According to the Federal Migration Service, last year 194 thousand people received permission for temporary residence in Russia, and 2.1 million visitors received work permits. As the authors of the amendments point out, migrants do not have sufficient command of the Russian language, knowledge of cultural heritage, history, basics of Russian legislation, and everyday realities. Moreover, visitors are not always oriented towards adopting the customs and norms of behavior accepted in the host community.
Senators believe that migrants can be taught Russian at centers for foreign students organized at universities (there are currently about 250 such centers across the country) or at places of compact residence of visitors – for example, in dormitories for workers. According to the authors' idea, migrants will take the exam at specialized courses.
To measure the level of language proficiency, it is proposed to extend the requirements of state testing (TORFL - Test of Russian as a Foreign Language), similar to the British TOEFL, to migrants. Since 1998, TORFL has been taken by foreigners entering Russian universities. It provides for six levels of language knowledge – from 'elementary' to 'fluent'. The elementary level, or 'survival level' in the terminology of the Council of Europe, consists of understanding clear speech of the interlocutor, using some familiar phrases, being able to introduce oneself, and answer simple, clearly asked questions from officials. To pass the exam at this level, migrants, accordingly, will have to learn at least 780 Russian words, read aloud an unfamiliar text of 250 thousand words, deliver a monologue of seven phrases, and write a message of seven sentences.
A document confirming language proficiency at a level 'not lower than elementary' can be submitted by the visitor to the Federal Migration Service (FMS) simultaneously with the application for a temporary residence permit. Visa-free migrants need to submit the same certificate for obtaining a work permit.
The Torshin-Slutsker amendment does not require guests to mandatory take the exam. However, a migrant who submits a certificate of language knowledge at least at the elementary level will receive a work permit not for one term (usually from three months to a year), but for two at once. A second carrot is promised to employers, who will have to pay for the 'culturalization' of their employees: they will be able to extend the work permits of migrant workers at the local FMS branch by providing only documents confirming their knowledge of Russian and a receipt for payment of the state fee, instead of the pile of certificates required for others.
Vladimir Slutsker reported that the bill has been generally agreed upon with the leadership of the FMS, and preliminarily also with the leadership of the State Duma faction 'United Russia'.
Human rights activist Lydia Grafova, head of the Forum of Migrant Organizations, doubts the effectiveness of the senators' proposals. "At first glance, it's not bad. This amendment pushes the migrant towards integration," she said. "But learning a language in a language environment is a natural process, and if it is formalized, new opportunities for corruption arise."