Immigration to Russia

On the Runet’s open spaces (and on this resource in particular) one can find countless stories about the immigration of Russians (and other people from the CIS) to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa or America. However, those who are not very lucky with the place of birth have to choose a different path. There are legends that for emigration to more developed countries you need to have a certain budget, unless you emigrate to study or contract with an employer (and even then, it’s not very prudent to go with empty pockets).

From where

From Moldova (well, or Moldova). A small country, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, the population of 3.5 million people (according to official data, as it is in fact - unknown), living mainly in rural areas. The capital is Chisinau, the largest city in the country with a population of just over 800,000 people. The average salary in the country is about 16,000 rubles , you can live, but depending on where. The Internet in cities is developed and relatively cheap, in rural areas and the private sector, most often, you can only rely on sickly ADSL for expensive. The colorfulness of the local population is impressive - here you are Russians, Moldovans, Romanians (either real Romanians or Romanians-Moldovans), Ukrainians, Gagauz and many others. Politically, the country is far from stable - the frozen conflict in the east of the country , the political views of the local population are diametrically opposed in almost equal proportions (one for the CIS and the Customs Union, the second for the EU and European integration). For a long time Communists were in power, who in 2009 were pushed by liberal-democratic parties that allegedly set a course for European integration. Local residents are dissatisfied with both the Communists and the corrupt Liberal Democrats. Social services are poorly developed and often in the news one can find egregious cases of corruption, leading to horrific consequences , or inhuman negligence . No, everything is not as bad as it may seem at first glance - I am sure that materials of this kind can be found about any place on the planet. In fact, this is all that can be interesting to tell about the country of departure.

Where?

Russia. I think she does not need a submission for the local public. The choice fell on it for three reasons - the lack of a language barrier (like many of my fellow citizens, I speak both Moldovan (or Romanian) and Russian equally), the budget (my income on freelance as a whole allowed me to count on a normal existence in the place where I am going) and personal circumstances. Russia is understandable, but where exactly? - Russia is huge. By will, not by will, to Barnaul, the regional capital of the Altai Territory. The city is located in the south-west of Siberia, the population is just over 600,000 people. I found out about the prices already upon arrival, and in general the prices are almost comparable to those in the capital of Moldova, but more on that later.
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And what are your impressions?

I've seen better, I could say, because I had the experience of a long stay in other countries, with a more developed infrastructure, and so on. However, on the whole, personal impressions were positive - right after arrival (it was September of the year before last) I was met by the harsh Siberian autumn, with snow and a gale. The winters are much colder here than in my homeland, the summer is relatively milder (as long as the air temperature in Moldova over the summer can only rarely fall below 30-32 degrees). Being more susceptible to moderate summertime, coolness and rain, I immediately liked the climate. The local population did not cause any emotions - less dark-skinned, but about the same people as in their homeland. The architecture (with the exception of the numerous buildings of the past centuries, of course, impressive) of the city is about the same as in the capital of Moldova. In general, I didn’t have to go through the period of accommodation and integration - as if I didn’t go abroad at all, I just moved from one city to another.

And what is a foreigner?

I have not seen any cases of xenophobia. Since I am fluent in Russian language and appearance is not much different from the local population, I did not catch the views of passersby at all. The rare moments when I had to show my passport to a foreign citizen (most often at the checkout, when buying something such) did not cause any emotions to the inspector (unless they were looking for a long time, where to see the date of birth). Just want to note the development of the banking sector compared with Moldova - the range of services is much more extensive, there are also more banks. It should be noted that unlike the banks of Moldova in Russia, it is extremely difficult to transfer money abroad - if in the application of my Moldovan bank I can indicate the card number of any bank in the world and the transfer will be executed immediately, in the banks of the Russian Federation (at least in Tinkoff and Sberbank ) alternative - bank transfer. The infrastructure is better developed, the medicine is about the same (unless the choice of paid clinics is much more). I did not encounter cases of bribes (obvious) or any corruption, but there were some unpleasant moments, such as the refusal to provide medical care in a critical condition (the reason for which was the lack of OMS, although emergency assistance must be provided without it) passing queues here and there.

I would like to tell you separately about the shrine of all immigrants in Russia - the FMS. Extremely unpleasant place with huge queues and always-non-working windows. To obtain a temporary residence permit (RWP), I had to pass a test for 5,000 rubles for knowledge of Russian, history and legislation of the Russian Federation (the test can be mastered with ten preliminary Google minutes), a medical certificate (a typical detour of a heap of doctors who made a diagnosis depending on the answer to the question of “healthy?” and passing an HIV test) and pay another 5,000 rubles not to stand at 6 in the morning under the windows of the FMS in the hope that the only ticket they can issue per day will go to dozens of other immigrants, namely you. With the RVP, the rights of an immigrant are almost equal to the rights of Russian citizens (with the exception of elections, of course) - now you can qualify for a health insurance policy, have equal employment opportunities, etc.

With work here (in Barnaul) is about the same as at home - they pay a little, they want a lot. A PHP developer can rely on a royal 25,000 rubles a month (in an envelope, of course), which, when renting an odnushki at 10,000, looks extremely unattractive. However, the employer's citizenship is not interested in any way - he will have to pay for a foreigner just as for a citizen, there is no difference. Personally, I have chosen the path of freelancing for myself, since it gives more free time, and a much more plausible amount comes out a month, working at a comfortable pace.

There was a short experience in a web-studio (just for the sake of interest, because there is a legend that you can get more experience this way than freelancing and self-study). I did not learn anything new and interesting - the studio turned out to be a typical punching machine of the sites - it was taken not by quality, but rather by quantity, using little known CMS. It was my only experience in the office, after which my desire to join plankton disappeared from me. This does not mean at all that I consider any office work to be bad - I am sure that by working in any Yandex or in a progressive development team, one can gain experience with three buckets and a good career to make. However, to qualify for work in such structures, you need to know something and be able to do something. It is possible that sooner or later I will take up deep self-study and pull up my knowledge to a sufficient level so that it is possible to go without shame to the “high society”.

Separately, it should be borne in mind that migrants must confirm annually their residence in the territory of the Russian Federation for more than six months (otherwise, RAH or a residence permit may be canceled) as well as income. If there is a formal employment, every year after receiving the relevant document, you will need to take a 2-NDFL certificate from the employer, in the absence of official work, you should issue an IP or pay 3-NDFL taxes. The annual income should be at least 12 living wages (for the Altai Territory in October 2016 it was about 105k rubles, in other regions its price tags). It is necessary to take care of this issue in advance, otherwise a lot of nerves can be spent running between the FMS and the tax.

And what is the result?

In general, moving to Russia makes sense if you are dissatisfied with your current residence and there is no capital / opportunity to move to economically developed countries. I do not exclude that in immigrant cities there will be much more opportunities for an immigrant to get money and other benefits (alas, I didn’t have any desire to move to Moscow or even the same Novosibirsk, I can hardly tolerate a large concentration of people per square meter). I deliberately did not touch on the issue of politics in the Russian Federation, since I do not consider this country as a place of long-term residence and I see no point in discussing something that I cannot influence in any way. In general, Russia should not seem unusual to a CIS migrant - the general cultural background and the homogeneity of societies in the post-Soviet space will not give a foreign feeling, and in the absence of a language barrier, there will be no border crossing.

The post was written partly in order to dilute the chain of monotonous stories about moving from Russia to third countries, partly from the desire to show residents of the Russian Federation the vision of their country in the eyes of visitors. I do not pretend to absolute truth and total objectivity - I am sure that every migrant will have his own unique experience of acquaintance with this country, but the general trend should be traced, in my opinion.