To foreign nationals

Foreign national while entering the Russian Federation should know that

While entering the Russian Federation, foreign national are to fill the migration card. The coupon “B” of the migration card is issued with the mark of migration control post.

In accordance with Article 29.1 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of July 25, 2002 “On Legal Status of Foreign Nationals in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 115-FZ), the migratory registration of foreign nationals in the Russian Federation is conducted in accordance with Federal Law No. 109-FZ of July 18, 2006 “On Migratory Registration of Foreign Nationals and Stateless Persons in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 109-FZ).

According to Article 7 of Law No. 109-FZ, foreign nationals who reside in the Russian Federation permanently or temporarily are subject to registration at the place of their residence or at the place of their stay. Foreign nationals who stay in the Russian Federation temporarily are subject to registration at the place of their stay.

An application for registration at the place of residence must be lodged to the migration authority in the place of the location of a housing that a foreign national has chosen as his place of residence within 7 working days from the date when he was granted the temporary residence permit or the permanent residence permit, or from the date of his arrival to the place of the location of the mentioned housing.

The place of the stay of a foreign national or a stateless person in the Russian Federation is a housing or another accommodation (a building, a construction) that is not the place of residence of the foreign national or the stateless person in accordance with Law No. 109-FZ and is used by such a foreign national or a stateless person for his residence by the consent of the receiving party. A notification of the arrival of the foreign national to the place of his stay must be submitted by the receiving party or the foreign national himself to the migration authority (to the migration authority or through a multifunctional center providing state and municipal services):

within 7 working days from the day of his arrival to the place of his stay – if this foreign national resides in the Russian Federation permanently;
within 7 working days from the day of his arrival to the place of his stay – if this foreign national resides in the Russian Federation temporarily or stays in the Russian Federation temporarily;
within 1 working day following the day of his arrival to the place of his stay – if the foreign national has no place of residence; stays at a hotel or another organization providing hotel services, a sanatorium, a rest home, a boarding house, a camping, a tourist camp, in the children’s camp, a hospital or in another health facility or social service institution; carries out labour activity in shifts; is in a special institution for the social rehabilitation of the homeless; is in an institution executing criminal or administrative penalties.

The period of the stay of the foreign national in the Russian Federation is considered to be equal to the term of the validity of his visa. If the foreign national enters the Russian Federation visa-free, the period of his stay must not exceed 90 days with the exception of cases set forth in Federal Law No. 115-FZ.

If the foreign national plans to stay living n the Russian Federation, it is necessary for him to obtain the temporary residence permit which is issued for 3 years.

Persons found guilty of violating the laws of the Russian Federation on migratory registration shall bear responsibility in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation.

Foreign nationals who are not registered at the place of their stay in accordance with Law No. 109-FZ bear no responsibility for the violation of the rules of migratory registration with the exception of cases when the relevant foreign national is entrusted with a duty to inform of the place of his stay in accordance with Law No. 109-FZ.

Obtaining the temporary residence permit

In accordance with Article 2 of Law No. 115-FZ, the temporary residence permit is a confirmation of the right of a foreign national or a stateless person to reside in the Russian Federation temporarily until the permanent residence permit is granted.

The temporary residence permit is registered as a note in the identity paper of a foreign national or a stateless person, or is issued as a document of the established form to a stateless person having no identity papers in the Russian Federation. If documents are accepted, an application will be registered and a certificate confirming the acceptance of the documents for consideration will be issued.

In accordance with Article 6 of Law No. 115-FZ, the territorial agency of the federal executive body in the field of migration issues within 6 months the temporary residence permit to a foreign national who stays in Russia temporarily by his application lodged to the above agency, or refuses to issue him such a permit.
According to Article 6.1 of Law No. 115–FZ, the territorial agency of the federal executive body in the field of migration is obliged to issue the temporary residence permit (or a notification of refusal to issue such a permit) to a foreign national arrived to the RF visa-free no later than in 60 days from the day on which his application for the temporary residence permit was accepted (on condition that he has submitted relevant documents).

The temporary residence permit may be issued to the foreign national within the quota fixed by the RF Government. The period of the validity of the temporary residence permit is three years. The quota for the issue of the temporary residence permits to the foreign nationals is approved by the RF Government annually according to proposals of executive bodies of state power of the RF subjects with regard for the demographic situation in the relative RF subject as well as potentialities of that subject in settling the foreign nationals.

The temporary residence permit may be issued to the foreign national with no regard for the quota fixed by the RF Government if he :

was born in the RSFSR and was a citizen of the USSR in the past, or was born in the Russian Federation;
was declared invalid and has a capable son or a capable daughter who are citizens of the Russian Federation;
has at least one disabled parent who is a citizen of the Russian Federation;
is married to a citizen of the Russian Federation who has his domicile in the Russian Federation;
invested in the Russian Federation at the rate fixed by the RF Government;
entered into military service for the term of his military service;

6.1) is a participant of the state program on assistance to compatriots living abroad and members of their families resettling together with them to the Russian Federation in their resettlement to the Russian Federation;
6.2) has a child who is a citizen of the Russian Federation;
6.3) has a son or a daughter who reached the age of 18, are citizens of the Russian Federation and were declared incapable or partially capable by a court decision entered into force;
6.4) has reached the age of 18 and is obtaining the temporary residence permit together with his parent (his adoptive parent, his guardian, his custodian) who is a foreign national indicated in Subparagraphs 1 — 6.3 of this Paragraph;
6.5) has not reached the age of 18 and is obtaining the temporary residence permit by an application of his parent (his adoptive parent, his guardian, his custodian) who is a citizen of the Russian Federation;
6.6) has reached the age of 18, has been declared incapable or partially capable according to the laws of another state and is obtaining the temporary residence permit together with his parent (his adoptive parent, his guardian, his custodian) who is a foreign national indicated in Subparagraphs 1 — 6.3 of this Paragraph;
6.7) has reached the age of 18, has been declared incapable or partially capable according to the laws of another state and is obtaining the temporary residence permit by an application of his parent (his adoptive parent, his guardian, his custodian) who is a citizen of the Russian Federation.

The application may be submitted in the form of an electronic document through information and telecommunication networks of general use (including Internet) including the unified portal of public and municipal services.

Obtaining the permanent residence permit

According to Article 2 of Law No. 115–FZ, the permanent residence permit is a document issued to a foreign national or a stateless person as a confirmation of their right to reside in the Russian Federation permanently, freely leave the Russian Federation and enter the Russian Federation. The permanent residence permit issued to a stateless person is his identity document at the same time. The permanent residence permit cannot be issued in the form of an electronic document.

A foreign national may be issued the permanent residence permit by his application during the period of the validity of his temporary residence permit and if there are legal grounds. The application for the permanent residence permit should be lodged to the territorial agency of the migration service no later than 6 months before the expiration of the temporary residence permit. The application for the permanent residence permit may be lodged in the form of an electronic document.

In order to obtain the permanent residence permit the foreign national is obliged to live in the Russian Federation for at least one year on the basis of the temporary residence permit.

The permanent residence permit is issued for 5 years. On the expiration of the permanent residence permit this term may be extended for 5 years by an application of the foreign national. The number of the extensions of the permanent residence permit is not limited.

The decision to issue the permanent residence permit or not to issue it should be passed within 6 months from the date of the submission of the relevant application, but no earlier than one year from the date when the temporary residence permit was issued.

The permanent residence permit issued to a stateless person by his relevant application lodged after January 1, 2013 contains an electronic information device for the storage of personal data of his owner including the biometric ones (an electronic photo of the person’s face and an electronic image of the papillary patterns of this person’s index fingers).

In order to receive the biometric personal data of the stateless persons which are recorded on the electronic information device the person who lodged an application for the permanent residence permit (or the person with respect to whom such an application is lodged) is subject to digital photography, and the person who reached the age of 12 is also subject to the scanning of the papillary patterns of his index fingers. This scanning is conducted by the territorial agency of the federal executive body in the field of migration.

If it is impossible to scan the papillary patterns of the index fingers of the stateless person, then the papillary patterns of other fingers of this person are scanned.

A foreign national who resides in the Russian Federation temporarily is obliged to confirm his residence in the Russian Federation either in person or via the Internet within 2 months from the day of the expiration of one year following the day on which he obtained the temporary residence permit. In this case the foreign national is also obliged to enclose his income certificate, a copy of the tax declaration or a copy of another document confirming the amount and source of his income for the year followed the day when he was granted the temporary residence permit.

A foreign national who resides in the Russian Federation permanently is also obliged to annually notify the territorial migration agency that he confirms his residence in the Russian Federation at the place where he was issued the permanent residence permit.

The notification shall contain the following documents and information:

— the last name, the first name and the middle name (if applicable) of the foreign national;

— the place of his residence;

— the place (the places) of work and the period of labour activity during a year followed the day on which he was granted the permanent residence permit;

— the period when the foreign national was outside the Russian Federation during a year followed the day on which he was granted the permanent residence permit (indicating the states where he was);

— the amount and source of his income for the year followed the day on which he was granted the permanent residence permit.

In order to obtain a document confirming the tax identification number, the foreign national should lodge an application of the established form to the tax authority at the place of his residence (stay) and enclose his identity papers and a document confirming his registration at the place of his residence (stay).

Acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation

Citizenship of the Russian Federation is acquired:

by birth;
as a result of the admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation on general terms;
as a result of the admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation in a simplified procedure;
as a result of recovery of citizenship of the Russian Federation;
on other grounds stipulated by Federal Law of May 31, 2002 No.62-FZ “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 62-FZ) or by international treaties of the Russian Federation.

According to Part 1 of Article 13 of Law No. 62-FZ, capable foreign nationals and stateless persons who reached the age of 18 have the right to apply for Russian citizenship on general terms provided that the mentioned persons:

а) reside within the Russian Federation for 5 years continuously from the day on which they were granted the permanent residence permit to the day when they lodged their applications for Russian citizenship. The residence in the Russian Federation is considered continuous if the person was outside the Russian Federation no longer than three months during a year. The period of the residence in the Russian Federation for persons who came to Russia before July 1, 2002 and do not have the permanent residence permit is calculated from the date of their registration at the place of their residence;

b) undertake to observe the Constitution of the Russian Federation and laws of the Russian Federation;
c) have a legitimate source of livelihood;
d) lodged a declaration of renunciation of their existing citizenship to a competent authority of another state. The renunciation of foreign citizenship is not required if it is stipulated by the international treaty of the Russian Federation or by this federal law, or if the renunciation of foreign citizenship is impossible due to reasons beyond the person’s control;
e) speak Russian; the procedure for assessing the level of knowledge of the Russian language is set forth by the Regulations on the Procedure for Consideration of Russian Citizenship Issues.

The five-year period of residence in the Russian Federation may be reduced to one year if at least one of the following grounds is available:

а) the person has great achievements in science, technology and culture; the person’s profession or qualification are interesting for the Russian Federation;

b) the person was granted political asylum in the Russian Federation;
c) the person was recognized as a refugee.

One should know that the law provides for the simplified admission of some categories of people into the citizenship of the Russian Federation.

The following persons have the right to apply for Russian citizenship in the simplified procedure:

Capable foreign nationals and stateless persons who reached the age of 18 have the right to apply for Russian citizenship in the simplified procedure without observing the conditions set forth in Paragraph “a” of Part 1 of Article 13 of Law No. 62-FZ if these persons:

а) have at least one parent who is a citizen of the Russian Federation and resides within the Russian Federation;

b) were citizens of the USSR, resided and reside in the states that were part of the USSR formerly, did not acquired citizenship of those states and remain stateless;
c) are citizens of the states that were part of the USSR and received vocational education or higher vocational education at the educational institutions of the Russian Federation after July 1, 2002.
Foreign nationals and stateless persons who reside within the Russian Federation have the right to apply for Russian citizenship in the simplified procedure without observing the condition related to the term of residence set forth in Paragraph “a” of Part 1 of Article 13 of this federal law if these persons:
а) were born in the RSFSR and were citizens of the former USSR;
b) are married to a citizen of the Russian Federation for at least three years;
c) are unable to work and have a capable son or a capable daughter who reached the age of 18 and are citizens of the Russian Federation;
d) have a child who is a citizen of the Russian Federation – if another parent of that child who is a citizen of the Russian Federation, died, or, according to a court decision entered into force, was declared missing, incapable or partially capable, or was deprived of parental rights, or was restricted in his parental rights;
e) have a son or a daughter who reached the age of 18, are citizens of the Russian Federation and were declared incapable or partially capable by a court decision entered into force – if another parent of the mentioned citizens of the Russian Federation who is also a citizen of the Russian Federation died, or, according to a court decision entered into force, was declared missing, incapable or partially capable, was deprived of his parental rights, or was restricted in his parental rights.

Disabled foreign nationals and stateless persons who arrived to the Russian Federation from the states of the former USSR and were registered at the place of their residence in the Russian Federation as of July 1, 2002 have the right to lodge applications for Russian citizenship in the simplified procedure without observing the conditions related to the five-year period of residence in the RF and without presenting the permanent residence permit. The simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship applies to veterans of the Great Patriotic War who were citizens of the former USSR and are residing in the territory of the Russian Federation, to a child and an incapable person

Mechanism of the RF citizenship acquisition by children

If you wish your child to acquire RF citizenship, it is not necessary for both parents to have the RF citizenship. The law indicates that a child can acquire the RF citizenship if at least one of his parents have the citizenship of the Russian Federation, — on application of one of his parents and on agreement of another parent, who is not the citizen of Russia, bur wish his child to acquire the citizenship of the Russian Federation. Such agreement should be made notarially, but it is not required if a child resides on the territory of Russia.

Dear parents, you should keep in mind that according to the law a child is a person of under eighteen years old. And if your child is 18, then he should appeal on any issues to passport and visa service on his own. If the application on acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation by a child was filed beforehand by his parents and during consideration the application the child becomes 18, this fact can not be the ground of refusal to grant the child citizenship of the RF. The main thing, documents should be filed before the child becomes 18 years old.

What should the citizens do who has been actually residing on the territory of Russia, but do not have any residence permit?

The position of these citizens is depend on the term of residence of these citizens in Russia. If they moved to reside permanently to Russia before February 6, 1992 and can justify this fact, they can be recognized as citizens of the Russian Federation. The thing is on February 6, 1992 the former law “On citizenship of the Russian Federation” was brought in force, the Point1 of Article 13 of which declares that citizens of the former USSR, permanently residing on the territory of the Russian Federation on the day of bringing the present Law to force, can be recognized as citizens of the Russian Federation if they won’t declare of their unwillingness to be the citizens of the Russian Federation.

Thus, if a person possesses any evidences of the fact of his residence in Russia on February 6, 1992, he has the right to appeal to passport and visa service at the place of his residence with application, where he will present his evidences. In such cases passport and visa services recommend citizens to appeal to court with application on establishing legally relevant fact of residence in Russia on February 6, 1992. After establishing the fact of residence in court order and having got the court decision, the person should be registered at the place of his sojourn, then he can apply to the inspector on citizenship issues to passport and visa department with court decision and all the documents examined during the court proceeding. In such a case your document will be taken for conducting examination on presence the citizenship. This procedure can take about 6 months: if the examination has a positive outcome, you will be issued the passport of citizen of the Russian Federation.

Law No. 62-FZ “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” was supplemented with Chapter VIII.1 which sets forth the conditions and the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to some categories of people who are in the territory of the Russian Federation.

According to Part 1 of Article 41.1 of Law No. 62-FZ, these categories of people are as follows:

а) capable persons who were citizens of the USSR as of September 5, 1991, arrived to the Russian Federation to reside there permanently before November 1, 2002 and did not acquire Russian citizenship in the prescribed manner, if they are not citizens of another state and have no valid documents supporting their right to reside in another state;

b) capable children of the persons indicated in Paragraph «а» of Part 1 of Article 41.1 of Law No. 62-FZ who reached the age of 18, if they are not citizens of another state and have no valid documents supporting their right to reside in another state;
c) children of the persons indicated in Paragraph «а» of Part 1 of Article 41.1 of Law No. 62-FZ who have not reached the age of 18 (hereinafter referred to as the underage children), if they are not citizens of another state and have no valid documents supporting their right to reside in another state;
d) adult incapable persons who are under the guardianship of the persons indicated in Paragraph «а» of Part 1 of Article 41.1 of Law No. 62-FZ, if they are not citizens of another state and have no valid documents supporting their right to reside in another state;
e) persons who were citizens of the former USSR, were issued passports of citizens of the Russian Federation before July 1, 2002, but with respect to whom the competent authority has not identified the availability of Russian citizenship afterwards, and who are citizens of another state, if they have no valid documents supporting their right to reside in another state.

Chapter VIII.1 of Law No. 62-FZ also sets forth the conditions and the procedure for recognizing persons who reside in the Russian Federation, were citizens of the former USSR, were issued passports of citizens of the Russian Federation before July 1, 2002 and who has not acquired citizenship of the Russian Federation in the prescribed manner as well as their children, as citizens of the Russian Federation, if they are not citizens of another state or have no valid documents supporting their right to reside in another state.

The mentioned persons may regulate their status by expressing their will to be admitted to citizenship of the Russian Federation or to obtain the permanent residence permit and shall not be brought to administrative responsibility for the violation of the rules of entering the Russian Federation, stay (residence) in the Russian Federation, illegal carrying out labour activities in the Russian Federation or for the violation of immigration rules, if such violations were identified when their lodging an application for recognizing them as Russian nationals, for Russian citizenship or for the permanent residence permit.

Persons indicated in Part 1 of Article 41.1 are recognized as citizens of the Russian Federation by a decision of the territorial agency of the federal executive body authorized to discharge functions on control and supervision in the field of migration (hereinafter referred to as the territorial agency).

A person shall not be recognized as a citizen of the Russian Federation in the following cases:

а) the person was issued the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation on the basis of deliberately false personal data (or inaccurate personal data) reported by him;

b) the person received the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation which was issued on a lost (stolen) passport form, and the person applying for recognition as a citizen of the Russian Federation was aware of that;
c) in the past the person as a foreign national or a stateless person was extradited by the Russian Federation by an inquiry of a foreign state to subject him to criminal prosecution or to execute the sentence;
d) after initial obtaining the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation, the person acquired Russian citizenship in accordance with the procedure established by this Federal Law;
e) after initial obtaining the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation, the person was allowed to surrender the Russian nationality on the basis of the voluntary expressed will in accordance with the law;
f) after initial obtaining the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation, the person acquired the citizenship of another state or was issued a valid document supporting his right to reside in another state except for the cases if, in accordance with federal laws or the international treaty of the Russian Federation, the person is allowed to be the citizen of another state (to have the dual citizenship).

The persons indicated in Part 1 of Article 41.1 of Law No. 62-FZ are granted the citizenship of the Russian Federation with no regard for the requirement on their observing the terms set forth in subparagraphs «а», «c», and «d» of Part 1 of Article 13 of Law No. 62-FZ, without presenting the temporary residence permit and the permanent residence permit if there are no grounds for rejecting their applications.

According to Article 16 of Law No. 62-FZ, the application for Russian citizenship as well as the application for restoration of Russian citizenship shall be rejected if they were submitted by persons who:

а) stand up for the forcible change of the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation or otherwise threaten the security of the Russian Federation;

b) participate or participated in international, inter-ethnic, inter-territorial or other armed conflicts, or, in the course of such conflicts, committed acts which are directed against the Russian contingent of peace-making forces and prevent them from the fulfillment of their peace-making functions, or are directed against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; or committed terrorist acts, carried out extremist activities or participated in the preparation for the commission of such acts, or carried out such activities beyond the borders of the Russian Federation with respect to citizens of the Russian Federation, representations of the Russian Federation in foreign states and international organizations, as well as representations of the RF subjects and their officers;
c) participate or participated in the commission (or in the preparation for the commission) of illegal actions having at least one of the signs of extremist activities, for the carrying out of which the laws of the Russian Federation stipulate criminal, administrative or civil responsibility; or committed or participated in the commission of other actions threatening the security of the Russian Federation or the security of Russian nationals;
d) were subjected to administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation in accordance with federal laws during five years preceding the day on which they lodged applications for Russian citizenship or for restoration of Russian citizenship;
e) used false documents or reported deliberately false data when their lodging the application;
f) serve in the army, in security agencies or in law-enforcement agencies of a foreign state unless otherwise stipulated by the international treaty of the Russian Federation;
g) have a previous conviction that is not struck off record or have outstanding conviction for the commission of premeditated crimes in the territory of the Russian Federation or outside it;
h) are subject to criminal prosecution by competent authorities of the Russian Federation or by competent authorities of foreign states for crimes recognized as crimes in accordance with federal laws (until a sentence is pronounced or a court decision is passed);
j) have been convicted and serve their sentence in prison for actions punishable in accordance with federal laws (until the sentence expires).

The applications for recognition as citizens of the Russian Federation are rejected on the grounds set forth in Paragraphs «а», «b» and «c» of this article.

If the circumstances set forth in Paragraphs «d» — «j» of the above article are available, the President of the Russian Federation has the right to consider issues related to the granting of Russian citizenship or to the restoration of Russian citizenship.

Pension payments of foreign citizens arrived from the countries of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)

Foreign nationals and stateless persons permanently residing on the territory of the Russian Federation have the right to get the pension payment in the Russian Federation if there is no other agreement besides the international treaties. The international treaties, accepted by the counties of the CIS and the Russian Federation in the field of pension payment, are as following:

The Agreement on guarantees of rights of citizens of states – member of the Commonwealth of Independent Countries in the field of pension provision of March 13, 1992 (by the above mentioned Agreement, pension payment can be rendered to citizens of Armenia, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine);
The Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on guarantees of rights of citizens in the field of pension provision of February 10, 1995;
The Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Georgia on guarantees of rights of citizens in the field of pension provision of May 16, 1997;
The Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on guarantees of rights of citizens in the field of pension provision of June 29, 1999;
In accordance with the norms of the above-mentioned Agreements, when the retired migrates within the territory of the states – the members of the corresponding Agreement, pension payment is stopped to be paid off at the place of his residence, if the pension payment of the same type is stipulated for him at the new place of residence.

Pension payments of the above-mentioned states are set in accordance with legislation and at the expense of state, on the territory of which they reside. Mutual calculation between the states are not conducted.

Pension payment of citizens, arrived for residence to the Russian Federation from the states, which do not sign corresponding agreements with the Russian Federation, is rendered on the ground of pension legislation of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with Article 3 of the law “On labour pension in the RF” foreign nationals and stateless persons, permanently residing on the territory of the Russian Federation, have the right to get labour pension on equal terms with the citizens of the Russian Federation. Thus, the ground for establishing pension payment for foreign nationals and stateless persons is the fact of permanent residence on the territory of the RF.

Employment of foreign nationals

In accordance with Law No. 115-FZ, a foreign national has the right to carry out labour activities only if he has a labour permit.

Article 13 of the Law sets forth the categories of foreign nationals who are not required to obtain the labour permit. In particular, foreign nationals who reside in the Russian Federation permanently (have permanent residence permits) are among them.

In Russia there are two systems of employing the foreign nationals depending on the procedure of their entry into the Russian Federation: visa-free or through obtaining a visa.

An employer has the right to hire foreign workers who came to Russia through obtaining a visa if he has a permit to hire foreign workers.

The employer has the right to hire the foreign workers without having the relative permit if they:

1) came to the Russian Federation visa-free;

2) are highly qualified specialists and are employed in the Russian Federation in accordance with Article 13.2 of Law No. 115-FZ;

3) are members of the family of a highly qualified specialist.

The labour permit for a foreign national as well as the permit to hire the foreign workers for an employer are issued when their applying to the Federal Migration Service or its territorial agencies. The required documents attached to the application are listed in the following decrees dated January 11, 2008 and ratifying the Administrative Regulations on Providing by the Federal Migration Service and the Executive Authorities of the Russian Federation Services on Issuance of Permits to Hire Foreign Workers and Labour Permits to Foreign Nationals and Stateless Persons: FMS Decree No. 1, Decree of the RF Ministry of Public Health and Social Development No. 4, Decree of the RF Ministry of Transport No. 1, Decree of the RF State Committee for Fishery No. 2.

Providing medical assistance to foreign nationals

The procedure for providing medical care to the foreign nationals is established by the Regulations on Providing Medical Care to Foreign Nationals in the Russian Federation which were approved by RF Government Resolution of September 1, 2005 No. 546 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations).

According to Paragraph 3 of the Regulations, emergency medical aid shall be provided to foreign nationals free of charge and without delay. If there are situations directly threatening their life or requiring an urgent surgical operation, such medical aid shall be provided irrespective of the availability of an insurance policy.

In case of health problems presenting no direct threat to life the planned medical care is provided to foreign nationals who stay in Russia temporarily and do not work only on a fee basis or on terms of voluntary medical insurance.

The provision of free medical aid at the expense of the compulsory medical insurance fund is possible only for insured persons.

In accordance with Article 10 of Federal Law of November 29, 2010 No. 326-FZ “On Compulsory Medical Insurance in the Russian Federation”, the following categories of people are insured: citizens of the Russian Federation; foreign nationals and stateless persons who reside in Russia permanently or temporarily (with the exception of highly qualified specialists and members of their families in accordance with Law No. 115-FZ) as well as persons having the right to medical care in accordance with the Federal Law “On Refugees” who: 1) work under an employment contract or under a civil contract on the execution of work or the provision of services as well as under a contractual author’s order or a license agreement; 2) are self-employed (individual entrepreneurs, notaries engaged in private practice, advocates); 3) are members of peasant farms; 4) are members of family (tribal) communities of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation who live in regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation and are engaged in traditional economic sectors; 5) unemployed individuals.

Thus, if the foreign national has the temporary residence permit or the permanent residence permit, he has the right to apply to a medical insurance company for a policy. After that he has the right to receive medical care equally with citizens of the Russian Federation.

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