Russia: Immigration authorities to revoke quotas for non compliant employers

February 13, 2013

Russian immigration authorities will now be able to withdraw quota allocations to employ foreign workers in Russia, if the employer who receives the quota is found to be in breach of Russian labour and tax laws, including the Labour Code.

This news comes as a result of checks carried out on a number of employers in Russia who had been granted a quota for 2013 to employ foreign workers. As a result of non compliance and negligent activity in adhering to the rules and regulations, the authorities have decided to revoke some of the quotas altogether.

It has been reported that overall numbers of foreign workers in Moscow particularly, had decreased from 250,000 to 200,000, when compared with figures in 2010. Furthermore, nearly 60% of employers that applied for a quota did not comply with their legal obligations and as a result the authorities have decided to revoke some allocations completely.

For those companies who had only partially fulfilled their obligations they were given a month to comply with the requirements or risk losing their quotas also.

Some of the compliance violations found by the authorities include failures by the employer to provide foreign workers with accommodation, insurance and pay in line with the legislative requirements.

Delays to processing times for other Russian visa categories

For those companies seeking an alternative route to transfer employees to Russia such as the highly skilled migrant programme, as opposed to the foreign worker quota system, please note that there are additional delays to this process due to changes in the work permit system.  Employers should therefore submit applications well in advance of the assignee start date.

For further information about auditing or compliance advice for companies based in Russia who may concerned about losing their quota, please do not hesitate to contact us.