Job Discussion Forums

[Velocipedaler]

That would be great! I'd ask:

1) Does this new law only affect schools, or are there aspects which apply to teachers as well? That is, is it only the schools which need to meet new requirements, or do teachers need to meet new requirements as well?

2) If teachers need to meet new requirements, what, specifically, are these new requirements? For example, do teachers need to be certified? If so, which certifications are accepted; what documentation is required?

Those seem to be the pertinent questions at this point.

I've hit an absolute dead-end searching for information on my own. I emailed the Moscow Times this morning to see if they were going to follow up with the story they ran in July on this. I've also asked some Russian friends to search for information, in case I flubbed the Russian searching (it's been known to happen!).

Thanks for your efforts, Raduga. Please keep us updated, and we'll do likewise.

[rusmeister]

This stuff can be avoided by going through the seven hells of permanent residency. (The postoyanny vid na zhitel'stvo, as opposed to the "vremennoe razreshenie" - which I'm not so sure about).

[Raduga01]

To apply for permanent residency, do you need to have a particular length of employment contract? Mine is 9 months in the first instance. Also, I'm not sure how long I'll be staying in Russia - and don't expect I'll be staying permanently.

[Raduga01]

OK, here is the latest from EF:

The new law was introduced last week. It has no connection with teachers' qualifications. Teachers already in the country will be able to stay. It is a new permit required by the SCHOOLS, not the teachers, and it is different from the old permit which has been required of schools employing foreigners for the last 2 years. It will be required for all types of organisations: schools, businesses, universities, etc. Unfortunately, the article from July is all the information on it that they have. They say that they hope they will be able to employ teachers from April onwards.

I'm just a bit confused because in the article, it says that TEACHERS need a new work permit, not schools. Perhaps they have modified the law proposed in July. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Velocipedaler]

Thanks, Raduga; that helps. That information jives with this article one of my Russian friends found:

http://www.mr-msk.ru/story/story_5240.html

It doesn't answer many questions, but confirms that the process to get the new permit (I assume this is associated with the Letter of Invitation stage of the process...maybe?) will now take several months instead of one month.

My personal concern is this: I just got my teacher's visa two weeks ago, and I'm heading to St Petersburg on the 15th. Once I'm there, I need to get a longer-term visa (or have my visa extended, however you want to put it). If this new rule applies to the Letter of Invitation stage of the process, I should be okay, because I already have my initial visa. If this new rule applies to the visa work necessary when I arrive in Russia, I might be coming home early! I asked my school to ask their lawyer about this. I'll let you know if I learn any new information.

Otherwise, we may just have to leave it at this for now. Welcome to life in Russia!