Standard procedure/skilled staff
The stages of obtaining the work permit and visa are as follows:
- Application for the quota of work permits;
- Submission of documents to the Employment Centre;
- Obtaining permission to employ foreign nationals for the company;
- Obtaining a personal work permit;
- Registration of the company with the FMS in order to obtain invitations and work visas on behalf of the company;
- Obtaining an invitation for a single entry work visa;
- Transforming a single entry work visa into a multiple entry work visa;
- Notifications to the tax inspection.
Advantages:
There are no limits to the employee"s salary (minimum salary can be, for example, 1000 USD per month, however the salary cannot be less than the minimum level stipulated by current legislation).
Disadvantages:
- Necessity to have a quota (with the exception of positions listed in the decree issued annually by the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia);
- Necessity to receive permission to hire foreign employees for the company;
- Long processing time (3-4 months);
- Validity of work permit and visa cannot exceed one year;
- Position of the foreign employee can only be chosen from the classifier;
- Employee must present a higher education degree, legalized in the accepted format;
- Employee must undergo medical test and present a certificate confirming the absence of a certain number of diseases;
- Employee is not allowed to undertake business trips in the RF. As an exception a decree from the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia outlines a limited list of positions of foreign employees who have the right to travel on business within the RF for limited periods;
- Employee can only work in the region where his work permit was issued;
- A single entry work visa, valid for three months, is obtained in a Russian Consulate abroad and is then transformed into a multiple entry work visa in the RF, which is valid for the duration of the work permit;
- The foreign employee is not considered a tax resident in the RF for the first 183 days. Consequently, a 30 % tax deduction will be made on the salary of the foreign employee.
