Skilled Workers Eyeing Russia Face a Far Higher Salary Bar From March

Skilled foreign professionals in Russia face a steep new salary requirement from March. The minimum monthly pay needed for the Highly Qualified Specialist (HQS) work status rises from 250,000 rubles to about 717,000 rubles, nearly tripling the current level, a change that is forcing employers to decide whether to raise pay, switch staff to other permits or bring them home.

Key facts

• From March, the HQS minimum monthly salary rises from 250,000 rubles to around 717,000 rubles
• The new figure equals roughly $8,685 a month, against about $3,030 today
• Applies to the Highly Qualified Specialist (HQS) work status for skilled foreign professionals
• The bill passed Russia's parliament in July and President Vladimir Putin signed it that month
• Rules were first due in September but were delayed after business groups complained of tight preparation time

What is changing?

The Highly Qualified Specialist scheme is a work status Russia introduced in 2010 to draw foreign companies and investment. It offers perks such as lower tax and social security contributions, three-year work visas and favourable terms for bringing family members to Russia.

From March, employees need a salary of about 717,000 rubles a month — described as around ¥1.4 million — to qualify. The source notes several aims behind the change: pushing companies to lift HQS pay to boost personal income tax revenue, cutting the number of workers who get preferential tax treatment, and curbing an inflow of low-skilled foreign labour.

When do the new rules start?

The requirements were initially scheduled to begin in September. Russian business associations, along with bodies representing European and American companies in the country, asked for a review on the grounds that firms lacked time to prepare. The start was pushed back to March.

What are the options for employers and staff?

Employers with HQS staff can raise salaries to meet the new threshold, end the employment, or move workers onto ordinary work permits. Those permits carry drawbacks: the application process is far more complex than the HQS route, eligibility is not mainly based on salary, they are valid for only one year, and applicants must pass exams in the Russian language, history and law. Each federal constituent entity also sets quotas for foreign workers, so approval is not guaranteed.

What this means for travellers

Foreign professionals already in Russia on HQS status, and anyone planning to work there, need to check whether their salary reaches the new level before March. Reported workarounds among Japanese firms include transferring leases for company housing into the employee's name and adding the housing allowance to salary to clear the threshold. One company looked at channelling more than the required amount through an employee's account each month and having the surplus returned, but dropped the idea over possible problems if Russian authorities found out and internal accounting concerns.

Some firms are moving expatriates to ordinary work permits or have already told staff they will return to Japan, while others are weighing whether to stay in Russia at all. One expatriate noted that he cleared the threshold with housing and family-related allowances, but a younger, single successor without such allowances might not.

The number of Japanese nationals living in Russia stood at about 2,700 in 2015 and fell to roughly 900 by 2025, reflecting company withdrawals and scaled-back operations after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.