Qualified Specialist

Residence permit for a qualified specialist listed by profession

Certain categories of foreign citizens have the right to apply for a residence permit (hereinafter, “residence permit”) in the Russian Federation and submit the required documents without first obtaining a temporary residence permit. These include foreign citizens who, for at least one continuous year before the date of applying for a residence permit and on the date of submitting the application, have been employed in the Russian Federation in a profession (specialty, position) included in a special list.

The specified List of Professions (Specialties, Positions) of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons—Qualified Specialists Entitled to Obtain a Residence Permit in the Russian Federation Without Obtaining a Temporary Residence Permit is approved by the federal executive body responsible for developing and implementing state policy and legal regulation in the field of employment and unemployment (Order No. 172н of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated April 3, 2025).

Mandatory condition: Throughout the entire specified period of employment, the employer must have accrued insurance contributions for the foreign citizen to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation.

Current list of professions
Order No. 172н of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated April 3, 2025 approves the following list:

1. Big data analyst (in industry; in astrophysics; in genetics).
2. Engineer for the implementation of new equipment and technology (in the development and manufacture of products made from polymer composite materials).
3. Fuel and lubricants engineer (in the manufacture of precursors and non-oxide ceramic materials; in processing ceramic materials into products and structures; in the manufacture of low-viscosity thermoplastic binders; in the impregnation of 3D-woven frames made of carbon and other fibers; in the manufacture of synthetic aviation oils capable of operating under conditions of high thermal stress).
4. Polymer composite materials engineer (in the development and manufacture of products made from polymer composite materials).
5. Repair engineer (in electron-beam lithography; in epitaxy systems; in optical equipment).
6. Welding engineer (in linear friction welding of deformable heat-resistant nickel alloys; in linear friction welding of deformable titanium-based alloys).
7. Design engineer (in materials for lithium-ion batteries and the development of battery management systems; in aircraft manufacturing; in mechanical engineering; in shipbuilding; in the manufacture of machinery and equipment, including the design and manufacture of steam cogeneration turbines and the design and manufacture of gas turbines).
8. Design and circuit engineer (in quantum physics; in the technological process of manufacturing qubits).
9. Mechanical engineer (in electron-beam lithography; in epitaxy systems; in optical equipment).
10. Software engineer (in robotics; in aircraft manufacturing).
11. Design engineer (in communications (telecommunications)).
12. Process engineer (in materials for lithium-ion batteries and the development of battery management systems; in the industrial production of piezoelectric quartz crystal components using plasma chemistry technologies; in dry etching of gallium nitride; in the manufacture of gallium nitride-based laser diode resonators; in applying metallization to gallium nitride-based devices; in technologies for manufacturing products from polymer composite materials; in aircraft manufacturing; in mechanical engineering; in shipbuilding; in the manufacture of machinery and equipment: design and manufacture of steam cogeneration turbines, design and manufacture of gas turbines; in the manufacture of precursors and non-oxide ceramic materials; in processing ceramic materials into products and structures; in the manufacture of low-viscosity thermoplastic binders; in the impregnation of 3D-woven frames made of carbon and other fibers; in the manufacture of synthetic aviation oils capable of operating under conditions of high thermal stress; in the production of printed circuit boards and other electronic components; in the manufacture of microelectronics (electronic components); in computer-aided design systems for digital, analog and microwave circuits).
13. Chemical engineer (in applying metallization to gallium nitride-based devices; in technologies for manufacturing products from polymer composite materials; in the manufacture of precursors and non-oxide ceramic materials; in processing ceramic materials into products and structures; in the manufacture of low-viscosity thermoplastic binders; in the impregnation of 3D-woven frames made of carbon and other fibers; in the manufacture of synthetic aviation oils capable of operating under conditions of high thermal stress).
14. Electronics engineer (in the production of integrated circuits, microassemblies and micromodules).
15. Quantum software engineer (in quantum electronics and the development of quantum computers and communications; in quantum physics; in methods for reducing or correcting errors).
    15 (1). Correspondent (in the activities of Russian mass media established by Russian non-profit organizations to disseminate information in foreign languages).
16. Coating application operator (in applying metallization to gallium nitride-based devices; in developing technologies for manufacturing products from polymer composite materials).
17. Hydraulic press operator (in metallurgy; in mechanical engineering).
18. Programmer (in the field of unmanned vehicles).
    18 (1). Editor (in the activities of Russian mass media established by Russian non-profit organizations to disseminate information in foreign languages).
19. Metal ship hull assembler (in shipbuilding).
20. Resistance (press) welding machine operator (in linear friction welding of deformable heat-resistant nickel alloys; in linear friction welding of deformable titanium-based alloys).
21. Mechanical assembly fitter (in shipbuilding).
22. Aircraft repair fitter (in aircraft manufacturing).
23. Rolling stock repair fitter (in mechanical engineering).
24. Process equipment repair fitter (in mechanical engineering).
25. Aircraft assembly fitter (in aircraft manufacturing; in mechanical engineering).
26. Ship repair fitter (in shipbuilding).
27. Ship hull repairer (in shipbuilding).
28. Ship pipefitter (in shipbuilding).
29. Ship electrician (in shipbuilding).

Document submission procedure: To obtain a residence permit, a foreign citizen who is a qualified specialist must apply to the authorized territorial office of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation where they are actually staying and working.

Processing time for an application for a residence permit on this basis is 4 months from the date all documents are submitted to the territorial office of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Document package
The current list of required documents can be downloaded here

List of documents for a foreign citizen applying for a residence permit after having continuously worked for at least one year before the date of application and working on the date of submission of the application in the Russian Federation in a profession (specialty, position) included in the list of professions (specialties, positions) of foreign citizens and stateless persons—qualified specialists entitled to obtain a residence permit in the Russian Federation without obtaining a temporary residence permit, approved by the federal executive body responsible for developing and implementing state policy and legal regulation in the field of employment and unemployment.

During the specified period of employment, the employer must have accrued insurance contributions for the foreign citizen to the Pension and Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation.

1. Application in 2 copies (printed double-sided).

The application must be completed electronically or by hand in legible block letters, in black, blue or violet ink, without corrections, erasures or unofficial abbreviations. All fields requiring completion must be filled in.

If the application does not have enough lines, additional information may be provided on a separate sheet attached to the application, following the details of the corresponding application field and indicating the applicant’s first name, last name and patronymic (if any) on the attachment.

If the application is submitted on paper directly to the migration office, the applicant must sign it in the presence of the official receiving applications.

2. Document proving the applicant’s identity.

The document must remain valid for at least the application processing period at the time the application is submitted. 

3. Migration card and detachable section of the arrival notification form for a foreign citizen or stateless person at their place of stay—migration registration.

4. Birth certificate.

5. Documents confirming changes to the information in the applicant’s full name.

(Marriage certificate, divorce certificate, certificate from the civil registry office in the event of repeated surname changes, or certificate of name change.)

6. Document confirming the absence of a criminal record or, if there is one, containing information about the crime for which the applicant was convicted. 

Required from foreign citizens aged fourteen or older; the certificate must be valid for 3 months on the date the application is submitted.

This document is not required from a foreign citizen who arrived in the Russian Federation under a visa-free procedure.

(If applying for a residence permit after a temporary residence permit, this certificate does not need to be submitted again.)

7. Documents confirming that the foreign citizen does not have drug addiction or infectious diseases that pose a danger to others, as well as a certificate confirming that the applicant does not have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

8. One of the following documents confirming that the foreign citizen speaks Russian and knows the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation: *

- a certificate confirming knowledge of Russian, the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation at a level corresponding to the purpose of obtaining a temporary residence permit or residence permit;

- a state-standard education document (at a level no lower than basic general education) issued by an educational institution in a state that was part of the USSR before September 1, 1991;

- an education and/or qualification document issued to persons who successfully passed state final attestation in the Russian Federation from September 1, 1991

- a decision recognizing the applicant as a native Russian speaker, adopted before October 26, 2023, by a commission of the federal executive body responsible for internal affairs or its territorial body for recognizing a foreign citizen or stateless person as a native Russian speaker.

9. Employment contract or civil law contract for performing work (providing services), executed in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

    • Document confirming employment and work experience (for periods before January 1, 2020): employment record book (a copy certified in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation) or employment information.

10. Personal photographs, 35х45mm – 4 pcs. (matte, black-and-white or color).

Stateless persons must provide two photographs.

11. Receipt confirming payment of the state fee.

12. Document confirming that the foreign citizen has residential premises on grounds provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation, where the right is not registered in the Unified State Register of Real Estate,

- if the foreign citizen applies for a residence permit more than three years after entering the Russian Federation.

All documents listed must be submitted as photocopies together with the ORIGINALS.

Copies made from original documents must be of good quality, easily legible and contain all information in the original. Copies must be made on standard A4 sheets and must not be cut with scissors to match the size of the original.

The public service is provided within 4 months.

When the residence permit documents are accepted, a receipt confirming that the application has been accepted for consideration is issued.

If the residence permit application is not accepted, a notice stating the reason is issued.

    • If different spellings of geographical names appear in the documents (passport, birth certificate, etc.), documentary confirmation of a renaming may be required. Such a certificate can be obtained, including by power of attorney, from the Russian State Library.

All official documents issued by foreign authorities in a foreign language must be legalized, translated and notarized.

For countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention:

• The original document must be apostilled in the country where it was issued.

• The document and the apostille affixed to it must be translated into Russian.

• The translation must be certified by a notarial endorsement by a notary in the Russian Federation. 

  For countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention:

    • Documents must undergo consular legalization through consular offices of the Russian Federation abroad or the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Documents drawn up in a foreign language must be translated into Russian.

If a document is drawn up in several languages and does not include Russian, a translation from one language chosen by the applicant must be submitted. The accuracy of the translation or the authenticity of the translator’s signature must be notarized in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries.

* The following applicants are exempt from confirming their knowledge of Russian, the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation when submitting an application:

    • foreign citizens who are legally incapacitated or have limited legal capacity;

    • foreign citizens under eighteen years of age;

    • foreign male citizens aged sixty-five or older;

    • foreign female citizens aged sixty or older;

    • foreign citizens granted participant status in the State Program to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement to the Russian Federation of Compatriots Living Abroad, or family member status under that State Program;

    • highly qualified foreign specialists and their family members who have applied for the residence permit referred to in paragraph 27 of Article 13.2 of this Federal Law;

    • foreign citizens who are citizens of the Union State formed by the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus;

    • foreign citizens applying for a residence permit who have a parent (adoptive parent, guardian or custodian), son or daughter who is a Russian citizen and permanently resides in the Russian Federation;

    • foreign citizens who are citizens of Ukraine;

    • foreign citizens referred to in subparagraph 8 of paragraph 3 of Article 6 of Federal Law No. 115 (those who have enlisted for military service) and subparagraph 20 of paragraph 2 of Article 8 of Federal Law No. 115 (foreign citizens who, during the special military operation, signed a one-year contract to perform military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or military formations (hereinafter, “service member”), and their family members, including in the event of the service member’s death. A service member’s family members are their spouse, children (including adopted children) and parents (including foster parents).

    • When applying for a work permit, highly qualified foreign specialists working under the procedure established by Article 13.2 of this Federal Law, and foreign journalists working for organizations producing and publishing mass media established specifically to disseminate mass information in foreign languages, are exempt from confirming their knowledge of Russian, the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Pursuant to Article 8, paragraph 2, subparagraph 10 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation