KOREAN NET

Starting on January 1, 2023, international students studying in Russia are now allowed to obtain temporary residence permits for academic purposes. The law was passed by the State Duma in mid-2022 and has come into effect this year. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis has caused a significant loss of skilled professionals from Russia. Hence, this law appears to have been revised as a way of retaining talented students in Russia.

State Duma building in Moscow

Temporary residence permits are only issued to students for the duration of their study. Upon completion of their studies, students may apply for permanent residency. However, the prerequisite for this is that the applicant must be a full-time college student. It means that part-time or evening class students are not eligible. Additionally, an extra 180 days of temporary residence permit are granted at the end of the course. During this period, international students can either apply for permanent residency or seek employment opportunities.

The process for long-term stay in Russia consists of three stages. First, you need to obtain a three-year temporary residence permit. During this period, you can apply for permanent residency. If you are granted permanent residency, you become eligible for citizenship. Alternatively, you can stay in Russia on a tourist, business, or cultural visa, or a work visa that is valid for either one or three years. However, if you're looking for a more stable stay, it's recommended to apply for a temporary residence permit. Unfortunately, the procedures and requirements for obtaining such permits are quite limited.

Those who are eligible for a temporary residence permit include: "Foreign children whose parents have permanent residency," "foreigners who have served in Russia," and "Russian citizens or a person married a Russian permanent resident.” However, marrying a Russian national is generally considered the easiest way to obtain permanent residency. But most of them find it hard to meet the necessary qualifications. To address this, Russia is implementing a quota system that allows people to get a temporary residence permits To apply for such a permit, you must provide the Ministry of Justice with documentation such as employment certificates, tax payment records, academic transcripts, and criminal history reports, which will then be reviewed. However, since there are too many applicants for temporary residence permits while the quota is very small, in reality, it’s almost impossible to get a quota with an ordinary application. Most of them are ejected due to insufficient documents or qualifications. Offices for temporary residence permit are actively operating, but they don’t assure securing the quotas, so individuals usually spend their money meaninglessly. Some brokers siphon off already small quota and take bribes. This sometimes leads to a quota fraud. It resulted in financial damage to many Koreans.

Originally, Russia has implemented preferential policies to allow students to stay for a long period of time. For example, students who graduated with honors from college were eligible to apply for permanent residency without quotas. However, it is not an easy task to get excellent grades. And even if they are confirmed as graduates with honor, they have to wait for at least six months to apply for permanent residency. So, there are controversies over the effectiveness of the policy. However, with this revision, international students can apply for temporary residence permits without quotas. It is expected that the number of international students who want to obtain permanent residency through this policy will increase significantly in the future.

Campus of St. Petersburg State University

A recent report revealed that Germany has submitted a bill to reduce the period of residency required to apply for citizenship from 8 years to 5 years. With a low fertility rate and an aging population, Germany is facing a significant national issue of securing labor. In contrast, Russia has yet to grant long-term residents the right to apply for permanent residency or citizenship. Instead, foreigners could stay for a long period without permanent residency in Russia, so not many Koreans have not sought permanent residency. However, recently Russia is facing grim prospect due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the eligibility for stay is becoming stricter. Thus, Koreans are making efforts to obtain stable residency qualifications. It is a desirable that proactive measures have been taken to allow international students to obtain temporary residence permits. However, Koreans also want the Russian government to add another measure, like European countries, to grant permanent residency or citizenship to foreigners who have been staying legally for a long time while paying taxes. The global problem of shortage of manpower will eventually encourage countries to open their borders. And Russia seems to be following suit.