You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (July 2019)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Immigration to Russia involves foreign citizens (or people without any citizenship) seeking permanent residence in the territory of the Russian Federation. Historically, Russian empire was one of the World's leading destination for immigrants starting with the reign of Peter I in ca. 1700, and especially after the ascension of Catherine II to the Russian throne in 1762, until the October Revolution in 1917. Some regions, such as Novorossiya, Slavo-Serbia, Volga Germans' territory and Bessarabia were specifically designated for resettlement of immigrants.
Immigration to Russia was relatively low during the Soviet period (1922–1991) and during early post-Soviet years (1992–2005). Russia experienced a considerable population decline during the latter period due to a decreased birthrate, lowered life expectancy and growing emigration. To combat these demographic problems, the Russian government adopted in 2006 "Program for the return of compatriots to Russia", which was made into a permanent law in 2012. [1] According to the law, "compatriots" are individuals, who are direct descendants (in either mother's or father's line) of people, who lived in the past within the current territory of Russia. [2] In February 2024, in order to expedite and to simplify the immigration process the requirement for conversational ability in Russian was waived. [3]
Due to these policy changes Russia has experienced an overall population increase starting in 2012. [4] [5] According to Rosstat [6] and United Nations, [7] the number of legal immigrants in Russia during the 2000-2015 period fluctuated between 11 and 12 mln., or ca. 8% of Russia's population. In 2020 Russia held the 4th place among countries with the largest absolute numbers of immigrants in their population after the USA, Germany and Saudi Arabia. [8] At the same time, Russia also scored high (3rd place worldwide) among countries with a high number of emigrants, after India and Mexico. [9]
The majority of recent immigrants to Russia come from the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. [10] Although the Russian government actively encourages immigration of ethnic Russians, most immigrants from the former Soviet republics in recent years were not ethnic Russians. [11]
Other statistics are an increased number of immigrants from Ukraine since 2014;[ citation needed ] by 2018 this number exceeded 2 mln. people. [12] In 2024, according to Rosstat - Russia's federal agency that compiles statistics on immigration, Russia hosted 8.5 mln. refugees from Ukraine. [13]
Both legal (according to the laws of the country) and illegal (in violation of Russian laws) immigration are widespread currently. Legal immigrants in Russia receive both grant money and repayable low-interest loans, that are issued by Rossotrudnichestvo.
The standard legal immigration status obtaining procedure consists of the following time-divided steps: obtaining a temporary residence permit; obtaining a permanent residence permit and obtaining Russian citizenship. [14] Under current law, one can receive citizenship of Russia after five years of residence and after passing an exam in Russian language, civics and history. Immigration to Russia is regulated by the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation. [15]
Anyone who works in Russia for five years and develops fluency in the Russian language can become a citizen, provided they have not committed a crime. Almost anyone who is hired by a Russian firm can stay in the country and work indefinitely [16] This reflects a policy change, in response to declining birth rates, on the part of the government of Vladimir Putin from the more restrictive policy enacted after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union. [17] The large non-Slavic immigrant populations arriving in response to Putin's liberal policy have sometimes encountered xenophobia. To counter this, pursuant to Russian hate-speech laws, the Russian state has shut down various anti-immigrant groups, such as the Movement Against Illegal Immigration.
The immigration process usually includes several steps. Firstly, it is required to establish connections with Russia in order to be eligible for temporary or permanent residency. It may be granted on the grounds of having employment, studying, having Russian relatives or ancestry, investing or purchasing a property. The next step is to apply for temporary residency (some applicants may skip this step). After one year of living as a temporary resident it is possible to apply for permanent residency. Finally, after 5 years of living as a permanent resident it is possible to apply for Russian citizenship. [18]
Native speakers of Russian-language, spouses of Russian citizens, highly qualified specialists (e.g. with PhD or MD degrees), investors and refugees are eligible for a simplified immigration procedure. Some categories of applicants may skip temporary residency and apply for citizenship after 1–3 years of living in Russia. [19]
Country | Gross immigration | Net immigration | ||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
Tajikistan | 11,043 | 4,717 | 18,188 | 47,638 | 52,676 | 63,467 | 67,929 | 89,553 | 93,333 | 126,840 | 186,560 | 171,234 | 9,885 | 4,283 | 17,494 | 11,362 | 27,288 | 34,639 | 31,028 | 48,374 | 39,424 | 96,609 | 87,264 | 81,684 |
Kyrgyzstan | 15,536 | 15,592 | 20,901 | 26,045 | 28,202 | 41,165 | 44,408 | 53,810 | 45,676 | 61,101 | 62,360 | 54,162 | 13,679 | 15,119 | 20,260 | 9,935 | 11,043 | 19,355 | 8,978 | 15,106 | 1,402 | 42,549 | −6,824 | 4,956 |
Ukraine | 74,748 | 30,760 | 27,508 | 194,810 | 178,274 | 150,182 | 137,776 | 161,351 | 143,988 | 122,669 | 148,846 | 50,929 | 39,147 | 18,120 | 21,230 | 146,131 | 118,819 | 47,691 | 14,822 | 64,245 | 52,775 | 64,669 | 27,267 | -29,618 |
Armenia | 15,951 | 7,581 | 19,890 | 45,670 | 43,929 | 46,898 | 46,442 | 71,984 | 56,511 | 70,078 | 59,533 | 48,855 | 14,432 | 6,961 | 19,192 | 20,533 | 11,993 | 13,999 | 14,358 | 35,109 | −1,836 | 45,235 | −10,706 | 11,188 |
Kazakhstan | 124,903 | 51,945 | 27,862 | 65,750 | 69,356 | 71,680 | 72,141 | 86,311 | 64,494 | 72,668 | 64,382 | 48,465 | 106,990 | 39,508 | 20,533 | 34,767 | 37,130 | 32,736 | 26,516 | 39,166 | 8,440 | 48,317 | −4,947 | 11,435 |
Uzbekistan | 40,810 | 30,436 | 24,100 | 74,242 | 60,977 | 64,073 | 55,378 | 60,796 | 50,188 | 56,808 | 54,035 | 44,536 | 37,724 | 29,841 | 23,266 | −20,668 | 19,672 | 22,167 | 6,807 | 19,129 | 4,927 | 36,009 | −8,455 | 3,639 |
Azerbaijan | 14,906 | 4,600 | 14,500 | 24,326 | 24,109 | 25,602 | 26,690 | 34,619 | 32,135 | 35,209 | 31,773 | 24,340 | 11,719 | 3,326 | 13,389 | 10,660 | 10,439 | 8,599 | 8,737 | 17,005 | 10,894 | 23,659 | −3,712 | 3,516 |
Moldova | 11,652 | 6,569 | 11,814 | 34,026 | 32,418 | 31,369 | 30,676 | 26,513 | 22,129 | 27,248 | 23,540 | 22,502 | 9,415 | 5,783 | 11,197 | 17,380 | 14,364 | 9,605 | 7,688 | 5,385 | 3,490 | 16,144 | 2,355 | 8,750 |
Turkmenistan | 6,738 | 4,104 | 2,283 | 6,539 | 7,242 | 8,734 | 10,509 | 14,632 | 12,930 | 10,449 | 12,133 | 13,345 | 6,062 | 3,979 | 2,178 | 2,320 | 2,418 | 2,873 | 2,951 | 6,198 | 778 | 7,230 | −3,702 | 4,750 |
Belarus | 10,274 | 6,797 | 4,894 | 17,741 | 14,590 | 21,282 | 19,045 | 18,428 | 14,536 | 23,120 | 18,824 | 12,496 | −3,002 | 763 | 1,995 | 4,909 | 2,127 | 11,770 | 7,191 | 6,283 | −1,403 | 15,424 | −161 | -261 |
China | 1,121 | 432 | 1,380 | 9,043 | 8,027 | 8,237 | 7,067 | 15,306 | 7,270 | 6,465 | 7,964 | 11,483 | 463 | −24 | 1,132 | −778 | −810 | 637 | −477 | 6,679 | −3,764 | 4,248 | −3,018 | 3,971 |
India | 203 | 54 | 110 | 2,894 | 4,768 | 5,622 | 5,032 | 9,588 | 4,506 | 7,132 | 8,275 | 10,868 | − | 41 | 93 | 1,282 | 1,421 | 1,437 | −185 | 4,326 | −4,779 | 5,007 | −851 | 3,051 |
Georgia * Abkhazia (disp. status) * South Ossetia (disp. status) | 20,213 – – | 5,497 – – | 5,245 814 33 | 7,038 2,267 342 | 6,511 2,261 216 | 6,809 2,357 270 | 6,345 1,975 260 | 6,925 1,429 110 | 5,764 1,217 131 | 6,506 1,190 148 | 6,002 1,262 137 | 4,602 1,074 171 | 18,411 - - | 4,806 - - | 4,786 732 23 | 3,309 1,272 -282 | 2,294 1,240 83 | 2,586 1,975 180 | 2,031 1,975 96 | 2,840 147 -4 | 1,274 30 14 | 3,838 245 87 | −196 1,134 39 | 771 343 103 |
Vietnam | 182 | 114 | 921 | 4,012 | 3,735 | 3,912 | 3,981 | 6,742 | 6,206 | 5,426 | 5,655 | 8,785 | 149 | 69 | 889 | 1,004 | 394 | 1,194 | 684 | 3,461 | 308 | 3,402 | −2,564 | 3,452 |
Total | 359,330 | 177,230 | 191,656 | 598,617 | 575,158 | 589,033 | 565,685 | 701,234 | 594,146 | 667,922 | 730,347 | 560,434 | 213,610 | 107,432 | 158,078 | 245,384 | 261,948 | 211,878 | 124,854 | 285,103 | 106,510 | 429,902 | 61,917 | 109,952 |
As of May 2022, there are 5.99 million foreigners residing in the Russian Federation (up from 5.66 million in 2021 but down from 10.13 million in 2019), with the vast majority (91%) being citizens of CIS countries. Central Asians make up the most numerous group, followed by Ukrainian citizens. Temporary migration from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan increased after a marked decline in 2020–2021. Other CIS countries have steadily demonstrated a decrease in the number of migrants. [22]
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as of November 2021, there were 5.5 million migrants in Russia. Of these, 819,600 were in the country illegally. [23] In the first quarter of 2021, 1345 migrants were deported, more than in the same period last year. The number of deported migrants increased in Russia.
Foreign residents from the CIS in Russia: [22]
Country of origin | Population (2022) | 2021–2022 change |
---|---|---|
Uzbekistan | 1,626,308 | +435,674 |
Tajikistan | 1,262,695 | +453,529 |
Kyrgyzstan | 681,165 | +58,122 |
Ukraine | 597,051 | -57,869 |
Belarus | 428,239 | -134,722 |
Armenia | 280,520 | -67,160 |
Kazakhstan | 228,142 | -35,349 |
Azerbaijan | 215,481 | -83,600 |
Moldova | 76,645 | -56,230 |
Foreign residents in Russia: [24] 2019
2021
As of the 2021 census, the population of Russia was 147.2 million. It is the most populous country in Europe, and the ninth-most populous country in the world, with a population density of 8.5 inhabitants per square kilometre. As of 2020, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth was 71.54 years.
Naturalization is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the United Nations excludes citizenship that is automatically acquired or is acquired by declaration. Naturalization usually involves an application or a motion and approval by legal authorities. The rules of naturalization vary from country to country but typically include a promise to obey and uphold that country's laws and taking and subscribing to an oath of allegiance, and may specify other requirements such as a minimum legal residency and adequate knowledge of the national dominant language or culture. To counter multiple citizenship, some countries require that applicants for naturalization renounce any other citizenship that they currently hold, but whether this renunciation actually causes loss of original citizenship, as seen by the host country and by the original country, will depend on the laws of the countries involved. Arguments for increasing naturalization include reducing backlogs in naturalization applications and reshaping the electorate of the country.
Since 1945, immigration to the United Kingdom, controlled by British immigration law and to an extent by British nationality law, has been significant, in particular from the former territories of the British Empire and the European Union.
Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although they are sometimes conflated. Countries frequently maintain laws that regulate both the rights of entry and exit as well as internal rights, such as the duration of stay, freedom of movement, and the right to participate in commerce or government.
According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the proportion represents one of the highest ratios for industrialized Western countries.
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, from poorer to richer countries. Illegal residence in another country creates the risk of detention, deportation, and other imposed sanctions.
Immigration to Türkiye is the process by which people migrate to Turkey to reside in the country. Many, but not all, become Turkish citizens. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and following Turkish War of Independence, an exodus by the large portion of Turkish (Turkic) and Muslim peoples from the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and Greece took refuge in present-day Türkiye and moulded the country's fundamental features. Trends of immigration towards Türkiye continue to this day, although the motives are more varied and are usually in line with the patterns of global immigration movements. Turkey's migrant crisis is a following period since the 2010s, characterized by high numbers of people arriving and settling in Türkiye.
Immigration to South Korea is low due to restrictive immigration policies resulting from strong opposition to immigrants from the general Korean public. However, in recent years with the loosening of the law, influx of immigrants into South Korea has been on the rise, with foreign residents accounting for 4.9% of the total population in 2019. Between 1990 and 2020, South Korea's migrant population has grown 3.896%, second highest level of growth in the world.
Immigration to Greece percentage of foreign populations in Greece is 7.1% in proportion to the total population of the country. Moreover, between 9 and 11% of the registered Greek labor force of 4.4 million are foreigners. Migrants additionally make up 25% of wage and salary earners.
International migration occurs when people cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of the time. Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their home countries in order to look for economic opportunities in another country. Others migrate to be with family members who have migrated or because of political conditions in their countries. Education is another reason for international migration, as students pursue their studies abroad, although this migration is sometimes temporary, with a return to the home country after the studies are completed.
Migration card is an identity document in the Union State of Russia and Belarus for foreign nationals. Originally they were bilingual (Russian/English), but were changed into Russian-only. The responses to the questionnaire in it may still be completed in English.
Immigration to Europe has a long history, but increased substantially after World War II. Western European countries, especially, saw high growth in immigration post 1945, and many European nations today have sizeable immigrant populations, both of European and non-European origin. In contemporary globalization, migrations to Europe have accelerated in speed and scale. Over the last decades, there has been an increase in negative attitudes towards immigration, and many studies have emphasized marked differences in the strength of anti-immigrant attitudes among European countries.
An open border is a border that enables free movement of people between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking substantive border control. A border may be an open border due to intentional legislation allowing free movement of people across the border, or a border may be an open border due to a lack of legal controls, a lack of adequate enforcement or adequate supervision of the border. An example of the former is the Schengen Agreement between most members of the European Economic Area. An example of the latter has been the border between Bangladesh and India, which is becoming controlled. The term "open borders" applies only to the flow of people, not the flow of goods and services, and only to borders between political jurisdictions, not to mere boundaries of privately owned property.
The State Migration Service of Azerbaijan Republic is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulation of activities the sphere of migration taking in consideration issues of national security and stable social-economic and demographic development in Azerbaijan Republic. The committee is headed by Vusal Huseynov.
Azerbaijan though not a popular destination for immigrants, has recently experienced waves of immigration with the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially from ethnic Azerbaijanis mostly from Armenia, Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. Meskhetian Turks were also relocated to Azerbaijan from Central Asia before and after the end of the Soviet Union. With the booming petroleum industry, immigration from Turkey has also followed. In 2010, every eighth resident in Azerbaijan was a migrant, of whom more than 90% of them are Azerbaijanis and 70% are internally displaced persons from the territories occupied by Armenia.
Illegal immigration to Russia has been ongoing.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, the number of foreign residents in Japan has steadily increased in the post Second World War period, and the number of foreign residents was more than 2.76 million at the end of 2022. Being a country with a total estimated population of 125.57 million in 2020, the resident foreign population in Japan amounts to approximately 2.29% of the total population.
In Azerbaijan, migration policy is handled by the State Migration Service, and appropriate departments of Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population, Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of İnternal Affairs, State Border Service, State Committee of Republic of Azerbaijan for Refugees and IDPs and State Security Service. Migration Code, Law on Citizenship, Law on Immigration are the foundations of migration policy in Azerbaijan. An independent migration office - State Migration Service was established on March 19, 2007 to regulate fast-paced migrant and prepare comprehensive and efficient migration policies.
Federal policy oversees and regulates immigration to the United States and citizenship of the United States. The United States Congress has authority over immigration policy in the United States, and it delegates enforcement to the Department of Homeland Security. Historically, the United States went through a period of loose immigration policy in the early-19th century followed by a period of strict immigration policy in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Policy areas related to the immigration process include visa policy, asylum policy, and naturalization policy. Policy areas related to illegal immigration include deferral policy and removal policy.
The 2021 Russian census was the first census of the Russian Federation population since 2010 and the third after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It took place between October 15 and November 14. However, for the remote and inaccessible areas of Russia, the census took place between April 1 and December 20.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty |title=
(help); Missing or empty |url=
(help){{cite web}}
: Missing or empty |title=
(help); Missing or empty |url=
(help)