There are westerners who make Russia their home. Would you be welcome if you decided to move to Russia and live there?

Famous westerners who hold Russian citizenship

The guy you definitely know who took the opportunity to become a Russian citizen is Steven Seagal, a famous Hollywood star. Seagal was granted citizenship in 2016.

Other famous personalities include mixed martial artist Jeff Monson, boxer Roy Jones Jr., and French movie star Gerard Depardieu.

MMA fighter Jeff Monson proudly holds his Russian passport (upside down). The martials arts star obtained his citizenship in May 2018 and completed his immigration by moving to live in Russia.

In September 2018 Monson even got elected as a member of the city council in the town of Krasnogorsk in Moscow region. He had to drop his American citizenship to be eligible. The 47-year-old fighter bought an apartment in the city and opened a school that teaches martials arts.

Quite a few other sportsmen and European celebrities also picked a second passport in Russia, RIA.ru reported.

Jeff Monson became not only a citizen of the Russian Federation, but also got elected into the local city council as a member from the United Russia party. (Photo: Screen grab from Vecherny Urgant video)

Immigration to Russia

You may not be aware of that, but the Russian Federation, as the country is officially called, is one of the world leaders in hosting and naturalizing migrants. Yes, immigration to Russia is an attractive option for millions of people in this world.

In fact, the population of the Russian Federation is only growing because of migrants, since the natural growth has stalled: The number of births doesn’t exceed the number of deaths annually, despite all efforts of the government to improve total fertility rate via programs like Maternal Capital.

Russia hosts about the same amount of migrants as Germany: 11.6 million vs. 12 million, being #2 and #2 top host countries in the world. #1 belongs to the USA with 46.6 million migrants.

At the same time, the Russian Federation is also in the top of migrant-sending countries, with 10.6 million people who left the country in a year (2015 data). It’s also #3 on this list, following India and Mexico.

The majority of people who migrate to Russia come from the former Soviet Union republics such as Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and others. A sizable part of these people naturalize and become Russian citizens with their families.

Russia is an attractive country to immigrate to for citizens of ex-USSR republics because it has the highest wages outside the 3 Baltic states that are now members of the European Union (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia). Other 11 ex-USSR republics have lower wages, which makes working and living in the Russian Federation attractive.

How to immigrate to Russia

The simplest way to move to Russia is to come as a visitor first and find out whether you like it there or not. You are able to obtain a multi-entry visa, which will allow you to visit for up to 3 months. Then you will need to leave and allowed to come back again after crossing the border out. The multi-entry visa is granted for 3 years.

To obtain a permit to live in Russia, there is a certain procedure. There is a temporary and permanent permit. To obtain a permanent permit, the person needs to live on the territory of Russia for 1 year.

Citizens of Belarus and Turkmenistan have a special waiver allowing them to bypass the requirement to live in the country for 12 months.

To apply for the permit, foreigners need to apply to the United Migration Service. To get a permit, a person needs to be a highly qualified specialist (professional visa), a close family member of a Russian citizens (husband, son, parent etc.), or a refugee, including seekers of political asylum. A person is also able to apply if he or she is a Russian speaker, which is marked as “the carrier of the Russian language” in the law.

Holders of the permanent permit can spend no more than 6 months outside the country within 1 year.

If you consider moving to Russia to live, there are several legal avenues to do that.

Would you be welcome, if you immigrate to Russia?

A recent poll by WCIOM.ru researched attitudes of locals towards migrants from other countries. Please bear in mind that the majority of them arrive from the Southern Republics, predominantly Central Asia, where the poorest ex-USSR counties are located. The attitudes to immigrants expressed in the poll would mostly apply to new citizens from these countries.

Russians have a mixed attitude towards immigrants: People from “good” countries are viewed more in a positive light, as it confirms to locals that their state is of a high enough standard. Contrary to that, people from “bad” countries are viewed rather negatively, since locals view them as stealing jobs and creating problems, such as additional crime and illegal activities. Western countries such as the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand are viewed as “good”.

• When asked about desirable immigrants, Belarus (25%), Ukraine (21%) and Germany (16) topped the list. It was an open question asking to name countries, up to 5 countries, so, naturally, respondents were limited in their choices and picked the countries they know as senders of migrants.
• People from Tajikistan (15%), Uzbekistan (14%) and Ukraine (13%) were named as undesirable immigrants by the majority of survey-takers. USA is #4 with 11% of respondents finding Americans undesirable. This could be the reaction to recent high-profile immigrants that had been given too much attention and financial support, as opposed to locals who often struggle with day-to-day survival.

Survey: Attitudes towards immigrants

• 43% of respondents in WCIOM survey viewed immigration negatively, while 19% are positive about it, in relation to the influence on the economy of the country.
• 51% of respondents believe that immigration increases the crime rate, while 19% hold an opposite view.
• 20% of survey participants agree that immigrants make the country more open to new ideas and cultures, while 53% disagree with that statement.

It is a pretty consistent negative bias, as you can see, but remember it’s about the majority of immigrants that come from poor ex-USSR countries. People who didn’t join either opinion hold a non-committal view.

• 41% of respondents in WCIOM poll believe that entrants from other countries create a serious load on the Russian social sphere (education, public health, etc.), while 26% of respondents think otherwise.
• 49% of people who answered the poll are unhappy about the competition in the labour market, while 28% of locals are not concerned about it.
• 48% of respondents support the view that immigrants fill the gap in the unskilled labour market, where extra hands are needed, while 28% disagree.

• 50% of respondents support the entry to the country of people who speak Russian and restricting the entry of other nationalities. 24% of respondents hold the opposite view. (Bear in mid that Russia is a federation of a multitude of nationalities itself, the largest include Tatar, Bashkir, and Saha autonomous republics; 85 federal subjects in total).
• The entry of young and educated people while restricting migration of low-educated people with no skills is supported by 50% and rejected by 25% of locals.
• 48% of respondents are open to migrants working in markets selling food or goods (11% dislike them). In restaurants or cafes 45% of locals are fine with foreigners working there, while 12% feel uneasy about that.

The poll asked about many other industries, where foreigners are often employed, assessing the so called Immigration Employment Index.

The lowest scores were for the law enforcement, where only 20% of locals are happy to see foreigners (69% of the respondents are against it), and the government, where the level of support to working immigrants drops to 17% (74% of survey respondents are feeling unhappy about that).

Apparently, not many citizens of Russia support the excitement of having a foreign MMA fighter deciding how they should live.

Problems with immigration in Russia

On the whole, the Russian Federation, while positioning itself as anti-globalist, has its own immigration issues, trying to stop the brain drain and put a halt on the influx of undesirable newcomers.

We reported previously that 1 in 3 young Russians aged 18-24 expressed the desire to immigrate.

Among top managers and highly skilled professionals the share of people wishing to move countries to the west is even higher: 40%, or 2 out of 5. This is why the country cannot afford to cut down the influx of immigrants.

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