Highly qualified foreigners were given twice as many work permits in the Russian Federation

From January to June 2025, 39.9 thousand work permits were issued to highly qualified foreigners. This was reported to Izvestia by the press service of the Interior Ministry. For comparison, a year earlier, such documents were issued by 90% less — 20.9 thousand.

The work is satisfactory: 1.5 times more qualified foreigners have arrived in the Russian Federation

How much does our economy need specialists from other countries amid a shortage of personnel

Such a permit is issued to people from countries with which the Russian Federation has a visa regime. According to Olga Lebedinskaya, Associate Professor of Statistics at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, the focus is now on attracting highly qualified specialists from China, India, Serbia and Turkey.

But foreigners from unfriendly countries such as the USA and the EU still come to work with us. As sources told Izvestia, citizens of Belgium, Great Britain and the United States teach full-time at Russian universities. At the same time, there is a demand for specialists from friendly countries: a visitor from Turkey works as a teacher, and a Russian chemical industry company hires employees from China.

Enterprises in Russia are increasingly attracting specialists from other regions and foreign workers within the framework of quotas, according to the Central Bank's report on the regional economy. In particular, in the Tambov region they are established for migrants from Africa, and in the Orel region it is also planned to employ workers from this continent.

Currently, there are insufficient domestic labor reserves, and the need for foreigners is increasing, said Alexey Nezhivoy, head of the operational headquarters of the independent trade union Novy Trud.