patent.

It is not complicated process to get the patent for work in Moscow, but it takes a lot of time.

In order to get the patent, a foreign citizen should submit the set of documents personally to the Migration Center in Sakharovo within 30 calendar days from the date of entry into Russia.

The following documents are required:

1. The passport of a foreign citizen and its notarized translation. Please note, that starting from January 01, 2016, the citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan for registration (re-registration) of the patent should provide only biometric passport (old passports are not valid);
2. The certificate on the absence of dangerous diseases, and the HIV-certificate. Medical documents can only be obtained in the Migration Center in Sakharovo;
3. Migration card with the purpose of the visit - "work";
4. Document confirming the migration registration;
5. Document confirming the level of knowledge of Russian language, history and law;
6. The policy of voluntary medical insurance (VMI).

A foreign citizen can pass a medical examination, as well as testing of knowledge of Russian language, history and law directly at the Multifunctional Migration center in Sakharovo.

At that, a foreign citizen need to come at the MMC only twice:

• first time - submission of documents and completing all the necessary procedures will take no more than 2 hours;
• second time - the payment for the first month of the patent (advance payment of personal income tax) in the amount of 4200 rubles, and obtaining of the patent will take less than 30 minutes.

The term of registration of the patent is 10 working days from the date of the application with all required documents to the FMS.

Upon receipt of the SMS message on readiness of the patent, a foreign citizen must apply to the MMC, providing the preliminary paid fixed payment on personal income tax for the first month of the patent for 4200 rubles.

Is it necessary to have a good command of Russian in order to obtain a certificate confirming knowledge of Russian language, history and law?

The minimum level of knowledge of Russian language is quite enough for testing. The staff of the MMC are quite loyal to the migrants, they offer to answer the basic questions, allowing the repeat of testing, etc. Their task is to issue a foreign citizen with the certificate and direct to the receipt of the patent.

The following categories of citizens are exempted from the provision of the certificate confirming knowledge of Russian language:

1. Disabled citizens;
2. Persons under the age of 18 years;
3. Males above 65 years, female above 60 years for the receiving of the TRP;
4. Members of the government programs assisting compatriots voluntarily resettled in Russia;
5. Persons received education in the Soviet Union before September 01, 1991 (confirmed by the document of the state education at the level of not less than 5-9 classes, issued by the educational institution);
6. Persons passed the final certification in Russia and received education from September 01, 1991;
7. Persons declared themselves as Russian mother - tongue speakers, according to changes of the Federal Law as of April 20, 2014 №71-FZ.

Once the long-awaited patent is finally obtained, a foreign citizen starts looking for the employer.

In many cases employers tend to avoid hiring foreign workers even though they have all the permits issued correctly.

Job search can be carried out via the internet, newspapers or personal ties. Some employers do not want to deal with foreign citizens and those who are willing to employ foreigners, require providing the valid patent before the employment. Therefore, we recommend to a foreign citizen to consider the matter of Russian region supposed for work and the way of job search right before the trip to Russia. It’s also preferable to declare to the potential employer on the presence of the patent, or intention to get it as soon as possible.

As long as foreign citizens looking for the employers, they should not forget to extend the term of the patent by paying the advanced payment on personal income tax at the rate of 4200 rubles per month 1 of the patent to work in Moscow.

In this case the validity of the patent is considered to be prolonged for the period of payment. A foreign citizen can pay for each month of work separately or pay personal income tax at once for 1 year of work in Russia. The patent is considered invalid without advance payment of personal income tax for the patent.

Payment of the personal income tax is not complicated process.

A foreign citizen should know that the receipt on payment of personal income tax should include the name and the personal tax reference number of only one person issued with the patent. If the personal tax reference number is not indicated, the term of the patent will not be prolonged. All receipts should be stored until the receipt of the patent.

It is not difficult to conclude the employment contract, but it is rather difficult to meet the conditions prescribed therein.

A foreign citizen must carefully read the terms and conditions prescribed by the concluded employment or civil contract. The labor legislation of Russia is equal for both Russian and foreign citizens, so if there is the suspicion of incorrect terms of the contract, it is better to consult with experts.

Failure to comply with any of the paragraphs of the employment contract can be easily challenged in the Court, as a rule, employers tend to avoid bringing such issues to the Court, since it is inevitably losing. If a foreign citizen clearly discovered the violation of the employment contract, it would be sufficient to threaten by the labor inspectorate and the courts for the speedy solution.

Once a foreign citizen concluded the employment or civil contract, in order to avoid invalidation of the patent, he/she must submit the copy of the contract to the Migration Department of Russian Interior Ministry (earlier FMS) within two months after receipt of the patent. This is important because, if a foreign citizen does not provide the copy, the patent will be revoked, although in practice this is not always the case. In its turn, the employer is required to send the notification on the employment contract to the Migration Department of Russian Interior Ministry (earlier FMS) within 3 days after its conclusion.

In addition, a foreign citizen may conclude the employment contract with several employers based on the single patent, the only important condition- the actual place of work should be precisely in the region indicated in the patent.

Is it hard to strictly comply with the law during the stay in Russia?

It is simple to comply with the Russian law. In addition to the basic rules and regulations, it is enough to perform the following steps:

1. Make the migration registration within 7 days from the date of entry into Russia, as well as at every border crossing;
2. Get the patent within 30 days from the date of entry into Russia;
3. Pay the personal income tax on time;
4. Renew the migration registration on the basis of paid receipts for personal income tax;
5. Conclude the labor or civil contract with the employer and send the copy to the State on the migration of the Migration Department of Russian Interior Ministry (earlier FMS) no later than 2 months from the receipt of the patent;
6. Verify that the employer sent the notification on employment of a foreign citizen to the Migration Department of Russian Interior Ministry (earlier FMS) no later than 3 working days after the conclusion of the employment contract.

We hope that this article can help foreign citizens to get more familiar with Russian migration legislation, as well as to avoid the difficulties associated with the stay and work in Russia. There are also a lot of other features of the migration legislation, penalties for violations of which are quite high, up to expulsion from Russia, and, if a foreign citizen is not sure of the legitimacy according to the law, it is best to seek for professional help.