According to new Russian regulations, foreigners who get paid more than two million RUB by their Russian employers are entitled to apply for three-year work permits and visas. The new regulation was introduced in July this year and is one of President Dmitry Medvedev’s measures on how to attract high-qualified foreigners to the country, newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports.
According to the newspaper, a total of 83 foreigners – most of them Europeans and Chinese – have obtained the new visa and work permits. It takes only 14 days for Russian consular and employment authorities to handle the applications.
-This is a revolutionary change in Russian legislation, Vladimir Ivanov, Deputy Head of the Federal Migration Service says.
Until now, all foreigners have subjected to the same Russian rules on visas and work permits. The visa agreement between Russia and the EU from 2007 opens up for five-year visas, but only for people who have possessed multi-entry visas for a certain number of years. The Russian-Norwegian visa agreement from 2008 includes the same regulations.
