Today, foreigners, with the exception of highly qualified specialists and native Russian speakers, can obtain a residence permit in Russia only after a year of temporary residence in the country. At the same time, a temporary residence permit (TRP) is valid for three years, and migrants can apply for a residence permit as early as one year after receiving the TRP. This results in a kind of duplication: the validity period of one status has not expired, but another can already be obtained, officials at the migration service noted and proposed introducing an alternative procedure – bypassing the TRP.
According to the draft law prepared by the agency, officials of the Federal Migration Service will issue residence permits under an accelerated scheme based on points. The main criteria are age, education, and work experience. 'Thus, if the education level is below basic – general, no points are awarded; for secondary vocational education, 25 points can be obtained; for higher education, 30,' noted Elena Sutormina, chairwoman of the Public Chamber commission on the development of public diplomacy and support for compatriots abroad.
Five years of work experience will give a migrant 15 points; ownership of an apartment or close relatives who are Russian citizens – another five. If work experience is less than a year and there are no relatives, no points are awarded.
In total, a migrant needs to score at least 65 points to obtain a residence permit, bypassing the mandatory temporary residence in Russia under a temporary residence permit.
According to the FMS, there are about 400,000 foreigners in the country with residence permits. 'We are interested in the resettlement of young and qualified specialists as a source of increasing the working-age population of Russia and individual regions,' explained the necessity of introducing the new scheme Valentina Kazakova, head of the department for citizenship and residence permit issues of the FMS of Russia.
When preparing the document, the authors took into account foreign practices. 'Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the Netherlands – in many countries, not only residence permits but also citizenship are granted based on points,' the official stated.
In addition to the points-based scheme, the document introduces a new concept – 'permanent residence permit' (PRP). As explained to Rosbalt by the migration service, a permanent residence permit is a right. It is granted to a foreign citizen indefinitely. This right will be confirmed by a document – a residence permit, the maximum validity of which is five years.
In essence, the right to permanent residence exists now, but only on paper. 'In reality, what happens is: the document (residence permit) is issued for five years, but if a foreigner fails to apply for its extension within two months, he essentially loses this right, and the law sends him back to the TRP,' Kazakova said. To avoid confusion, the FMS is introducing the concept of 'permanent residence permit'.
The agency's idea raised many questions among experts. The main one: why is the permit itself as a right granted to a foreigner indefinitely, but the document confirming this right only for five years. Sutormina drew attention to this discrepancy. She was supported by Maxim Krupsky, assistant of independent experts of the project 'Experts against Corruption,' committee 'Civil Assistance.' 'If a residence permit is issued for five years, then it is still unclear what to do if a migrant still missed the deadline for submitting documents for renewal,' Krupsky noted, proposing to specify the new concept and prescribe the procedure in case of delay, which is completely absent in the current version.
As for the new scheme for obtaining a permanent residence permit, the main complaints concerned the criteria for awarding points. Thus, according to Deputy Director of the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labor Oleg Gubarev, the 'age' points need to be revised. 'Foreigners under 18 are proposed to be awarded 12 points, while migrants aged 40–45, who are at the peak of their labor activity, will receive the same number,' the official protested.
Also, according to Gubarev, a criterion such as the ability to support oneself and one's family should not be excluded. Otherwise, the innovation could lead to an additional burden on social funds.
Regarding the ownership of housing, it is necessary to stipulate restrictions on area, because even a share in an apartment of 3 square meters also meets the criterion, the official believes. 'We fought so long against "rubber" rental apartments, and now we risk getting the same problem with ownership,' he warned.
Vladimir Shaposhnikov, deputy chairman of the Public Chamber commission on support for compatriots abroad, agreed with Gubarev, proposing to prescribe in the law not only a norm for area but also a limitation on the period of property ownership, to avoid various kinds of fraud with fictitious resale.
As for work experience in one's profession and in-demand specialties, the decision here should be made by the employment authorities of the regions, the official from the Ministry of Labor believes.
Olga Chudinovskikh, director of the Center for Migration Policy at the Institute for Social Project Management of the Higher School of Economics, partly agreed with him, proposing to introduce regional differentiation of 'professional' points and regularly update the list of in-demand professions by region, thereby limiting the role of the Ministry of Labor.
In any case, the list of criteria is raw and needs refinement, the participants of the discussion concluded. 'A foreigner submits an application, gets the maximum score for age and education, another 15 for five years of experience – the total number of points is off the charts. Meanwhile, all five years he worked, say, in public catering. Another case: a migrant gets 20 points for age, another 30 for higher education, and only 8 for experience. Total – 58 points, but the specialty is needed, in demand in the economy,' presents a possible scenario Olga Parfentseva, representative of the Department of Social Development and Innovations of the Ministry of Economic Development.
While participants of the hearings vied with each other to list the defects of the latest brainchild of the migration service, representatives of the agency meticulously recorded everything and promised to write more, clarify, and refine. Yet overall, the proposals of the FMS were supported by those present at the meeting, who expressed willingness to cooperate in the process of revision. All proposals voiced during the hearings, the migration service promised to consider in the near future.