Hiring foreign citizens in 2021: step-by-step instructions

Statuses of foreign citizens

The rights and obligations of citizens of other states on the territory of the Russian Federation are regulated by Federal Law No. 115-FZ dated July 25, 2002 “On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation.” Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Law No. 115-FZ establishes three statuses of foreigners and stateless persons.

1. Permanent residents. Such persons have a document called “Residence Permit of a Foreign Citizen”.
2. Temporary residents. They have a passport from Fr. Another proof of this status can be a document called a “Temporary Residence Permit” (as a rule, stateless persons have it).
3. Temporarily staying. The right to stay in the Russian Federation can be confirmed by a passport with an open visa or a migration card. In the latter case, we are talking about a foreigner who arrived from a country that does not have a visa regime with Russia.

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Normative base

The legal framework for the employment of foreigners in Russia combines several regulations. Here are the main ones:

• In the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Chapter 50.1 is devoted to the employment of foreign citizens. These are articles 327.1–327.7
• Law No. 115-FZ of July 25, 2002 establishes legal standards for the stay of foreigners in the Russian Federation, including regulation of labor activity (Article 13).
• Law No. 109-FZ of July 18, 2006 defines the rules for migration registration of foreign citizens and stateless persons.
• Articles 18.15–18.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses establish administrative liability for violation of the rules for hiring foreign citizens and restrictions on their employment established by law.

Important changes to consider in 2021

In 2021, adjustments were made to several regulations at once, which affected work in 2020. Here's a quick overview:

• The notification forms for hiring foreigners have been updated. They were approved by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 363 of June 4, 2019.
• Requirements for employers have been tightened - companies that have tax debts will not be allowed to hire foreigners.
• The procedure for registering foreigners for migration has been changed. Now the employer must do this only if the specialist lives at a company-owned facility. The new rules were approved by Government Resolution No. 246 of 03/07/2019.

On October 19, 2020, Order No. 536 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated July 30, 2020 was published. It approved new forms of notifications related to the work activities of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation. Let's list them:

• on concluding an employment or civil process agreement with a foreign worker;
• on the termination (termination) of an employment or civil service contract;
• on the fulfillment by employers/customers of obligations to pay remuneration (salary) to a foreigner (stateless person) - a highly qualified specialist;
• on the employment of a foreigner (stateless person) by an organization that provides services for the employment of foreign citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Procedure for filling out new forms.

Read our material on how to fill out the new form for notifications about the payment of wages to HQS.

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Application of a foreign citizen to be hired as a highly qualified specialist

Notification of concluding an agreement for the performance of work (rendering services) with a foreign citizen

Notice of termination of a contract for the performance of work (rendering services) with a foreign citizen

Notifications of employers (customers) paying wages to a foreign citizen

Notification of employment of a foreign citizen by an organization

Methods for registering foreign citizens for work

You can enter into an employment contract or a civil law contract with a foreigner. In the first case, the employee is required to perform a labor function and obey labor regulations. In the second case, the employee must complete a specific amount of work within a specified time frame without subordinating to work regulations. For more details, see: “Differences between an employment contract and a GPC agreement: how not to make mistakes when registering a “temporary” employee.”

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Regardless of which agreement is concluded with a foreigner, additional permitting documents may be required.

So, if a candidate comes from a country with which Russia has a visa regime (and his passport contains the corresponding visa), then in order to be employed he must have a work permit. In most cases, the employer himself will need permission to hire such an employee.

If the homeland of a potential employee is a country with which Russia does not have a visa regime, then the employer does not need to have permission to hire an employee. But for employment, a foreigner may need a special patent, which is issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The exception is workers from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. Citizens of these states do not need to obtain additional permits (including a patent) to work in Russia.

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Migration registration and foreigner status

Foreign citizens are subject to migration registration in Russia. To do this, upon entering the border, a foreigner receives and fills out a migration card. He gives a copy of the migration card to the receiving party in Russia.

You notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the arrival of a foreigner only if you are the receiving party, for example, if you provide housing to the future employee. This must be done no later than thirty working days from the date of arrival of a foreigner from a member country of the EAEU, fifteen working days if a foreigner arrives from Tajikistan and seven working days from the date of arrival of a foreigner from other countries. The notification is filled out for each foreigner using a special form. Attach a copy of his identity document (passport) and a copy of his migration card to the notification.

The procedure for applying for a job and making payments depends on the status of a foreign citizen. There are three statuses:

• permanent residents - the most “Russified” foreigners with a residence permit;
• temporary residents - have a temporary residence permit;
• temporarily staying - working on a visa, migration card or on the basis of a patent.

Now we’ll tell you about each status in more detail, and you’ll also learn what you need to check and how to register foreign citizens to work for you.

What documents do foreigners submit when applying for a job?

When concluding an employment contract, foreign citizens must submit a package of documents. It is somewhat different from the one that personnel workers are used to demanding when employing Russians.

Thus, foreigners present a passport and educational documents, if required for the relevant position. Moreover, if these documents are drawn up in a foreign language, you need to ask the employee to provide their official translation.

There is no need to require military registration documents from migrants. But they need permits. Their composition depends on the status of the foreigner.

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Thus, foreigners permanently and temporarily residing in Russia present to the employer a document confirming the right to reside (residence permit, passport with a mark, temporary residence permit).

Foreign citizens temporarily staying in the Russian Federation must present a work permit (for persons arriving from countries with which Russia has a visa regime) or a patent (for workers from “visa-free” countries). In addition, such a candidate is required to have a voluntary health insurance (VHI) policy. Insurance is not required if the employer himself has entered into an agreement with a medical organization to provide paid medical services to the migrant (paragraph 2, part 1, article 327.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 10, article 13 of Law No. 115-FZ). As already mentioned, workers from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia do not need to have a “labor” patent. And citizens of Belarus will also not need a VHI policy (letter from the Ministry of Labor dated December 17, 2015 No. 16-4/B-823).

REFERENCE

You can sign an employment contract with a foreigner without presenting a work permit. This is permissible if, in order to obtain a permit, a foreigner must provide a contract with an employer. In this case, the agreement signed by the parties will not come into force until the foreigner receives permission. Information about this permission will need to be included in the text of the employment contract. To do this, you can draw up an additional agreement (Part 3 of Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

When employing a foreigner (regardless of his status), you must request a work book if he has previously worked in Russia, or if he has a Soviet-style work book issued in a foreign country (1938 or 1973). In these situations, the employer is obliged to continue to maintain the document presented by the foreigner.

In other cases, a new work book is issued in the same manner as for Russian employees. At the same time, employees from other states also have the right to refuse to continue maintaining a work record book on paper. The transfer of foreigners to electronic work books occurs in accordance with the general procedure. For more information, see “Electronic work books: what employers should do in 2020.”

Prepare all documents for the transition to electronic work books

The issue of registration document with the Pension Fund is resolved in a similar way. If the candidate (regardless of his status) has previously worked in Russia, or has independently completed such registration, then he must present a SNILS card or notification of registration (ADI-REG). If a foreign citizen does not have an individual personal account, the employer is obliged to submit the necessary information to the territorial body of the Pension Fund (Part 5 of Article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Part 4 of Article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Part 1 of Article 327.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Finally, if a foreigner is accepted into a position that is prohibited for persons who have or have had a criminal record, or have been subject to criminal prosecution, then he must be required to provide a certificate of no criminal record or the fact of criminal prosecution (or a certificate of termination of such on rehabilitative grounds).

Legal status of a foreigner and obtaining a work permit

The following categories of foreign citizens may be on the territory of the Russian Federation (Article 2 of the Federal Law of July 25, 2002 No. 115-FZ):

• temporarily staying;
• temporary residents;
• permanent residents.

Temporarily staying foreign citizens can stay on the territory of the Russian Federation on the basis of a visa or without it, if a visa-free regime is provided for by an international agreement between Russia and the country of which the foreigner is a citizen.

Having received a temporary residence permit, a foreign citizen can stay in the Russian Federation for three years and also work.

If a foreign citizen lives in the Russian Federation for one year, he can apply for a residence permit - it is issued for a period of five years and can be extended an unlimited number of times. This document allows a foreigner to freely stay on the territory of the Russian Federation and work.

The procedure for obtaining permits depends on the category of foreign citizen:

Temporarily staying visa foreign citizens

Citizens of most foreign countries require a visa to arrive in Russia. Obtaining permits for this category of foreign citizens is a rather labor-intensive and lengthy procedure.

To begin with, a future employer needs to contact the employment center with an application regarding the need for foreign specialists. If within a month the employment center does not select suitable specialists for open vacancies from Russian

citizens, the company will be able to apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for permission to attract foreigners.

To obtain permission to attract foreign labor, an application for a permit is submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as a receipt for payment of a fee in the amount of 10,000 rubles. for each foreign worker attracted. The permit is issued for a period of one year within 30 calendar days (from the date the Ministry of Internal Affairs receives the necessary documents).

Afterwards, in order to obtain a work permit for an employee, the following documents are submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

• application in the form approved by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated August 14, 2017 No. 637;
• color photograph of a foreign employee;
• a copy of the identity document of the foreign worker;
• medical certificates confirming that the foreign citizen does not have infectious diseases;
• certificate of absence of HIV infection in a foreigner;
• receipt of payment of state duty in the amount of 3,500 rubles. for issuing a permit.

Copies of documents issued on the territory of a foreign state must be legalized on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs makes a decision on issuing a permit within 15 working days from the day all necessary documents were submitted.

In order to enter the territory of the Russian Federation and obtain a ready-made work permit, a foreigner must receive an invitation to enter.

Documents for obtaining an invitation to a work visa can be submitted simultaneously with a set of documents for obtaining a work permit.

List of documents for obtaining an invitation to the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

• a petition in the form approved by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated September 21, 2017 No. 735;
• original identification document of the representative of the inviting party;
• a copy of the identity document of the invited foreign citizen;
• letters of guarantee from the inviting party regarding the obligation, material, medical and housing support of the foreigner for the period of stay in the Russian Federation;
• receipt of payment of the state fee for issuing an invitation in the amount of 800 rubles.

The invitation is issued within 20 working days from the date of submission of documents. The company receives a ready-made invitation, then sends it to the future employee, based on it, the employee receives a visa at the consular office, comes to Russia and receives a ready-made work permit.

The government may set quotas for the issuance of work permits for temporary

arriving visa foreign citizens. Government Decree No. 1479 dated December 6, 2017 determines the need for foreign workers in general, and Government Decree No. 1467 dated December 4, 2017 determines sectoral quotas for 2021.

A foreigner must be insured for the entire period of employment. The voluntary health insurance policy is provided by the foreigner himself, or the company can enter into an appropriate agreement with the insurance company.

Temporarily staying visa-free foreign citizens

Some categories of foreign citizens do not need a visa to enter Russia. The list of countries whose citizens have the right of such entry is mentioned in the letter of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “On the regime of entry of foreign citizens into the Russian Federation.”

Temporarily staying visa-free foreign citizens must obtain an appropriate permit - a patent - to carry out work activities.

To obtain a patent when entering the territory of the Russian Federation, you must receive a migration card containing a note stating that the purpose of entry is work. A foreign citizen must take out medical insurance and register with migration authorities within seven days. Within 30 days from the date of entry, a foreign citizen must apply for a patent, for which he submits to the Ministry of Internal Affairs a package of documents in accordance with the regulations for the issuance of patents (Appendix to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated October 20, 2017 No. 800), which also includes an agreement on the submission of paid medical services or a voluntary health insurance policy, as well as a document confirming knowledge of the Russian language, knowledge of the history of Russia and the fundamentals of Russian legislation.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs issues a completed patent to a foreigner within 10 working days from the date of submission of documents. A foreigner must apply for a patent in person, presenting a passport and a document confirming personal income tax payment in the form of a fixed advance payment.

A patent is issued for a period of 1 to 12 months. A foreigner can extend this period if he pays personal income tax in the form of a fixed advance payment.

It is important to note: a foreign worker cannot work outside the boundaries of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation in which the patent was issued, and in a profession that does not correspond to that specified in the patent. To work in another region, you must purchase another patent.

Citizens of the EAEU

Currently, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) includes five states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. To be employed in the Russian Federation, citizens of these countries do not need to obtain any permits.

When applying for employment, they provide the same package of documents as citizens of the Russian Federation, to which a VHI policy is added. There is no need for a policy if the company independently enters into an agreement with the insurance company. After concluding an agreement, a foreigner can receive a compulsory medical insurance policy, after which VHI will no longer be necessary.

Highly qualified specialists

For foreign highly qualified specialists (HQS), a simplified procedure for obtaining a work permit is applied: the employer does not need to obtain permission to attract foreign labor, or contact the employment center to confirm quotas. It is also important to note that a permit for a HQS is issued not for a year as for ordinary foreigners temporarily staying on the basis of a visa, but for three years.

The only condition that distinguishes HQS from other visa workers is the salary, which must be at least 167,000 rubles. There are no additional educational requirements for this category of foreign workers.

The set of documents for a HQS work permit includes:

• petition for the involvement of the HQS;
• employment contract;
• a written obligation to pay the costs associated with the possible expulsion of the HQS;
• color photography;
• receipt of payment of the fee for obtaining a work permit in the amount of 3,500 rubles.

Along with the package of documents for a work permit for a HQS, you can also submit documents to receive an invitation to enter, on the basis of which the citizen receives a work visa and then enters the territory of the Russian Federation.

This set of documents includes the same documents as for a work permit, and a written request from the company is attached, according to which the future employer provides guarantees of material, medical and housing support for the foreign citizen for the period of his stay in the Russian Federation.

A work permit, as well as an invitation to a work visa, is issued no later than 14 working days from the date of acceptance of all documents. The company receives a ready-made invitation, then sends it to the future employee, on its basis the employee receives a work visa at the consular office, comes to Russia and receives a ready-made work permit.

As stated above, the set of documents for permission and invitation includes an employment contract, therefore it is necessary to conclude an employment contract with a foreign worker before submitting documents to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

What to pay attention to when drawing up a contract:

• the first working day must be determined by the date of actual receipt of the work permit;
• The contract must necessarily indicate the details of the VHI policy, which may be empty when submitting documents, with their further filling out on the first working day.

During the period of employment, the foreigner must be insured. A VHI policy or health insurance contract must have the wording “voluntary medical insurance for the provision of primary health care and specialized emergency medical care.”

The employer must notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the prescribed form about the fulfillment of the obligation to pay wages to such an employee.

Temporarily and permanently residing foreign citizens

Foreign citizens temporarily and permanently residing in the Russian Federation do not need to obtain permits to carry out work activities. However, the employment of these categories of foreign citizens also has its own characteristics.

When hiring a temporary resident foreigner, you must pay attention to a temporary residence permit: it is issued for a period of three years and has the form of a stamp in the passport. A temporarily residing foreigner has the right to work only in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation for which he was issued a work permit.

For permanently residing foreign citizens, the same employment procedure applies as for Russian citizens

Hiring a foreigner from a “visa” country

An employment contract with a foreigner who is in the Russian Federation on the basis of an open visa will be valid only if the candidate obtains a work permit. At the same time, as already mentioned, such an agreement can be drawn up and signed even before the potential employee receives permission. But the employment contract will begin to operate only after this permit is issued.

In addition, a foreign worker temporarily staying in Russia must present a VHI policy when applying for employment. (The employer may release the foreigner from this obligation if he assumes the obligation to pay for medical care provided to such an employee). To conclude an employment contract with a “visa” migrant, in most cases the employer himself will need to obtain a permit to accept foreign labor. The procedure for obtaining such permission was approved by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated 01.08.20 No. 541.

Stage 1 - obtain quotas for attracting foreign workers

When planning to hire foreign employees in 2021 who arrived in the Russian Federation in a manner that requires a visa, the employer must receive a quota for attracting foreign labor. To do this, you need to send an application about the need for foreign workers (clause 5 of the Order of the Ministry of Labor dated January 23, 2014 No. 27n).

This application is being considered by the interdepartmental commission of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on issues of attracting and using foreign workers. However, you need to submit an application to the regional office of Rostrud or the department of labor and social protection.

Employers have the opportunity to fill out and print an application through the Ministry of Labor resource. In addition, here, through the section “Authorized Bodies of the Subjects of the Russian Federation,” employers can find out the addresses and operating hours of the points for accepting these applications.

The regional commission makes a decision to satisfy the application or refuse it within 25 days from the date of its receipt from the employer (clause 7 of Order of the Ministry of Labor No. 27n).

Hiring highly qualified specialists

In order to conclude an employment contract with a highly qualified specialist (HQS) who arrived from a country that has a visa regime with Russia, the employer may not apply for a permit to hire foreign workers. But the HQS himself is required to obtain a work permit in the Russian Federation. In this case, the employer will be required to submit a number of documents necessary for issuing such a permit (Clause 6, Article 13.2 of Law No. 115-FZ).

When drawing up an employment contract, you need to take into account that the salary of a highly qualified foreign worker cannot be below the threshold value. In general, this value is equal to 167,000 rubles. per month (subclause 3, clause 1, article 13.2 of Law No. 115-FZ). But for some jobs a reduced size is set. For example, the salary of a HQS hired to work as a resident of a technology-innovative special economic zone cannot be lower than 58,500 rubles. per month. And foreign specialists - residents of industrial-production, tourist-recreational or port special economic zones must receive more than 83,500 rubles. per month.

When employed, a highly qualified specialist is required to present a VHI policy. Or the employer himself must enter into an agreement to provide paid medical services to such an employee (Clause 14, Article 13.2 of Law No. 115-FZ).

How to register permanent and temporary residents

Most often, foreigners from the CIS countries and foreigners residing in the Russian Federation temporarily or permanently are hired. They get jobs in the same way as citizens of the Russian Federation. To apply for them, you do not need permission to attract foreign workers.

When hiring a permanent resident foreigner, request a residence permit and check the validity period. This document is issued for 5 years and can then be extended. Foreigners can work with it throughout Russia.

When hiring a temporary resident foreigner, request a temporary residence permit . A foreigner can only work in the region where he received a temporary residence permit. It is issued for a period of 3 years, as a mark in an identity document, or as a separate document. When the permit expires, the foreigner receives a residence permit or leaves the country.

Workers from Belarus are equal in labor status to citizens of our country and upon employment they present the same documents, except for military registration documents. The rules for hiring citizens of Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have also been simplified - they can work in Russia without a work permit.

Important: citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, like other foreign citizens, are subject to migration registration.