Family Based Immigration

Family ties is one of the grounds that allows foreign national to immigrate to Russia or obtain permanent immigration status in Russia. There are certain peculiarities with regards to process and documents required depending on the Russian family member which we cover below

Having a parent, spouse or child Russian citizen is a ground to obtain permanent immigration status in Russia.

Being married to a Russian allows foreign national to apply for a Temporary residency permit (TRP).

Temporary residency is a stamp in the passport and allows foreign national to work in Russia without the work permit in the region where the TRP was issued. Processing time to obtain TRP after successfully submitting the application is 4 months. Foreign national may travel outside Russia after submitting the application. Application is done in person but there is no interview by the immigration or any other authorities to question the marriage. After TRP is issued foreign national has 7 days to register at the residency address. Foreign national should physically reside in Russia for at least 180 days within a year from the date the TRP was issued, otherwise temporary residency could be revoked. On an annual basis foreign national is obliged to confirm his/her residency in Russia by submitting a form that contains information on the number of days spent outside of Russia within the past year and information on income which can be savings in the bank or employment related.

After 1 year of residing on the basis of temporary residency foreign national is eligible to apply for permanent residency and once the marriage reaches 3-year anniversary foreign national can apply for Russian citizenship.

• Marriage certificate.

In case the marriage was done outside Russia the document has to be legalized or apostilled and translated to the Russian language. Translation to Russian should be done in Russia.

• Foreign national’s original passport
• Russian spouse’s original passport
• Apostilled police criminal record of a foreign national translated to Russian and notarized
• Medical tests done in Russia
• Confirmation of the source of income in Russia –

salary from the Russian company, extract from the savings account in the Russian bank

• Russian language test
• Address registration of a foreign national in Russia
• Migration card issued when crossing Russian border
• Confirmation of payment of the state duty for processing of TRP application

Documents required

Same sex marriages are not recognized in Russia as a legal marriage, neither is civil marriage. TRP is a 3-year temporary residency permit that is not extendable but allows application for a permanent residency after 1 year from the moment of obtaining of TRP. Foreign citizen can apply for a TRP only in the Russian region in which the spouse is permanently registered. In case spouse say has permanent registration in St. Petersburg but resides in Moscow it is only possible to apply for TRP in St. Pete and moreover foreign citizen should reside in the region of application until obtaining of permanent residency.

Processing time to obtain TRP after successfully submitting the application is 4 months. Foreign national may travel outside Russia after submitting the application.

Possibility to apply for citizenship based on marriage could be terminated from the current citizenship law – relevant draft of the citizenship law is now in the Russian parliament and in case it becomes a law around March 2023 foreign national will be able to apply for citizenship on general grounds after residing in Russia for 5 years based on permanent residency permit. In case there is a child – Russian national simplified procedure to obtain citizenship will be based on the child.

For further immigration procedures such as obtaining of permanent residency or citizenship almost same list of documents is r equired. Police criminal record is provided only once. For citizen ship application it is necessary to provide apostilled or legalized birth certificate of a foreign national translated to Russian language

Having a child – Russian citizen is a ground to apply for permanent residency skipping the necessity to apply for temporary residency. In case both parents are foreign nationals, and they have a child born in Russia such child doesn’t have the right to obtain Russian citizenship. One of the parents has to be Russian citizen for the child to be Russian citizen.

Residency issued based on a Russian child is permanent but could be revoked in case foreign national doesn’t stay in Russia at least 180 days in each year after permanent residency was issued.

Permanent residency gives the right for foreign national to work in any Russian region without a work permit, travel in and out of Russia without a visa and reside anywhere in Russia. It also gives foreign national the right for state medical and health care coverage.

Processing time for obtaining of permanent residency is 4 months after filing of the application. Foreign national may travel outside Russia after submitting the application. Application is done in person. After permanent residency is issued foreign national has 7 days to register at the residency address. On an annual basis foreign national is obliged to confirm his/her residency in Russia by submitting a form that contains information on the number of days spent outside of Russia within the past year and information on income which can be savings in the bank or employment related.

After obtaining of permanent residency in Russia foreign national is obliged to inform Russian tax authorities on an annual basis before each 1st of June about his/her assets and foreign bank accounts abroad.

In case foreign national was not married or is divorced with a Russian citizen but has a Russian child under current citizenship law such foreign national can only apply for permanent residency and for citizenship only after 5 years of residing in Russia based on permanent residency permit. In case foreign national is married to a Russian and they have a child Russian citizen foreign national is eligible to apply for citizenship right after obtaining permanent residency provided the marriage is longer than 1 year. The new draft of citizenship law that may come into force as of March 2023 will allow foreign national to apply for Russian citizenship right after obtaining permanent residency based on Russian child regardless of the marriage to a Russian citizen.

When applying for permanent residency based on a Russian child there is no need to pass the Russian language test

• Childs birth certificate.

In case child was born outside Russia the document has to be legalized or apostilled and translated to the Russian language. Translation to Russian should be done in Russia.

• Foreign national’s original passport
• Russian child’s permanent address registration in Russia – Form 8
• Apostilled police criminal record of a foreign national translated to Russian and notarized
• Medical tests done in Russia
• Confirmation of the source of income in Russia – salary from the Russian company, extract from the savings account in the Russian bank
• Address registration of a foreign national in Russia
• Migration card issued when crossing Russian border
• Confirmation of payment of the state duty for processing of residency application

Foreign national can apply for permanent residency in the region where such foreign national has address registration even if Russian child has permanent registration in a different region of Russia.

Foreign national that is over 18 years of age and has a parent – Russian citizen can apply for permanent residency skipping the necessity to apply for temporary residency.

Residency issued based on a Russian parent is permanent but could be revoked in case foreign national doesn’t stay in Russia at least 180 days in each year after permanent residency was issued.

Foreign national can apply for permanent residency in the region where such foreign national has address registration even if Russian parent has permanent registration in a different region of Russia. Permanent residency gives the right for foreign national to work in any Russian region without a work permit, travel in and out of Russia without a visa and reside anywhere in Russia. It also gives foreign national the right for state medical and health care coverage.

Processing time for obtaining of permanent residency is 4 months after filing of the application. Foreign national may travel outside Russia after submitting the application. Application is done in person. After permanent residency is issued foreign national has 7 days to register at the residency address. On an annual basis foreign national is obliged to confirm his/her residency in Russia by submitting a form that contains information on the number of days spent outside of Russia within the past year and information on income which can be savings in the bank or employment related.

Foreign national that obtained residency based on the Russian parent is eligible to apply for Russian citizenship right after obtaining permanent residency.

When applying for permanent residency based on a Russian child there is no need to pass the Russian language test

• Foreign national’s birth certificate.

Birth certificate should be legalized or apostilled and translated to the Russian language. Translation to Russian should be done in Russia.

• Foreign national’s original passport
• Russian parent’s passport
• Apostilled police criminal record of a foreign national translated to Russian and notarized
• Medical tests done in Russia
• Confirmation of the source of income in Russia –

salary from the Russian company, extract from the savings account in the Russian bank

• Address registration of a foreign national in Russia
• Migration card issued when crossing Russian border
• Confirmation of payment of the state duty for processing of residency application

After obtaining of permanent residency in Russia foreign national is obliged to inform Russian tax authorities on an annual basis before each 1st of June about his/her assets and foreign bank accounts abroad.