Quick Guide to Immigrating to Russia (update 1)

 

So you, an American citizen, have set your sights on Russia as the land of destination. I will not explore the reasons for why, I am sure they are valid and there are many good reasons for such a choice, such as my article here. The question now is "how". How to go about it.

We will make a few assumptions here. First, you are not a Russian citizen already, or a Ukrainian citizen. You were not born in Russia. Your spouse is not a citizen of Russia and neither are your children. All such cases are separate.

If you are young, or so inclined, the easiest way to get this started is to enroll into a Russian university, earn a diploma and get automatic permanent residency. This is also a good way to learn Russian. Many foreigners from Brazil, Syria, Nigeria, Vietnam come this way. There are English language programs, especially MBAs, available. Now, if you are an American, you will not get a free spot and government grants, not for the US and Western Europe. However, prices are between 1/3rd and 1/10th those of the US and dorm housing is even less.

So, that is one route, but it is not for everyone, obviously. So what else?

Well, then there is the longer route. Step 1, get a Russian tourist visa. A 3 year multi entry visa that allows 180 days stay and 1 day out of country. Under normal, aka none Covid, conditions, this takes about 10 days and costs around $85. An invitation can be auto-generated by various tour sites at $20 or might be done by the visa service. So count around $110, with postage.

Step two, go visit Russia and take a look, if you have never been. Again, as a tourist you will still be seeing something far from day to day reality, just keep it in mind.

We will assume that you want in and that you do not have an employer ready to sponsor you. So what do you do? 

First, a disclaimer. Unless you are working for a foreign company or have some specialty profession such as a well known scientist, actor, sportsman, you will need Russian to work. You may not be fluent, but you have got to get your ideas across and to understand your boss and colleagues and Russian, even on a 3rd grade level is not something you will learn in 1-2 months, especially without full immersion. As a matter of fact, to get a temp residency, which you must have to work legally without a sponsor and work visa, will take passing a language exam and that's 3rd grade level at this point.

So, you are going the route of temp residency. For that you need to get on a quota system queue. Anyone can apply, but not everyone gets on the quota. You can apply multiple times. The provinces are the best place to apply, but with an RVP (temp visa for 3 years), where it is issues is where you will be required to live and work. Usually that is a province and all cities in it. Moscow and St Petersburg are separate entities from their provinces.

So, how do you game the system? Buy real estate you can live in. That shows that you will not be some homeless entity. Outside of the top 4 cities, prices are low, in the countryside they are dirt cheap. You can get a small house and land in a village for $1000. True, it probably will not have running water or indoor toilets, and you may be chopping wood, but it is only $1k. More costs more, or you can install all that yourself. Foreigners can buy any real estate but agricultural.

So, now you are ready. 

A. Go to the local immigration services and file (in Russian) a request for RVP (Razreshenya na Vremenoe Prozhivanya). These are normally gathered up for a month and then a commission is formed to interview the applicants. Bring a translator. You will be notified of when to come. After the interview, there is a 1-2 month wait for that month's list to come out on who made that cut. 

B. So you checked and you made the cut, now what? Now you need to fill in the application form and gather your documents to submit. Have diplomas? You will need those apostilled in the US and then translated and notarized in Russia. Translated and notarized passport (all the pages, every last one), marriage certificate, birth certs of any underage children applying with you. Medical exam, good for 90 days. Russian language and history exam, at least on the level of RVP, passed with 70+ scores. A statement from a Russian bank that you have at least 180.000 rubles deposited. The letter is good for 30 days. You do not have to keep your money there the entire time but you do have to have it when the bank makes the letter.

Now the big big one. FBI background check, apostilled, that is not more than 90 days old. This can be done remotely, there are several US services who do the background checks while others do the apostill. For that you will need fingerprint cards, so do this before you leave the US otherwise you will be going to Moscow to visit the one guy in Russia whom the US has commissioned to do these. No, I am not kidding. The whole thing will run you about $300, not counting express shipping. Helps a lot if you have someone in the US to help you. You will also need proof of ownership of the property, your tourist registration card also, and the check from Sberbank that you payed the gov fee for the application processing. And a couple of pictures.

Now, when you go to submit, take your laptop with you, so you can correct errors and there will always be errors.

Then, you wait. It takes 3 months to get your RVP...and while the actual work probably takes a couple of weeks, the bureaucrats will take all 3 months and maybe a few weeks more. Immigrations rolls like that.

So now you got your RVP, you will need to register it at the immigration center and register the fact that you own your own place and live there. Get the exit visa there too, otherwise you are not allowed to leave for 3 years or till you get a permanent residency (VNZ). Its easy to get, fill out a form and photocopy all your passport pages. Costs nothing but takes 3 days...yeah makes no sense why it is not automatic. Thank someone in parliament for not thinking this through. You will also need to go get an INN which is a tax ID number, which you can apply for either in a central tax office or in one of the Moi Dokymenti (My Document) center that is a multi-functional center that does most of the paperwork you need. There you also need to apply for your Snils, which is your pension number but is now the main ID number for just about everything...think Social Security.

Now you are ready to live and work and send your kids to school. With an RVP you also get government health insurance, so you can go to the government clinics. These are free but are a crap shoot on quality. The drive these years is for mass improvement and many are first rate, others barely have a roof, all depends where you live and how well your governor and mayor is friends with the federal government to be on the top of the list for renovations.

However, if you need to go to a paid doctor, they are not expensive. In my experience, paid medical care in Russia, especially every day stuff and dentistry, is no worse and often quite better than anything in the US and costs 1/10th to 1/20th of the US. Example: had bronchitis, went in for a checkup and x-rat. Total cost $30. Also, those prescription meds, outside the US are 1/10th the cost. My father's heart meds in the US after Medicare cost him $380. In Russia, the same Pfizer meds cost $32. Yes, you are really being that screwed as a US citizen.

Cars, yes you will need it unless you live in a big city. Foreigners can buy them, register them and drive them. You will need insurance. You can drive on your US license if its translated and notarized. You will however, never get an auto-loan. This is some banking conspiracy that all the major banks decided on. Its not the law but it is how they roll since the 2014 recession. A really cheap beat-up car will run you $300. A top of the line, Russian made SUV Patriot, with automatic transmission, leather, elite package, cameras, etc will run you about $17.000.

Now, that you have your RVP, lets prepare for the permanent residency VNZ. You can 9nly get the RVP once, for 3 years. If you fail to apply for the VNZ, then that is it. The VNZ is perpetual, you will only need to change the picture at age 18, 45, and 60. For this you will have to stay on your RVP for at least 6 months. When the time comes, you fill in the application, take your language and history exam at the VNZ level, another medical exam and so on. Pretty much the exact same set of documents except for no FBI background checks and no tourist registrations. Once its in, they have another 3 months for processing. Expect 4-5 in all reality, though the date on the VNZ passport booklet will be the "correct" date. Also, make sure your passport has at least 1 year on it before applying.

Once you get the VNZ you are free to move and work anywhere in the country. You are required to spend at least 184 days in country, just like with the RVP or you will loose your status.

After this you can stay on it for the rest of your life or get citizenship and if you do get citizenship, you can retain your previous one(s) also. But that is a tale for another time.

I will be publishing upcoming stories on how to live in Russia, what to bring with you, culture shock and so on.

If you need serious help, let me know in the comments section. If able, I will help. I take payment in gifts, such as Southern Comfort, something hard to get here...or an Outback Bloomen Onion...or anything Cajun.

Good luck, God bless.

 

Update 1  9 Nov 2020

As an aside that I did not add. What you see before you is offered as a service by many many "immigration" companies and lawyers. Beware, most, though not all, but most are at best going to rip you off for large sums of money. On average, these guys start offering their services at $2000+, but in truth, all they can really do legally is fill in your paper applications and maybe get you an appointment, though for most things, especially in Moscow and St. Pete its a live line...you come, get a number and wait to be called and no, these guys are not allowed to represent you without you being there. So they may also be able to translate for you, but for God's sake, a 1 page translation is, notarized, is on average about $8, $5 without notarization. To hire a translator for an hour should not cost you more than $10-15.

 

The international documents you have to gather yourself. 

 

If anyone of these guys promises to get you all the documents and hand them to you....run...run hard and report them to the police. These are out and out shucksters and conmen. They are using or issuing fake documents, even if they get a stamp from some immigration inspector. All the immigration offices are being actively audited now and these fake documents will earn you a huge fine and 5 year ban from entering Russia. These guys will probably not get any punishment unless caught red handed giving you the fake documents. Do you really need that kind of risk to cut some corners?

 

If you do need help and you are around, I will help, for a small fee, if time permits. This is not my job and not my main source of income. I have gone through all of this myself, without any help from any of these guys. It can be done. But if you have money to burn and like living aimlessly dangerously....it is your call.