RUSSIA – Quota Application Deadlines

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The final deadlines for companies submitting standard work permit quota applications are 1 July 2015 for 2016 quota applications, and 1 September 2015 for 2015 quota corrections.

Quota Application Procedure

Quota applications are submitted online via Migrakvota, and then supporting documents are submitted manually at the Moscow Centre for Labour Exchange.

Manual submission of documents can be made on the following dates:

• 17-22 May and 15-30 June for standard work permit quota slots for applications in 2016;
• 13-24 July and 10-31 August for standard work permit quota corrections for 2015.

Background on Standard Work Permit Applications

In the last twelve months the Russian authorities have made significant changes to the standard work permit system, making it an onerous and complex immigration category.

Since last year, Russian employers must provide a letter guaranteeing medical insurance and accommodation for all foreign national employees, which is now also required at the time of the quota filing.

In addition, standard work permit applicants must travel to Russia prior to their work permit application to take tests on basic Russian language, history and legal system, and to obtain a medical certificate from an approved clinic.

Since these requirements do not affect the quota-free Highly Qualified Specialists (HQS) work permit process, it is expected that more and more employers will consider engaging exclusively HQS Work Permit holders.

At the same time (since January 2015) Commonwealth of independent States (CIS) nationals must apply for quota-free, region-specific work patents instead of employer-specific work permits in Russia and so it is anticipated that the requested number of quotas in 2015 will be greatly reduced.

Action Items

• Note the latest deadlines for submitting quota applications;
• Consider the HQS category if the applicant salary can be raised to 2,000,000 RUB (1,000,000 RUB for IT companies).