Immigration to Russia involves foreign citizens (or people without any citizenship) seeking permanent residence in the territory of the Russian Federation. Historically, Russian empire was one of the World's leading destination for immigrants starting with the reign of Peter I in ca. 1700, and especially after the ascension of Catherine II to the Russian throne in 1762, until the October Revolution in 1917. Some regions, such as Novorossiya, Slavo-Serbia, Volga Germans' territory and Bessarabia were specifically designated for resettlement of immigrants.

Immigration to Russia was relatively low during the Soviet period (1922–1991) and during early post-Soviet years (1992- 2005). In fact, Russia experienced a considerable population decline during the latter period due to a decreased birthrate, lowered life expectancy and growing emigration. To combat these demographic problems, the Russian government adopted in 2006 "Program for the return of compatriots to Russia", which was made into a permanent law in 2012.[1] According to the law, "compatriots" are individuals, who are direct descendants (in either mother's or father's line) of people, who lived in the past within the current territory of Russia.[2] In February 2024, in order to expedite and to simplify the immigration process the requirement for conversational ability in Russian was waived.[3]

Due to these policy changes Russia has experienced an overall population increase starting in 2012.[4][5] According to Rosstat[6] and United Nations,[7] the number of legal immigrants in Russia during the 2000-2015 period fluctuated between 11 and 12 mln., or ca. 8% of Russia's population. In 2020 Russia held the 4th place among countries with the largest absolute numbers of immigrants in their population after the USA, Germany and Saudi Arabia.[8] At the same time, Russia also scored high (3rd place worldwide) among countries with a high number of emigrants, after India and Mexico.[9]

The majority of recent immigrants to Russia come from the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.[10] Although the Russian government actively encourages immigration of ethnic Russians, most immigrants from the former Soviet republics in recent years were not ethnic Russians.[11]

Another notable statistics is an increased number of immigrants from Ukraine since 2014;[citation needed] by 2018 this number exceeded 1 mln. people.[12] In April 2023, i.e. one year after Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia hosted 5.5 mln. refugees from Ukraine, which is more than all European countries together.[13][dubiousdiscuss]

Both legal (according to the laws of the country) and illegal (in violation of Russian laws) immigration are widespread currently. Legal immigrants in Russia receive both grant money and repayable low-interest loans, that are issued by Rossotrudnichestvo.

Procedure

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The standard legal immigration status obtaining procedure consists of the following time-divided steps: obtaining a temporary residence permit; obtaining a permanent residence permit and obtaining Russian citizenship.[14] Under current law, one can receive citizenship of Russia after five years of residence and after passing an exam in Russian language, civics and history. Immigration to Russia is regulated by the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation.[15]

Anyone who works in Russia for five years and develops fluency in the Russian language can become a citizen, provided they have not committed a crime. Almost anyone who is hired by a Russian firm can stay in the country and work indefinitely [16] This reflects a policy change, in response to declining birth rates, on the part of the government of Vladimir Putin from the more restrictive policy enacted after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.[17] The large non-Slavic immigrant populations arriving in response to Putin's liberal policy have sometimes encountered xenophobia. To counter this, pursuant to Russian hate-speech laws, the Russian state has shut down various anti-immigrant groups, such as the Movement Against Illegal Immigration.

The immigration process usually includes several steps. Firstly, it is required to establish connections with Russia in order to be eligible for temporary or permanent residency. It may be granted on the grounds of having employment, studying, having Russian relatives or ancestry, investing or purchasing a property. The next step is to apply for temporary residency (some applicants may skip this step). After one year of living as a temporary resident it is possible to apply for permanent residency. Finally, after 5 years of living as a permanent resident it is possible to apply for Russian citizenship.[18]

Native speakers of Russian-language, spouses of Russian citizens, highly qualified specialists (e.g. with PhD or MD degrees), investors and refugees are eligible for a simplified immigration procedure. Some categories of applicants may skip temporary residency and apply for citizenship after 1–3 years of living in Russia.[19]

Statistics

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Countries with at least 5,000 persons immigrating each year.[20][21]
Country Gross immigration Net immigration
2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
  Tajikistan 11,043 4,717 18,188 47,638 52,676 63,467 67,929 89,553 93,333 126,840 186,560 171,234 9,885 4,283 17,494 11,362 27,288 34,639 31,028 48,374 39,424 96,609 87,264 81,684
  Kyrgyzstan 15,536 15,592 20,901 26,045 28,202 41,165 44,408 53,810 45,676 61,101 62,360 54,162 13,679 15,119 20,260 9,935 11,043 19,355 8,978 15,106 1,402 42,549 −6,824 4,956
  Ukraine 74,748 30,760 27,508 194,810 178,274 150,182 137,776 161,351 143,988 122,669 148,846 50,929 39,147 18,120 21,230 146,131 118,819 47,691 14,822 64,245 52,775 64,669 27,267 -29,618
  Armenia 15,951 7,581 19,890 45,670 43,929 46,898 46,442 71,984 56,511 70,078 59,533 48,855 14,432 6,961 19,192 20,533 11,993 13,999 14,358 35,109 −1,836 45,235 −10,706 11,188
  Kazakhstan 124,903 51,945 27,862 65,750 69,356 71,680 72,141 86,311 64,494 72,668 64,382 48,465 106,990 39,508 20,533 34,767 37,130 32,736 26,516 39,166 8,440 48,317 −4,947 11,435
  Uzbekistan 40,810 30,436 24,100 74,242 60,977 64,073 55,378 60,796 50,188 56,808 54,035 44,536 37,724 29,841 23,266 −20,668 19,672 22,167 6,807 19,129 4,927 36,009 −8,455 3,639
  Azerbaijan 14,906 4,600 14,500 24,326 24,109 25,602 26,690 34,619 32,135 35,209 31,773 24,340 11,719 3,326 13,389 10,660 10,439 8,599 8,737 17,005 10,894 23,659 −3,712 3,516
  Moldova 11,652 6,569 11,814 34,026 32,418 31,369 30,676 26,513 22,129 27,248 23,540 22,502 9,415 5,783 11,197 17,380 14,364 9,605 7,688 5,385 3,490 16,144 2,355 8,750
  Turkmenistan 6,738 4,104 2,283 6,539 7,242 8,734 10,509 14,632 12,930 10,449 12,133 13,345 6,062 3,979 2,178 2,320 2,418 2,873 2,951 6,198 778 7,230 −3,702 4,750
  Belarus 10,274 6,797 4,894 17,741 14,590 21,282 19,045 18,428 14,536 23,120 18,824 12,496 −3,002 763 1,995 4,909 2,127 11,770 7,191 6,283 −1,403 15,424 −161 -261
  China 1,121 432 1,380 9,043 8,027 8,237 7,067 15,306 7,270 6,465 7,964 11,483 463 −24 1,132 −778 −810 637 −477 6,679 −3,764 4,248 −3,018 3,971
  India 203 54 110 2,894 4,768 5,622 5,032 9,588 4,506 7,132 8,275 10,868 41 93 1,282 1,421 1,437 −185 4,326 −4,779 5,007 −851 3,051
  Georgia
*Abkhazia (disp. status)
*South Ossetia (disp. status)
20,213

5,497

5,245
814
33
7,038
2,267
342
6,511
2,261
216
6,809
2,357
270
6,345
1,975
260
6,925
1,429
110
5,764
1,217
131
6,506
1,190
148
6,002
1,262
137
4,602
1,074
171
18,411
-
-
4,806
-
-
4,786
732
23
3,309
1,272
-282
2,294
1,240
83
2,586
1,975
180
2,031
1,975
96
2,840
147
-4
1,274
30
14
3,838
245
87
−196
1,134
39
771
343
103
  Vietnam 182 114 921 4,012 3,735 3,912 3,981 6,742 6,206 5,426 5,655 8,785 149 69 889 1,004 394 1,194 684 3,461 308 3,402 −2,564 3,452
Total 359,330 177,230 191,656 598,617 575,158 589,033 565,685 701,234 594,146 667,922 730,347 560,434 213,610 107,432 158,078 245,384 261,948 211,878 124,854 285,103 106,510 429,902 61,917 109,952

Foreign population

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As of May 2022, there are 5.99 million foreigners residing in the Russian Federation (up from 5.66 million in 2021 but down from 10.13 million in 2019), with the vast majority (91%) being citizens of CIS countries. Central Asians make up the most numerous group, followed by Ukrainian citizens. Temporary migration from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan increased after a marked decline in 2020–2021. Other CIS countries have steadily demonstrated a decrease in the number of migrants.[22]

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as of November 2021, there were 5.5 million migrants in Russia. Of these, 819,600 were in the country illegally.[23] In the first quarter of 2021, 1345 migrants were deported, more than in the same period last year. The number of deported migrants increased in Russia.

Foreign residents from the CIS in Russia:[22]

Country of origin Population (2022) 2021–2022
change
  Uzbekistan 1,626,308   +435,674
  Tajikistan 1,262,695   +453,529
  Kyrgyzstan 681,165   +58,122
  Ukraine 597,051   -57,869
  Belarus 428,239   -134,722
  Armenia 280,520   -67,160
  Kazakhstan 228,142   -35,349
  Azerbaijan 215,481   -83,600
  Moldova 76,645   -56,230

Foreign residents in Russia:[24] 2019

Country of origin Number of foreign citizens with residence permits [24]
  Australia 97
  Austria 132
  Azerbaijan 96,501
  Albania 35
  Algeria 334
  Angola 13
  Argentina 104
  Armenia 90,659
  Aruba 6
  Afghanistan 4300
  Bangladesh 154
  Bahrain 2
  Belarus 34,748
  Belgium 142
  Benin 29
  Bermuda 2
  Bulgaria 1439
  Bolivia 36
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 529
  Brazil 174
  Burkina Faso 2
  Burundi 10
  United Kingdom 490
  Hungary 151
  Venezuela 56
  Vietnam 13,133
  Gabon 2
  Haiti 5
  Guyana 2
  Gambia 3
  Ghana 57
  Guatemala 7
  Guinea 46
  Guinea-Bissau 12
  Germany 2632
  Honduras 1
  Greece 1336
  Georgia 21,142
  Denmark 70
  Dominica 2
  Dominican Republic 35
  Egypt 1262
  Zambia 14
  Zimbabwe 3
  Israel 1807
  India 1074
  Indonesia 49
  Jordan 434
  Iraq 581
  Iran 359
  Ireland 53
  Iceland 11
  Spain 346
  Italy 1117
  Yemen 328
  Cape Verde 521
  Kazakhstan 86,358
  Cambodia 2
  Cameroon 136
  Canada 155
  Kenya 17
  Cyprus 51
  Kyrgyzstan 24,625
  China 8576
  Colombia 80
  Comoros 2
  Congo 69
  DR Congo 33
  North Korea 143
  South Korea 597
  Costa Rica 6
  Ivory Coast 54
  Cuba 327
  Kuwait 9
  Laos 18
  Latvia 3347
  Lesotho 3
  Liberia 1
  Lebanon 227
  Libya 65
  Lithuania 4025
  Luxembourg 1
  Mauritius 12
  Madagascar 17
  North Macedonia 170
  Malawi 1
  Malaysia 8
  Mali 9
  Maldives 1
  Malta 10
  Morocco 281
  Mexico 66
  Mozambique 9
  Moldova 54,826
  Mongolia 478
  Myanmar 6
  Namibia 1
    Nepal 79
  Niger 11
  Nigeria 287
  Netherlands 209
  Nicaragua 13
  New Zealand 22
  Norway 60
  United Arab Emirates 7
  Oman 5
  Pakistan 324
  Palestine 261
  Panama 13
  Paraguay 6
  Peru 80
  Poland 950
  Portugal 45
  Rwanda 5
  Romania 121
  Saudi Arabia 12
  Seychelles 3
  Senegal 17
  Saint Kitts and Nevis 1
  Serbia 2326
  Singapore 4
  Syria 3629
  Slovakia 181
  Slovenia 413
  United States 1153
  Somalia 4
  Sudan 104
  Tajikistan 144,222
  Thailand 133
  Taiwan 20
  Tanzania 12
  Togo 3
  Tunisia 364
  Turkmenistan 7150
  Turkey 4607
  Uganda 12
  Uzbekistan 135,447
  Ukraine 270,400
  Uruguay 5
  Philippines 93
  Finland 205
  France 689
  Croatia 152
  Central African Republic 1
  Chad 9
  Montenegro 240
  Czech Republic 176
  Chile 32
   Switzerland 101
  Sweden 152
  Sri Lanka 69
  Ecuador 56
  Estonia 1410
  Ethiopia 10
  South Africa 57
  Jamaica 4
  Japan 206
Stateless persons 8157
Total 1,046,056

Naturalisations in Russia

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2021

Country of origin Number of naturalised persons[25]
  Australia 19
  Austria 9
  Saint Kitts and Nevis 1
  Azerbaijan 30,791
  Albania 13
  Algeria 90
  Angola 9
  Argentina 17
  Armenia 46,931
  Afghanistan 1,411
  Bangladesh 51
  Belarus 24,539
  Belgium 17
  Benin 12
  Bulgaria 309
  Bolivia 9
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 144
  Brazil 45
  Burundi 2
  United Kingdom 99
  Hungary 27
  Venezuela 19
  Vietnam 1,947
  Gabon 2
  Haiti 4
  Mauritius 4
  Guyana 1
  Gambia 1
  Cape Verde 1
  Hong Kong 1
  Ghana 19
  Guatemala 3
  Guinea 9
  Costa Rica 4
  Guinea-Bissau 4
  Germany 481
  Madagascar 9
  Malta 3
  Greece 183
  Georgia 5,076
  Denmark 16
  Dominican Republic 10
  Egypt 414
  Iceland 10
  Zambia 5
  Israel 466
  India 159
  Indonesia 2
  Jordan 127
  Iraq 159
  Iran 137
  Spain 48
  Italy 226
  Yemen 111
  South Ossetia 184
  Kazakhstan 49,862
  Cameroon 55
  Cambodia 1
  Canada 69
  Kenya 5
  Cyprus 6
  Kyrgyzstan 19,241
  China 83
  Colombia 31
  Congo 31
  DR Congo 15
  North Korea 5
  Portugal 11
  South Korea 11
  Ivory Coast 26
  Cuba 98
  Laos 1
  Myanmar 1
  Paraguay 1
  Latvia 375
  Lebanon 107
  Libya 10
  Lithuania 380
  North Macedonia 34
  Malaysia 2
  Mali 9
  Morocco 90
  Ireland 8
  Mexico 14
  Mozambique 6
  Moldova 23,697
  Mongolia 30
    Nepal 6
  Nigeria 128
  Niger 2
  Netherlands 24
  New Zealand 6
  Nicaragua 3
  Norway 7
  United Arab Emirates 3
  Abkhazia 324
  Pakistan 68
  Palestine 89
  Panama 2
  Peru 25
  Poland 163
  Rwanda 2
  Uruguay 2
  Bahrain 1
  Romania 35
  Oman 2
  Saudi Arabia 4
  Senegal 8
  Burkina Faso 3
  Serbia 566
  Singapore 1
  Syria 1,270
  Slovakia 10
  Slovenia 19
  United States 388
  Sudan 35
  Tajikistan 103,681
  Thailand 33
  Taiwan 1
  Togo 1
  Tunisia 122
  Turkmenistan 3,628
  Turkey 1,388
  Uganda 3
  Uzbekistan 31,867
  Ukraine 375,989
  Philippines 19
  Finland 24
  France 167
  Croatia 54
  Chad 5
  Montenegro 56
  Czech Republic 39
  Chile 10
   Switzerland 21
  Sweden 32
  Sri Lanka 11
  Ecuador 19
  Estonia 153
  Ethiopia 5
  South Africa 12
  Japan 3
Stateless persons 6,118
Total 735,385

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Программа возвращения соотечественников в Россию".
  2. ^ "Федеральный закон от 24.05.1999 г. № 99-ФЗ". Президент России (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  3. ^ "В России упростили условия программы переселения для репатриантов". Ведомости (in Russian). Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Демография". Archived from the original on 20 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Demographics". Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  6. ^ "По данным МВД России, число поставленных на миграционный учет по месту пребывания иностранцев, прибывших в Россию с целью работы, превысило за 2022 год 11,8 миллиона человек, а за январь-июнь 2023 года - 3,5 миллиона человек".
  7. ^ "United Nations Maintenance Page". Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Источник" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  9. ^ https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/WMR-2022.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  10. ^ "Immigration by country of origin in Russia 2023".
  11. ^ https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/russia-migration-system-soviet-roots#:~:text=Although%20ethnic%20Russians%20represented%20about,for%20economic%20and%20family%20reasons. [bare URL]
  12. ^ Кузнецова, Ирина Борисовна (2018). "Беженцы из Украины: миграционная политика и повседневность". The Journal of Social Policy Studies. 16 (4): 577–594. doi:10.17323/727-0634-2018-16-4-577-594.
  13. ^ https://dzen.ru/a/ZCmNc65wqFBl1rOk [bare URL]
  14. ^ Immigrate to Russia https://www.immigratetorussia.com/russian-residence-permit-2/ Archived 1 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "На просторах России". Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  16. ^ Malakhov, Vladimir S. (9 August 2014). "Russia as a New Immigration Country: Policy Response and Public Debate" (PDF). Europe-Asia Studies. 66 (7): 1062–1079. doi:10.1080/09668136.2014.934140. ISSN 0966-8136. S2CID 153983927. Retrieved 3 October 2018.[dead link]
  17. ^ Ragozin, Leonid (13 March 2017). "Russia Wants Immigrants the World Doesn't". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  18. ^ Immigrate to Russia // SDV Consulting, Inc. Retrieved on 22.07.2024.
  19. ^ Immigrate to Russia Archived 11 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine // SDV Consulting, Inc. Retrieved on 22.07.2024.
  20. ^ "Migration of the people Archived 1 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine" at gks.ru (Russian Statistical Bureau) website.
  21. ^ Demography. "International migration Archived 24 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine" at gks.ru (Russian Statistical Bureau) website.
  22. ^ a b "Мониторинг экономической ситуации в России" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  23. ^ "The Ministry of Internal Affairs estimated the number of illegal migrants from the CIS at 800,000 people". 17 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Статистические сведения по миграционной ситуации". Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Отдельные показатели миграционной ситуации в Российской Федерации за январь - декабрь 2021 года с распределением по странам и регионам". Ministry of Internal Affairs (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.