Job Discussion Forums

[mpluby]

This is a question for all the people teaching in Russia right now--did you all have work permits in hand before you arrived in Russia? Or did you arrive on a business visa and then find a school to sponsor a work permit?

I ask because I know that in other countries, the motivation to hire foreigners, especially Americans, from across an ocean is quite low due to the legal/processing headaches and the unlikelihood of such people actually showing up. Is the situation the same in Russia? Does it make sense to just get a visa and show up, maybe with some interviews lined up, and hope they can sponsor a permit at that point? Or should someone remain in their home country until securing a work visa?

[kazachka]

I used to freelance on a business visa(ah the good ol' days). Then I worked as a governess for Bonne where they paid for the business visa til the poo hit the fan late in 07. I left this WONDERFUL JOB THAT I REALLY LIKED over the poopy visa law change. I've been on work visa and permit since at my current job which is way less fun than my kid job was.

[maruss]

When you have the expense and trouble of travelling from across the Atlantic to Russia I understand how it is not so practical to leave and come back again.As Kazachka rightly says,the old system where you could stay up to six months on a business visa and then leave for a day and come back from Kiev or wherever for another six if you had a yearly one is finished and it basically means a maximum of ninety days stay nowadays,followed by a minimum of ninety outside Russia!Although you can avoid this by going there with a work-permit which is arranged by your employer and allows up to one years stay,it is obviously not the same as going there freelance with your own business visa.Especially with the current economic downturn which has resulted in far less work being available,this is a point which needs serious consideration before you make the decision to go to Russia and work as your options for finding extra work to supplement what may well be quite a meagre income with most employers,or even having to find a new job if things go badly wrong,are likely to be very limited...
And never forget the golden rule that you should ALWAYS budget for more than you imagine you will need,including a ticket home if it comes to it.This has happened to more than a few people who went to teach in Russia,I'm sorry to have to warn you!

[yorkshireterrier]

What are the new regulations for a visa? Also, any advice on the below would be great.

I'm coming to Moscow in the next few weeks and my school are organizing a visa, but they tell me I will need to leave Russia every 3 months and fly back to the UK. I'm assuming, from the Russia Visa Application Centre's website, that this is therefore a single entry business visa.

However, a friend who is going to Moscow on business has just received a multiple entry business visa which he says means he can come and go as he pleases with none of that 3 month hassle. It costs about 100 pounds more than the single entry.

What's the relationship between the visa and the work permit? I'm just guessing but maybe the reason why my school is going for the single entry business visa is to avoid getting a work permit for me? But the trip out of Russia certainly won't be 90 days, so maybe I will have a work permit.

All confusing, and not helped that my school is crap at responding to emails.

[Red and white]

As I understand it, with business visas now the 180-day rule applies. This basically means that on a business visa you can have multi-entry for up to one year, but can only spend a total of 180 days in Russia in that period. For shorter visas it might be 90 days, I forget. The idea is that if you're travelling to Russia (regularly or otherwise) on business you don't actually live and work there: these are temporary short-term trips.

However, business visas are easier to get than working visas (you don't have to demonstrate why this foreigner is a more appropriate employee than a native Russian) so companies try to find ways of bucking the system.

You, however, are coming to work. Full-time. Therefore you need a work visa (though not, at the moment, a work permit). This doesn't have time restrictions (a multi-entry 12-month work visa means you can stay in Russia until it expires without ever setting foot outside of Red Square, should you wish). It can also be renewed without you needing to leave the country (other visa types can only be renewed in your country of origin or residence, which legally isn't Russia even if you reside there unless you get a different set of paperwork).

Your school _should_ provide a working visa. If not, be very careful. Most of these rules have been in place for years; about 18 months ago they started to be enforced. The days of day trips to the Baltics are more or less over.

Also, you need a multi-entry visa, or at least you need them to upgrade it when you arrive. Why? Well, let's say your best friend gets married and you want to go home for the wedding - without a m/e visa you can't get back into Russia. Maybe, God forbid, someone in your family gets ill ... same issue can arise. You can't guarantee that you won't need to get home for three months, and the extra faff with paperwork isn't worth it.

[yorkshireterrier]

Thanks for the info - explains things better. The school's been in touch and the visa is a double entry business visa. As you point out, this is better than a single entry as I can leave Russia and still return if an emergency arises.

I have heard that some people, to get around having to return home to renew their visa, simply DHL their passport to the Russian National Tourist Office back home who then get the visa renewed and send it back to you by DHL. Anyone heard of this method?

[juliagirl]

I've heard of this, but not in Russia. We needed to do this in China around the time of the Olympics when the government stopped issuing visa's to anyone with a resident permit/expert certificate about to expire....

[travelNick]

Yorkshireterrier

I did exactly that - applied for my visa outside of my country by post. You need to ask the Russian embassy in your country of residence (where you have a permanent address) if they accept applications by post. This involved me sending my passport, application form, and cash via DHL to my parents, and then they sent it on from there. Of course, your invitation letter has to be addressed to your address in your home country too.

It was a little more expensive, having to pay for courier, but less expensive than travelling home.

[yorkshireterrier]

Thanks for the info Nick, will look into this.