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.

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

For further immigration procedures such as obtaining of permanent residency or citizenship almost same list of documents is required. 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

As of 25.01.2025 being married to a Russian allows foreign national to apply for a Temporary residency permit only after 3 years of marriage.

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.

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 based on temporary residency foreign nationals are eligible to apply for permanent residency. Marriage is no longer a ground to apply for Russian citizenship.

It’s only the Russian child that allows to apply for citizenship on simplified grounds. Otherwise, to apply for citizenship foreign national should reside in Russia for 5 years based on permanent residency.

As of 25th of January 2025 new provisions that are aimed against fake marriages came into force. In the case of a divorce both temporary residency and permanent residency could be terminated.

• 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

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

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 must 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 nationals the right to state medical and health care coverage.

Possibility to apply for residency based on a Russian child as of 25.01.2025 exists only for those foreign nationals that are officially married to a Russian citizen. In case there is no official marriage, a foreign national should prove that he takes care of the child and resides in Russia with the child and his second parent for at least 3 years before being able to apply for permanent residency.

Processing time for obtaining 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 nationals have 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 in Russia

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.

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.

• 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

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

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

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.

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.