Foreign Citizen under the General Procedure

Residence Permit for a Foreign Citizen under the General Procedure

Attention!
Since November 5, 2025, Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 821 of 05.11.2025 “On the Temporary Procedure for Admission to Citizenship of the Russian Federation and Issuance of a Residence Permit in the Russian Federation”* has been in force.

A residence permit (hereinafter referred to as the “RP”) may be issued to a foreign citizen who has resided in the Russian Federation for at least one year on the basis of a temporary residence permit (hereinafter referred to as the “TRP”), as well as to a foreign citizen who has received a temporary residence permit for the purpose of education (hereinafter referred to as the “TRPE”), after completing studies at a state educational or state scientific organization in accredited bachelor’s, specialist, master’s, residency, assistantship-internship, or postgraduate (adjunct) programs for training scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel.

A foreign citizen becomes eligible to submit documents for an RP after eight months have elapsed from the date of receiving a TRP, regardless of the grounds on which it was obtained. If a foreign national plans to submit an application later, it must be done no later than four months before the expiry of their temporary residence permit.

Practical example: 

A citizen of a country unfriendly to Russia received a TRP under Presidential Decree No. 702, and eight months have passed since it was received. In this case, they are entitled to apply for a residence permit under the general procedure. Since the application for an RP takes four months to process, the document will be received just as one year of residence in the Russian Federation on the basis of the TRP is completed.

A foreign citizen who has received a TRPE and completed their studies in the Russian Federation is entitled to apply for an RP without first obtaining a temporary residence permit. This right remains valid for three years from the date of completion of studies.

Practical example: 

A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic who enrolled in a Russian university’s master’s program and received a TRPE is entitled, after completing their studies, to apply for a residence permit in Russia within three years.

Document submission procedure: To obtain a residence permit on the basis of paragraph 1 and paragraph 1.1 of Article 8 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25.07.2002 “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation”, a foreign citizen must apply to the territorial office of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation where their temporary residence permit was issued.

*Under Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 821 of 05.11.2025 “On the Temporary Procedure for Admission to Citizenship of the Russian Federation and Issuance of a Residence Permit in the Russian Federation”, legally capable male foreign citizens and stateless persons aged 18 to 65 applying for a residence permit in the Russian Federation on the grounds specified in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 25.07.2002 may do so only if one of the following conditions is met:

a) entering into a contract for military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or the rescue military formations of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for a period of at least one year;

b) dismissal from military service on the grounds provided for in subparagraphs “a”–“г” of paragraph 1 of Article 51 of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of 28.03.1998 “On Military Duty and Military Service”;

c) being declared unfit for military service upon entering military service under contract.
 

This requirement does not apply to citizens of the Republic of Belarus.

Document package
The current list of required documents can be downloaded here