Changes in the procedure for receiving Russian citizenship

 

A draft law simplifying the procedure for receiving Russian citizenship for those who are Russian native speakers and whose relatives in a direct ascending line lived on the territory of Russia was announced at the end of March.

 

The Federal Migration Service prepared a federal draft law simplifying the procedure for receiving Russian citizenship for those who are Russian native speakers and for those whose relatives in a direct ascending line or they themselves have lived on the territory of the Russian Federation (including the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire) and upon the condition of renouncing citizenship of the other country or in the absence of such.

 

It is planned that the recognition of a foreign citizen as a Russian native speaker will be confirmed by a Commission. A foreign citizen will then be issued notification confirming the possibility of receiving citizenship of the Russian Federation and that an application to the foreign state authority is required regarding the renouncing of his or her existing citizenship.

 

It provides for the issuance of a regular travel visa in order to receive citizenship of the Russian Federation in addition to the possibility of obtaining a residency permit forgoing the preliminary step of obtaining a temporary residency permit and residing at least one year on the territory of the Russian Federation. Moreover, applications for Russian citizenship will be considered in a simplified manner and the process will take no longer than 3 months.

 

It is also proposed to reduce the period of consideration of applications for Russian citizenship from 6 to 3 months for the participants of the State program to assist the voluntary resettlement to the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad.

 

Changes in the procedure of notifying the Federal Migration Service regarding  labor activity of highly qualified foreign specialists

 

By order of the Federal Migration Service, employers and customers of goods and services are obligated to notify the FMS of Russia or its territorial authorities quarterly (not later than on the last working day of the month of the following reporting quarter) regarding cases of termination of employment contracts or civil contracts for work (provision of services) with highly qualified foreign citizens and about cases of their unpaid leave of absence for more than 1 month within a year.

 

Notifications of salary payments for highly qualified foreign specialists should be recorded as at the last day of the quarter of the calendar year.

 

The directorate of the Federal Migration Service of the Moscow region relocated to the Krasnogorsk region

 

The unified migration center for the Moscow region opened in the business-park “Greenwood” (Krasnogorsk district, Moscow Ring Road 69km) on April 16, 2014.

 

The opening ceremony was attended by Konstantin Romodanovsky (the head of the Federal Migration Service), Oleg Molodievsky (the head of the FMS of the Moscow region), Andrey Vorobyev (the governor of the Moscow region) and Mikhail Korotaev (a chairman of the Committee on Labor and Employment).

 

The building houses the department of labor migration of the FMS for the Moscow region and provides public services for the processing of work permits and patents for foreign citizens who arrive from other countries for the purposes of employment in the Moscow region.
 

Also there is a medical center housed within the migration center where foreign citizens can undergo compulsory medical examinations which is required as a condition for the issuance of a work permit.

 

Moreover, there are special computer classes being offered at the center that are used to test Russian language skills of foreign citizens. The test takes an  hour and 15 minutes; and according to results, foreigners receive certificates in the government-approved format. To sum up, the center can serve up to five thousand people a day.

New forms of work permits for foreign employees

 

By order of the Federal Migration Service, 10 new blank forms of work permit for foreign citizens and stateless persons were approved. All the blank forms are secured printed products with a high level of protection against forgery, and renders all the previous forms invalid.

 

Special blanks forms are set for the following categories of foreigners:

  • highly qualified specialists;
  • persons engaged in the project “Skolkovo”, studying full-time in universities and colleges (for accredited programs);
  • foreigners (stateless persons ) who are directed to branches, representative offices or subsidiaries (which are located in Russia) by commercial organizations that are registered in member-states of the WTO.

Each category includes separate forms for foreigners who arrived either via a visa or a visa free regime.

 

New procedure  to notify migration authorities of the completion (termination) of education of a foreign citizen

 

By order of the Federal Migration Service, educational organization must notify territorial migration authorities of completion or termination of education of a foreign citizen within 3 days from the date of either completion or termination..

 

Notification should be sent directly to the territorial authority of the FMS of Russia with a covering letter or sent by registered mail with notification of the delivery and list of its contents.

 

Notification form is typed or printed legibly with ink in Russian. All the relevant fields must be filled, abbreviations, acronyms, strikeouts and corrections are not allowed.

 

Migrants will have to confirm their knowledge of the Russian language, its history and laws

 

The Federation Council members approved an act requiring migrants who have applied for a temporary residence permit, residence permit, work permit or patent to confirm their knowledge of Russian language, history and laws.

 

Foreign citizens have to prove this knowledge with special documents, such as:

  • certificate that confirms Russian language skills and knowledge of history and laws (it is valid for five years from the date of issue);
  • state document on education (at least basic education) issued by an educational institution in the state that was the part of the USSR up until September 1, 1991;
  • state document on education or qualification that was issued to those who had successfully passed the state final examination on the territory of the Russian Federation after September 1, 1991.

 

These requirements are also applicable to migrants who have already received residence permits or work permits until January 1, 2015, and want to renew it.

 

However, certain categories of people don’t have to confirm their knowledge of Russian language, history and laws, including those who are:

  • incapacitated or partially incapacitated foreigners;
  • foreigners under 18;
  • foreign men who have reached the age of 65 and foreign women who have reached the age of 60;
  • participants of the State program to assist the voluntary resettlement to the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad and their relatives who want to resettle with them;
  • highly qualified foreign specialists and their relatives who have applied for a residence permit;
  • foreign students of Russian colleges and universities with state-accredited basic educational programs.

 

Easier way to receive international passports for Russian citizens abroad

 

The Government Commission approved a draft law meant to simplify the required paperwork in order to receive identity documents. It is proposed to allow diplomatic missions and consular offices of the Russian Federation to send passports directly to Russian citizens by post (recipients are required to pay for shipping costs).

 

Currently, Russian citizens abroad must visit foreign diplomatic missions twice, the first time in order to submit the application, a second time in order to receive the document. This takes up plenty of time and is expensive. With the adoption of the draft law, citizens will be required to visit foreign diplomatic missions just once.

 

New way to calculate salary in regions located in the Far North

 

According to the Federal law, it’s necessary to use the new monthly average number of calendar days - 29.3 - to calculate the average daily earnings for the payment of vacation allowance and the payment for unused vacation. 

Thus, to calculate daily earnings one should divide annual salary by 12 and then divide this sum by 29.3.