Job Discussion Forums

[buckeye6482]

Hello, I'm finishing my 9 month contract in Russia soon with 3 months left on my 1 year multiple entry visa and I was wondering what I would need to do if I started work at another Russian school within the 3 month period.

Would I need to basically restart the whole process like I did with the original visa or are there any advantages in this scenario?

I'm finding conflicting information as the policies and laws seem to change occasionally so any help would be greatly appreciated!

[coledavis]

Conflicting information in Russia is not uncommon and I think other contributors' comments would be useful.

This is my take on it. Your visa, assuming it is a legitimate working visa, is predicated on the employer who invited you. So I don't think you can just drift into another job. However, it may be possible for your new employer to have a word with the immigration authorities and see if you can get the visa transferred, although I think such an approach should be made before any new job is started, not as a fait accompli.

[RyanCS]

My former roommate is in the same situation and this is how he is doing getting the visa:
Essentially what will happen is that your old school will cancel your visa (they might now if you ask them to), but you WILL have to make a visa run (Ukraine is usually easiest). They changed the law and now you cannot extend a visa if you switch companies. The whole process will be a whole lot easier though - if you are in Russia and have a job at a new school, it would be best to obtain the invitation/visa and have all necessary documents ready for when you get to Ukraine or other destination. I don't know exactly, but apparently, according to my roommate, you will be able to obtain a new visa fairly quickly and not have to wait a week. Like I said I don't know 100% about that, but I do know that if you are switching schools that you must do a visa run, unfortunately.