Immigration to Russia involves foreign citizens (or people without any citizenship) seeking permanent residence in the territory of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Historically,

Russian empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

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 Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

to the Russian throne in 1762, until the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

in 1917. Some

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, such as

Novorossiya Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...

Slavo-Serbia Slavo-Serbia or Slaveno-Serbia was a territory of Imperial Russia from 1753 to 1764. It was located to the south of the Donets River, between the Bakhmutka River and Luhan River. This area today is located within present-day Luhansk Oblast a ...

, Volga Germans' territory and

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

were specifically designated for resettlement of immigrants. Immigration to Russia was relatively low during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period (1922–1991) and during early

post-Soviet The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

years (1992–2005). Russia experienced a considerable

population decline Population decline, also known as depopulation, is a reduction in a human population size. Throughout history, Earth's total world population, human population has estimates of historical world population, continued to grow but projections sugg ...

during the latter period due to a decreased birthrate, lowered

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

and growing

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

. To combat these demographic problems, the

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

adopted in 2006 "Program for the return of compatriots to Russia", which was made into a permanent law in 2012. 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. In February 2024, in order to expedite and to simplify the immigration process the requirement for conversational ability in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

was waived. Due to these policy changes Russia has experienced an overall population increase starting in 2012. According to

Rosstat The Federal State Statistics Service (, abbreviated as Rosstat) is the List of national and international statistical services, governmental statistics agency in Russia. Since 2017, it is again part of the Ministry of Economic Development (Rus ...

and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, the number of legal immigrants in Russia during the 2000-2015 period fluctuated between 11 and 12 million, or about 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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. At the same time, Russia also scored high (3rd place worldwide) among countries with a high number of

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

, after

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The majority of recent immigrants to Russia come from the former

republics of

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. Although the Russian government actively encourages immigration of

ethnic Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, most immigrants from the former

republics in recent years were not ethnic Russians. Other statistics are an increased number of immigrants from

since 2014; by 2018 this number exceeded 2 million people. In 2024, according to Rosstat - Russia's federal agency that compiles statistics on immigration, Russia hosted 8.5 million refugees from Ukraine. 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 The Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation or Rossotrudnichestvo is an autonomous Russian government of Russia, federal government agency under the ...

Procedure

The standard legal

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

status obtaining procedure consists of the following time-divided steps: obtaining a temporary residence permit; obtaining a permanent residence permit and obtaining Russian citizenship. Under current law, one can receive citizenship of Russia after five years of residence and after passing an exam in

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

civics In the field of political science, civics is the study of the civil and political rights and obligations of citizens in a society. The term ''civics'' derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". In U.S. politics ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. Immigration to Russia is regulated by the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation. Anyone who works in Russia for five years and develops fluency in the

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 This reflects a policy change, in response to declining birth rates, on the part of the government of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

from the more restrictive policy enacted after the 1991

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. The large non-Slavic immigrant populations arriving in response to Putin's liberal policy have sometimes encountered

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

. 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. Native speakers of Russian-language, spouses of Russian citizens, highly qualified specialists (e.g. with

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

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.

Statistics

Recent trends

Foreign population

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. 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. 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: Foreign residents in Russia: 2019

Naturalisations in Russia

2021

References