Immigration to Russia

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 11 min

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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[edit]
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 (country) 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 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 Increase +435,674
 Tajikistan 1,262,695 Increase +453,529
 Kyrgyzstan 681,165 Increase +58,122
 Ukraine 597,051 Decrease -57,869
 Belarus 428,239 Decrease -134,722
 Armenia 280,520 Decrease -67,160
 Kazakhstan 228,142 Decrease -35,349
 Azerbaijan 215,481 Decrease -83,600
 Moldova 76,645 Decrease -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

[edit]
  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.

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