According to the Law #115-FZ, foreign citizens have the right to work in the territory of the Russian Federation on the basis of a work permit or a patent. In practice, the employer takes part in the obtaining of a work permit, such permit indicates the name of the employer, the date of issue of a work permit, its validity and the territory where the employee can work.
According to article 13.3. Law #115-FZ, foreign citizens who arrived in the Russian Federation in the order that does not require a visa, can carry out work on the basis of a patent (for example, citizens of Ukraine).
Since 2015, The Treaty on the Eurasian economic Union has come into force, according to which citizens of the Republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are partially equal to citizens of the Russian Federation in employment. Citizens of the EAEU have an advantage-they do not need to obtain a work permit (clause 1 of article 97 of the EAEU Treaty).
As for the documents to be provided by a foreign employee, in addition to the standard documents specified in article 65 of the Labor code, as well as work permits, such employee must provide the employer:
* the contract (policy) of voluntary medical insurance at the conclusion of the employment contract with the foreign citizen or stateless person temporarily staying in the Russian Federation. The specified policy can be issued both in the territory of the Russian Federation, and abroad (on condition of coverage of the territory of the Russian Federation), thus, it has to provide primary health care and specialized medical care in an emergency form;
* temporary residence permit or residence permit in the Russian Federation.
In addition to the verification of presence of the above-mentioned documents, the employer has the obligation to register a foreign citizen for migration purposes and to submit a number of notifications related to the conclusion of an employment contract.
The employer hiring a foreign citizen is considered as a host party, in this connection, in accordance with part 3 of article 20 of the Federal law dated 18.07.2006 #109-FZ it needs to put data on foreign citizens registration at the place of stay, that is their legal address.
Point 8 of Art. 13 of the Law #115-FZ establishes the obligation of the employer to notify territorial authority in the field of migration on the conclusion and the termination of the employment contract with the foreign citizen.
Besides, concerning foreign citizens-highly qualified specialists it is necessary to notify on the actual salary payment – quarterly, no later than the last working day of the month following the reporting quarter (p. 13 of Art. 13.2 of the Law # 115-FZ);
The next important issue is the amount of personal income tax and contributions to the funds for foreign employees.
| Foreign citizen | PFR | FOMI | FSS |
| Temporarily staying | 22% | — | 1,8% |
| Temporarily residing | 22% | 5,1% | 2,9% |
| Permanently residing | 22% | 5,1% | 2,9% |
Foreign citizen – a highly skilled specialist who are temporarily staying in territory of the Russian Federation is exempted from paying contributions to the funds, with the exception of the contribution of FS to the insurance against accidents in the workplace.
If a highly qualified specialist has a temporary residence permit or a residence permit in the Russian Federation, the contributions to the funds will be 22% in the PFR and 2.9% in the FSS.