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Immigration to Russia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Immigration to Russia involves both temporary workers and those seeking permanent residence in the Russian Federation. Historically, the Russian Empire was one of the world's leading destinations for immigrants, starting with the reign of Peter I (1682–1725) and especially after the ascension of Catherine II in 1762, until the October Revolution in 1917. Some regions, such as Novorossiya, Slavo-Serbia, Volga, and Bessarabia were specifically designated for resettlement of immigrants.

Immigration to Russia was relatively low during the Soviet period (1922–1991) and through the early post-Soviet years (1992–2005). 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 the "Program for the return of compatriots to Russia", which was made into a permanent law in 2012.[1][circular reference] The law defines "compatriots" as individuals who are direct descendants (either matrilineal or patrilineal) of people who had lived 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, the federal statistics agency,[6] and the United Nations,[7] the number of legal immigrants in Russia between 2000 and 2015 fluctuated between 11 and 12 million, or about 8% of the population. In 2020, Russia ranked fourth globally by the largest number of immigrants, after the United States, Germany and Saudi Arabia.[8] At the same time, Russia ranked third worldwide by the number of emigrants, after India and Mexico.[9]

The majority of recent immigrants to Russia come from former Soviet republics, especially 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] By 2018, Ukrainians constituted the largest immigrant group outside Central Asia, exceeding 2 million;[12] in 2024, according to Rosstat, Russia hosted 8.5 million refugees from Ukraine.[13] Legal immigrants in Russia receive both grant money and repayable low-interest loans issued by Rossotrudnichestvo.

Procedure

[edit]

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

[edit]
[edit]
Countries with at least 5,000 persons immigrating each year.[20][21][22]
CountryGross immigration
2000200520102015201620172018201920202021 2022 2023 2024
Tajikistan Tajikistan 11,043 4,717 18,188 47,638 52,676 63,467 67,929 89,553 93,333 126,840 186,560 171,234 219,739
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 15,536 15,592 20,901 26,045 28,202 41,165 44,408 53,810 45,676 61,101 62,360 54,162 146,915
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 40,810 30,436 24,100 74,242 60,977 64,073 55,378 60,796 50,188 56,808 54,035 44,536 146,090
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 78,573
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 71,694
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 35,587
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 34,302
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 28,108
India India 203 54 110 2,894 4,768 5,622 5,032 9,588 4,506 7,132 8,275 10,868 27,010
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 26,791
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 22,924
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 20,766
Vietnam Vietnam 182 114 921 4,012 3,735 3,912 3,981 6,742 6,206 5,426 5,655 8,785 12,812
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
4,781
737
Total359,330177,230191,656598,617575,158589,033565,685701,234594,146667,922 730,347 560,434 958,867
Country Net immigration
2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Tajikistan Tajikistan 9,885 4,283 17,494 11,362 27,288 34,639 31,028 48,374 39,424 96,609 87,264 81,684 128,017
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 37,724 29,841 23,266 −20,668 19,672 22,167 6,807 19,129 4,927 36,009 −8,455 3,639 106,901
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 13,679 15,119 20,260 9,935 11,043 19,355 8,978 15,106 1,402 42,549 −6,824 4,956 104,645
Armenia Armenia 14,432 6,961 19,192 20,533 11,993 13,999 14,358 35,109 −1,836 45,235 −10,706 11,188 42,068
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 106,990 39,508 20,533 34,767 37,130 32,736 26,516 39,166 8,440 48,317 −4,947 11,435 36,354
China China 463 −24 1,132 −778 −810 637 −477 6,679 −3,764 4,248 −3,018 3,971 24,252
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 6,062 3,979 2,178 2,320 2,418 2,873 2,951 6,198 778 7,230 −3,702 4,750 23,369
India India 41 93 1,282 1,421 1,437 −185 4,326 −4,779 5,007 −851 3,051 15,631
Belarus Belarus −3,002 763 1,995 4,909 2,127 11,770 7,191 6,283 −1,403 15,424 −161 261 12,349
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 11,719 3,326 13,389 10,660 10,439 8,599 8,737 17,005 10,894 23,659 −3,712 3,516 7,137
Vietnam Vietnam 149 69 889 1,004 394 1,194 684 3,461 308 3,402 −2,564 3,452 6,620
Moldova Moldova 9,415 5,783 11,197 17,380 14,364 9,605 7,688 5,385 3,490 16,144 2,355 8,750 6,576
Georgia (country) Georgia
*Abkhazia (disp. status)
*South Ossetia (disp. status)
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
1,200
44
Ukraine Ukraine 39,147 18,120 21,230 146,131 118,819 47,691 14,822 64,245 52,775 64,669 27,267 29,618 26,243
Total 213,610 107,432 158,078 245,384 261,948 211,878 124,854 285,103 106,510 429,902 61,917 109,952 535,715

Foreign population

[edit]

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.[23]

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.[24] 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.

Between January 2025 and January 2026, amid new migration legislation, a 10% reduction in the number of foreigners living in Russia was shown. In 2026, the foreign population in Russia was shown at 5.7 million down from 6.3 million the year before.[25]

Foreign residents from the CIS in Russia:[23]

Country of origin Population (2022) 2021–2022
change
BERJAYA Uzbekistan1,626,308 Increase+435,674
BERJAYA Tajikistan1,262,695 Increase+453,529
BERJAYA Kyrgyzstan681,165 Increase+58,122
BERJAYA Ukraine597,051 Decrease-57,869
BERJAYA Belarus428,239 Decrease-134,722
BERJAYA Armenia280,520 Decrease-67,160
BERJAYA Kazakhstan228,142 Decrease-35,349
BERJAYA Azerbaijan215,481 Decrease-83,600
BERJAYA Moldova76,645 Decrease-56,230

Foreign residents in Russia:[26] 2019

Country of citizenship Number [26]
BERJAYA Australia 97
BERJAYA Austria 132
BERJAYA Azerbaijan 96,501
BERJAYA Albania 35
BERJAYA Algeria 334
BERJAYA Angola 13
BERJAYA Argentina 104
BERJAYA Armenia 90,659
BERJAYA Aruba 6
BERJAYA Afghanistan 4300
BERJAYA Bangladesh 154
BERJAYA Bahrain 2
BERJAYA Belarus 34,748
BERJAYA Belgium 142
BERJAYA Benin 29
BERJAYA Bermuda 2
BERJAYA Bulgaria 1439
BERJAYA Bolivia 36
BERJAYA Bosnia and Herzegovina 529
BERJAYA Brazil 174
BERJAYA Burkina Faso 2
BERJAYA Burundi 10
BERJAYA United Kingdom 490
BERJAYA Hungary 151
BERJAYA Venezuela 56
BERJAYA Vietnam 13,133
BERJAYA Gabon 2
BERJAYA Haiti 5
BERJAYA Guyana 2
BERJAYA Gambia 3
BERJAYA Ghana 57
BERJAYA Guatemala 7
BERJAYA Guinea 46
BERJAYA Guinea-Bissau 12
BERJAYA Germany 2632
BERJAYA Honduras 1
BERJAYA Greece 1336
BERJAYA Georgia 21,142
BERJAYA Denmark 70
BERJAYA Dominica 2
BERJAYA Dominican Republic 35
BERJAYA Egypt 1262
BERJAYA Zambia 14
BERJAYA Zimbabwe 3
BERJAYA Israel 1807
BERJAYA India 1074
BERJAYA Indonesia 49
BERJAYA Jordan 434
BERJAYA Iraq 581
BERJAYA Iran 359
BERJAYA Ireland 53
BERJAYA Iceland 11
BERJAYA Spain 346
BERJAYA Italy 1117
BERJAYA Yemen 328
BERJAYA Cape Verde 521
BERJAYA Kazakhstan 86,358
BERJAYA Cambodia 2
BERJAYA Cameroon 136
BERJAYA Canada 155
BERJAYA Kenya 17
BERJAYA Cyprus 51
BERJAYA Kyrgyzstan 24,625
BERJAYA China 8576
BERJAYA Colombia 80
BERJAYA Comoros 2
BERJAYA Congo 69
BERJAYA DR Congo 33
BERJAYA North Korea 143
BERJAYA South Korea 597
BERJAYA Costa Rica 6
BERJAYA Ivory Coast 54
BERJAYA Cuba 327
BERJAYA Kuwait 9
BERJAYA Laos 18
BERJAYA Latvia 3347
BERJAYA Lesotho 3
BERJAYA Liberia 1
BERJAYA Lebanon 227
BERJAYA Libya 65
BERJAYA Lithuania 4025
BERJAYA Luxembourg 1
BERJAYA Mauritius 12
BERJAYA Madagascar 17
BERJAYA North Macedonia 170
BERJAYA Malawi 1
BERJAYA Malaysia 8
BERJAYA Mali 9
BERJAYA Maldives 1
BERJAYA Malta 10
BERJAYA Morocco 281
BERJAYA Mexico 66
BERJAYA Mozambique 9
BERJAYA Moldova 54,826
BERJAYA Mongolia 478
BERJAYA Myanmar 6
BERJAYA Namibia 1
BERJAYA   Nepal 79
BERJAYA Niger 11
BERJAYA Nigeria 287
BERJAYA Netherlands 209
BERJAYA Nicaragua 13
BERJAYA New Zealand 22
BERJAYA Norway 60
BERJAYA United Arab Emirates 7
BERJAYA Oman 5
BERJAYA Pakistan 324
BERJAYA Palestine 261
BERJAYA Panama 13
BERJAYA Paraguay 6
BERJAYA Peru 80
BERJAYA Poland 950
BERJAYA Portugal 45
BERJAYA Rwanda 5
BERJAYA Romania 121
BERJAYA Saudi Arabia 12
BERJAYA Seychelles 3
BERJAYA Senegal 17
BERJAYA Saint Kitts and Nevis 1
BERJAYA Serbia 2326
BERJAYA Singapore 4
BERJAYA Syria 3629
BERJAYA Slovakia 181
BERJAYA Slovenia 413
BERJAYA United States 1153
BERJAYA Somalia 4
BERJAYA Sudan 104
BERJAYA Tajikistan 144,222
BERJAYA Thailand 133
BERJAYA Taiwan 20
BERJAYA Tanzania 12
BERJAYA Togo 3
BERJAYA Tunisia 364
BERJAYA Turkmenistan 7150
BERJAYA Turkey 4607
BERJAYA Uganda 12
BERJAYA Uzbekistan 135,447
BERJAYA Ukraine 270,400
BERJAYA Uruguay 5
BERJAYA Philippines 93
BERJAYA Finland 205
BERJAYA France 689
BERJAYA Croatia 152
BERJAYA Central African Republic 1
BERJAYA Chad 9
BERJAYA Montenegro 240
BERJAYA Czech Republic 176
BERJAYA Chile 32
BERJAYA  Switzerland 101
BERJAYA Sweden 152
BERJAYA Sri Lanka 69
BERJAYA Ecuador 56
BERJAYA Estonia 1410
BERJAYA Ethiopia 10
BERJAYA South Africa 57
BERJAYA Jamaica 4
BERJAYA Japan 206
Stateless persons 8157
Total 1,046,056

Naturalisations in Russia

[edit]

2021

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

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
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  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.
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  12. rosstat.gov.ru. 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  13. rosstat.gov.ru. 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  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.
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  23. 1 2 "Мониторинг экономической ситуации в России" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  24. "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.
  25. "Migrant Crackdown Leads to 10% Drop in Foreigners Residing in Russia". The Moscow Times. 29 January 2026.
  26. 1 2 "Статистические сведения по миграционной ситуации". Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  27. "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.