Starting from January 01, 2014, foreign nationals and stateless persons studying full time state-accredited vocational or higher education programmes in the Russian Federation (hereinafter international students) gained more rights for labour in the Russian Federation. Their labour is now regulated by Article 13.4 of the Federal Law No. 115-ФЗ On the Legal Status of Foreign Nationals in the Russian Federation dated July 25, 2002 (hereinafter Law No. 115-ФЗ).

To hire an international student, an employer (contractor) is legally required to carry out the following procedures:

Checking the legal status of an international student

When applying for a job, the international student submits to the employer (contractor) the following documents:

– The foreign national’s passport or other document envisaged by federal law or accepted by the Russian Federation as the foreign national or stateless person’s identity document under international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party (reentry certificate, special passport, temporary passport, etc.) with Russian interlinear translation to enable the issuance of HR documents and keeping HR records in a proper manner;

– Certificate confirming that the foreign national (stateless persons) is studying full time at a vocational or higher education institution and pursuing a state-accredited degree programme (as approved by the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 687 dated December 18, 2013).

Entering into an employment contract

If the international student has reached the age of eighteen years (Article 18, Item 9, Subitem 15 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ), and has a certificate confirming that they are studying full time at an educational institution located in the same territorial entity of the Russian Federation where the potential employer (contractor) is located (Article 13.4, Item 20 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ), the parties could enter into an employment contract (or a civil law contract) which they could then submit to the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation (its local office) to obtain a work permit. It should be taken into account that an employer does not have a right to employ a foreign national prior to obtaining a work permit by the foreign national (Article 13, Item 4 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

According to Article 61 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, the employment contract becomes effective from the date it is signed by the employee and the employer, unless otherwise stipulated by the Labour Code, other federal laws and other laws and regulations of the Russian Federation, or the employment contract; or from the date the employee assumes their functions with the consent or at the request of the employer or the employer’s authorized representative.

The employee shall assume their functions from the date specified in the employment contract. If a commencement date is not specified in the employment contract, the employee shall assume their functions on the first working day following the date on which the contract becomes effective. If the employee fails to commence work on the agreed date, the employer has the right to cancel the employment contract. The canceled employment contract shall be deemed not concluded. Therefore, to obtain a work permit the international student is required to have either a draft employment contract (not signed by the parties) or a signed employment contract, which states that the contract shall become effective upon obtaining of a work permit by the foreign national.

A fixed-term employment contract may be made, by mutual consent of the parties, with a person enrolled full-time in an educational institution (Article 59, Part 2, Paragraph 9 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation).

Obtaining a work permit

To employ an international student, the employer is not required to obtain a permit to hire foreign workers (students), even if the international student has entered the country on a visa (Article 13, Item 4.5, Subitem 4 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ), but the international students themselves are legally required to have a work a permit (Article 13.4, Item 1 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ) and the employer (contractor) is required to ensure that the foreign national obtains a work permit (Article 18, Item 8, Subitem 2 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

International students are eligible to work without a work permit only during their vacations, or only for the educational institution they study at, or its affiliate, during time periods when they are not studying (Article 13, Item 4, Subitems 6, 7 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

To obtain a work permit, the international student submits to the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation or its local office the following documents (Article 13.4, Items 2, 7 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ):

– Application for a work permit for a foreign national studying in the Russian Federation (the standard application form was approved by the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 458 dated November 08, 2013).

– Valid identity document accepted as such by the Russian Federation;

– Migration card bearing a mark indicating that it was issued by a local office of the Federal Migration Service or entry stamp of a border control authority;

– Certificate confirming that the foreign national (stateless persons) is studying full time at a vocational or higher education institution and pursuing a state-accredited degree programme (as approved by the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 687 dated December 18, 2013);

– Employment contract made in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;

– Receipt for payment of the state duty for a work permit. If the receipt is not submitted, the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation or its local office shall check in the information system’s database if the payment of the state duty has been made;

 – Documents certifying that the foreign national is not a drug addict and is not a carrier of a potentially dangerous to other people infectious disease included in the list of such diseases adopted by the federal executive body authorized by the Government of the Russian Federation, and a negative HIV status certificate.

Applicants submit the documents in person, or through a representative or a recruitment agency (Article 13.4, Items 6, 7 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

In case the international student submits all the required documents, the application for work permit cannot be rejected. The international student’s application for work permit is examined without regard to the work permit quotas (Article 13.4, Item 9 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

Not later than within 10 days from the date of submission of all the required documentation by the foreign national, the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, or its local office, shall decide whether or not to issue a work permit (Article 13.4, Item 10 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ). A work permit shall not be issued to an international student if any of the grounds set out in Article 18, Item 9, Subitems 1 – 10, 14, 15 and Article 18, Items 9.1, 9.2, 9.6 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ arise.

In case of a favourable decision to issue a work permit, the foreign national is issued with one of the following documents:

– Work permit for a foreign national (stateless persons) who has entered the Russian Federation on a visa, is studying full time at a vocational or higher education institution and pursuing a state-accredited degree programme (Annex 7 to the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 97 dated February 19, 2014);

– Work permit for a foreign national (stateless persons) who has entered the Russian Federation under the visa-free regime, is studying full time at a vocational or higher education institution and pursuing a state-accredited degree programme (Annex 8 to the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 97 dated February 19, 2014).

The type of work permit issued depends on whether the foreign national has entered the Russian Federation on a visa or under the visa-free regime.

A work permit is issued for the period of the foreign national’s employment contract, up to a maximum of 1 year. The duration of a work permit must not exceed the duration of a full-time degree programme pursued by the foreign national at an educational institution (Article 13.4, Item 10 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

In cases where a job has been applied for by an international student already having a work permit which has been obtained by their previous employer under an employment contract (or a civil law contract) terminated early, a new employment contract could be concluded. In such cases, the international student applies to the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, or its local office, within 7 working days of the conclusion of the new contract, to amend the work permit details accordingly (Article 13.4, Item 14 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

The duration of a work permit for a foreign national studying full time at a vocational or higher education institution and pursuing a state-accredited degree programme can be extended a number of times for the duration of the employment contract, each time up to a maximum of 1 year (Article 13.4, Item 3 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ). The procedure of work permit duration extension, list of required documents, and grounds for rejection of application are set out in Article 13.4, Items 11, 13, 15 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ.

Notification of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation by the employer (contractor) about the international student’s employment

Pursuant to Article 13.4, Item 18 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ and Annex 13 to the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 147 dated June 28, 2010 on the Forms and Procedures for Notifying the Federal Migration Service about Foreign Nationals’ Employment in the Russian Federation, an employer that employs an international student is required to notify a local office of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation within 3 working days about:

– Entering into an employment contract with a foreign national;

– Granting a foreign employee an unpaid leave of absence for more than 1 calendar month during a year;

– Termination of an employment contract.

Forms and procedures for submitting the above notifications have been approved by the Order of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation No. 147 dated June 28, 2010 on the Forms and Procedures for Notifying the Federal Migration Service about Foreign Nationals’ Employment in the Russian Federation. The employer (contractor) is also required to notify about the above events the executive body governing the local employment issues. The form and procedure for submitting such notifications are defined by the federal executive body responsible for the development and implementation of a national policy and regulatory issues regarding employment and unemployment. The employer (contractor) is also required to notify the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation (its local office) and the local office of the federal security body about unauthorized absence of a foreign employee from the place of work (Article 18, Item 8, Subitem 8 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ).

Important Notice

An educational institution, in which the foreign national studies, is required to notify the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation and the local office of a federal executive body for education (department, education committee) about the following (Article 13.4, Item 19, Paragraph 1 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ):

– The foreign national’s completion of or withdrawal from a degree programme at the educational institution;

– Granting a foreign national a leave of absence from study.

The foreign national’s completion of or withdrawal from a full-time degree programme at the related educational institution, or taking by the foreign national a leave of absence from study, constitute a reason for withdrawing the work permit (Article 18, Item 9.6 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ). For this reason, the relevant and up-to-date information regarding the student’s current academic performance and progress should always be available to the employer.

Notification of Tax Authorities

Pursuant to Article 18, Item 8 Subitem 4 of the Law No. 115-ФЗ, an employer (contractor) is required to notify a local tax authority within 10 days of:

– Obtaining a work permit by the international student;

– Entering into an employment contract or a civil law contract for the provision of works or services with the international student;

– Withdrawing the work permit of the international student.

The form for submitting the above notifications has been approved by the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation (Letter No. ГИ-6-04/676 dated August 24, 2007).

The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in its judgment No. 11773/09 of February 2, 2010 in case No. А53-21580/2008-С4-45 said that the employer is legally required to notify tax authorities only about those foreign nationals who have entered the Russian Federation on a visa.