Job Discussion Forums

[Velocipedaler]

An article from the Moscow Times regarding a pending bill to regulate foreign teachers in Russia:

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/379241.htm

Unfortunately, the article has few details.

Don't teachers already need work permits?

[maruss]

To sum up the present situation,the regulations which previously allowed foreigners to use multiple entry business visas valid for up to one year with six months maximum continuous stay, were changed just over ayear ago and nowadays such visas allow only 90 days maximum stay,followed by a minimum of 90 days abroad before re-entry.Many of us used these visas to teach freelance as they are not arranged by employers and it was the most lucrative way to earn money in Russia,even though it was technically illegal.This also allowed a tax loophole for us and employers which suited everyone as we were not officially employed but there on business!Nowadays there are still firms which employ foreign teachers but they have to apply for work permits for them if they are prepared to do it,and obviously pay tax etc.The disadvantage is that you are tied to that firm and if you decide to leave they can cause you mega-problems which may mean you have to leave Russia!Of course most of these firms do not pay well either and your ability to supplement your income by taking private work on the side is especially limited under the current economic climate with many teachers trying to find students.
As for these proposed new Duma laws,Russias regime is turning increasingly xenophobic and hysterical and as academics have rightly said, the country would be cutting off its own nose by implementing such restrictions...
I am used to this mentality here in Cyprus,where a number of Greek-Cypriot politicians are always ready to jump on any visiting foreign dignitry who dares to voice an opinion about the urgency to find a solution to the Cyprus problem etc, or anything else which does not agree 100% with their views,yet are always complaining that the world is not doing enough to help the Greek-Cypriots etc etc!!

[Velocipedaler]

Yes, I think anyone who has been working in Russia for a while is overly familiar with the closure of the business visa loophole. This was nearly two years ago, by the way.

It's my understanding that teachers currently need works permits. I was trying to determine if there were any legal exceptions (sorry, I should have clarified this in my orginal question), since the first sentence of the Moscow Times article makes it seem that this legislation would introduce a requirement which already exists.

I was all over the Duma website, trying to find the specific requirments proposed by this bill. All I learned, however, is that the first reading is scheduled for October.

I did find this article, regarding the Moscow City Duma's support of the bill:

http://www.uvao.ru/uvao/ru/today/n_340/o_86052

It doesn't, however, shed light on any more specifics except for some Bureaucratese at the end of the fourth paragraph and the fifth paragraph:

"Additionally, often these foreigners [those teaching in Russia under current laws] don't have the appropriate letters of recommendation, references, or other documents which support their compentency and level of qualification.

Tatyana Potyayeva [the author the Moscow Duma's decree supporting this bill] said that the goal of this bill is to eliminate such situations and, instead, attract only highly qualified foreign teachers to work at Russian educational institutions."

I want to know which documents will be required to support my "competency and level of qualification"! Will CELTA suffice? Do I need a BA or MA in English? Even then, according to Kuzminov in the Moscow Times article, schools won't want to deal with the hassles.

*Sigh*, we'll have to wait and see what emerges from under the rug in October...

[Sashadroogie]

As far as I know, and I'm open to correction here, teachers do not currently have to have the same type of work-permit as other profressions. That is, a lot of us have a 'Teachers work permit', which is like the regular work permit, but has some special dispensations, e.g. we do not need to have that other plastic ID card thingy that other foreign employees need to carry. So, I'd guess that this new bill would try to do away with this special sub-class of work-permit. They are not really 'introducing a requirement that already exists', but rather modifying the requirement for teachers, and making it the same as every profession.

At least that's my understanding of it so far... Anyone else got any info?

[spiral78]

nowadays such visas allow only 90 days maximum stay,followed by a minimum of 90 days abroad before re-entry.

My 2 cent's worth is worth just that in this case - very little.

But for the little use it is, the above regulations mirror those of the EU 's Schengen zone that went into effect Jan 2009.

I can see why Russia would want to be in harmony with the general regs of the rest of the Euro area (or would adopt similar policies as a 'payback' for EU citizens wishing to come to Russia, as Russians must now comply with the above inside the EU zone).

[maruss]

The Duma is virtually a rubber-stamp for Kremlin policies and has liitle political power any more in the way parliaments do in Western countries as an opposition etc.
Whether this new law will finally be implemented and if so, how it will affect the recruitment of foreign teachers is another thing.
The Russians probably did change the visa-rules to align with Schengen proceedures and it was just bad luck that foreign teachers were affected by it who had been using them as a loop-hole,but of course there is also the strong possibility that they wanted to clamp-down on tax evasion by firms who employed people illegally and the people who were working for them...they have effectively killed two birds with one stone!!
How all these changes have affected the E.F.L. industry in Russia is another point though.......the choice of firms has obviously been restricted,even more so with the current financial crisis and consequently foreign people wanting work with decent pay and conditions are hardly going to choose to come to Russia!

[kazachka]

I don't have a teacher visa. My company does regular work visas/permits. They get x amount of spots on the annual quota and use them to do our visas.

[coledavis]

I currently have a teacher's visa (initially for 3 months, now for a year). Does that mean that I would need a work permit on top of that?

[kazachka]

That is a very good question, but it seems to me that's the change in the law that is being pushed. My boss just does regular work visas for us like companies(not schools) do for their expat staff.