By Murad Rakhimov | 2025-10-29

Russia is running out of workers -- yet President Vladimir Putin is weighing a decision that could drive even more away: abolishing the work permits that keep millions of migrant laborers on the job.

"We need to think about abolishing the permit system for migrants. It is used widely. I'm not ruling anything out. I will ask you and your colleagues to work on this," Putin said on September 18 at a meeting with the heads of the parliamentary factions in the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Sergey Mironov, head of the A Just Russia–For Truth party, had earlier proposed tighter restrictions on foreign workers and their families.

"Without any permits, without relatives or kinspeople. No benefits, no citizenship, no spots in schools or kindergartens. It's a simple principle: I came, I worked for a while, I said goodbye," he suggested in August.

Mironov said he hoped lawmakers would pass a bill along those lines during the Duma's fall session, which runs from September 2 through December 30.

Permission to work

Russia's migrant work permit system, in its current form since 2015, allows foreigners from visa-free countries to work legally in the country. Exceptions include citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan -- members of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union -- as well as foreigners with residence status, refugees and participants in the government's "compatriots" resettlement program.

The permit, once meant for individuals hiring foreign workers, now costs 1,200 RUB (about $15) a month before regional adjustments. As of January 1, 2025, a federal "deflator" coefficient raises that base to 2,594 RUB (about $33). Fees vary by region, from about 6,000 rubles ($73) in Saint Petersburg to 8,900 ($109) in Moscow and up to $184 in Tver and Chelyabinsk regions, according to government data.

To qualify, migrants must pass medical checks for HIV, tuberculosis and drug use and complete an exam on the Russian language, history and basic law that costs up to 3,000 RUB ($37).

Test questions include when the Battle of Kulikovo occurred and who decides if a woman takes her husband's last name after marriage. Officials argue the test is meant to help immigrants adapt to life in Russia, interact with locals and manage common day-to-day situations.

Russia for... the far right

Migrants in Russia say life is anything but comfortable. Tensions have worsened since the March 2024 terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, which authorities blamed on Tajik nationals. For many Russians hostile to migrants, it makes little difference whether the accused are from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.

The Kremlin's stance on migration contradicts its economic reality. Despite an acute labor shortage fueled by the war in Ukraine, senior officials continue to amplify anti-migrant rhetoric.

Lawmakers such as Mironov claim most of Russia's 6.5 million migrants are dependents who "take advantage of our social infrastructure," including hospitals and schools.

In September, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin echoed the slogan "I came, I worked for a while, I left," opposing the presence of migrants' families.

Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said Russia "doesn't need families here" and shouldn't educate noncitizens.

Even as the government courts workers from new countries such as India, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey and the Philippines, most of these recruits don't speak Russian, unlike migrants from Central Asia, the former Soviet republics that have long supplied Russia's labor force.

Meanwhile, anti-migrant sentiment continues to spread.

In September, police in the Krasnoyarsk region shut down a concert by Uzbek singer Jaloliddin Ahmadaliyev, detaining 26 attendees after checking documents.

Far-right groups such as the Russian Community and Northern Man have also grown more visible, staging raids with security forces and backing the Kremlin's nationalist agenda.

The Russian Community, founded in 2020, now calls itself the country's largest far-right movement, promoting "traditional values" and opposing migrants, abortion and LGBT rights.

As these movements expand, reports of racist attacks and xenophobic incidents are rising across Russia.

No changes without regime change

Alisher Ilkhamov, director of the London-based group Central Asia Due Diligence, told Kontur that the rise in anti-migrant sentiment is a global trend that far-right movements are exploiting for political gain.

Russia, he said, is no exception. Ilkhamov described the government's ideology as leaning toward the far right, noting that these views underpin both the Kremlin’s militarism and its support base for the war in Ukraine.

He said pro-war "Z-bloggers" and nationalist politicians such as Mironov reflect this trend, adding that Mironov's idea of replacing work permits with a "rotating" labor system lacks clarity or practical detail.

Despite pressure from hardliners, Ilkhamov noted that business leaders, facing severe worker shortages, have pushed the government to ease some requirements for migrant permits, including simplifying exams.

"We still need to see how the Putin regime will solve both problems. It's possible that some formal measures will be adopted but that the status quo will actually be maintained, meaning that the existing state of affairs won't change," Ilkhamov said.

Adil Turdukulov, a Kyrgyz journalist who writes about migrant labor, said his country joined the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union with the promise of free labor movement, an assurance that is now routinely ignored.

He told Kontur that Russia's domestic policy is driven by security services, not economists, and that xenophobia is intensifying as the war drags on and the Kremlin looks for scapegoats.

"The longer the war continues, the more isolated Russia will be, and the more repression there will be against Russian nationals and migrants, who are guests of this country," Turdukulov said.

Rights activist and blogger Alexander Kim said proposed reforms to the permit system are unlikely to change the labor market. Instead, he expects the government to expand the system to more countries.

He told Kontur a balance between labor demand and xenophobic pressure is theoretically possible but lacks political support.

"On the one hand, there’s social demand from the xenophobic portion of Russian society [which is very large] to tighten policies toward migrants. On the other, migrants are continuing to go to Russia despite the openly debasing treatment they experience," Kim said.

He added that real progress will depend on labor-sending countries diversifying their destinations -- and, within Russia, on political change that allows migration laws to be rewritten.