Why foreigners want to immigrate to Russia

The Russian alternative to the green card and the removal of bureaucratic barriers can help residents of foreign countries move to our country.

While Western countries impose one sanction after another on Russia and present our country as the real evil empire on television and in print, more and more foreigners are moving here in search of a better life. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, Canadians, Australians, French and other foreign residents are ready to break with their past and forever connect their lives with our country but they cannot do this due to a number of bureaucratic reasons. Experts discussed what these reasons are and how to eliminate them at the press center of the Parliamentary Newspaper.

In pursuit of traditional values

In the second half of 2022, a record was registered in Russia – more than three million foreigners entered our country in just a few months. This data was shared by TASS with reference to the analytical service of the audit and consulting network FinExpertiza. The main reason for the move was labor migration, and the leaders in the influx of new residents were Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, but by no means were they alone.

«Interest in living and working in Russia is also shown by people from] Europe and America, eg. natives of Serbia, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, France, the USA, Poland, Spain, Czechia, Romania, the Netherlands, Brazil, Greece, Austria, Canada, Slovakia, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Hungary and other countries», — was noted in the study materials.

And that is not all. Quite recently, a statement from the American priest Joseph Gleason, who in 2017 moved from the States to the village of Krasnovo in the Yaroslavl region, thundered throughout the world. According to Gleason, thousands of devout Christians now living in Western countries would like to follow his example and would certainly do so if «bureaucratic difficulties» did not prevent them.

According to Maxim Grigoriev, director of the Foundation for the Study of the Problems of Democracy, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the main reason for such a stir is Russia’s strict adherence to the path of preserving and enhancing traditional spiritual and moral values.

«Now in Western countries there is a large-scale, I would even say, totalitarian attack on traditional spiritual values», — said the political scientist at the press center of the Parliamentary Newspaper. «The majority are trying to somehow adapt to this, to remain silent, so as not to be fired from work or subjected to bullying. But there are also those who are not ready to come to terms with this. This may not be the majority, but there are many, many of them. Some of them are so fed up with all this that they are ready to go to Russia – a country that protects traditional values and does not impose an ideology alien to them. Based on the abilities or personalities of these people, we can understand exactly who we need and who we don’t. If we need them they could move to Russia, take Russian citizenship and work successfully for the good of the country, just as their predecessors did under Peter I or Catherine the Great. But for this we need to resolve a number of issues, the main one is to introduce a category of emigration visa, which our embassies will issue in the country of departure to those who wish, of course, after checking our law enforcement agencies, precisely for the purpose of permanently moving to Russia».

The fact that this trend exists and is only intensifying over time was confirmed by American-born journalist Tim Kirby, who was present at the event via video link.

«Right now, young white guys living in the United States feel like they’re locked in a box», — he said. «They are constantly told that they are villains, they are enemies of the people, they have no chance. And each of them is looking for a way out. I found my way out — I returned here, to my historical homeland. And now a huge number of people write to me every day who would like to follow me».

However, according to Kirby, having an intention is not enough; you still need to implement it somehow. And foreigners often have big problems with this. Moving to Russia is a long, difficult, and not always clear path, especially in the current global circumstances.

Bureaucratic dam

The main aspect that prevents foreigners from freely coming to our country and realizing their dreams here is the extreme degree of bureaucratization that is characteristic of both our own and foreign migration processes and the departments that control them.

«In America now, taking into account our relationship with them, everything that is in one way or another connected with Russia is prohibited, stated another participant in the event, lawyer Timur Beslangurov. And, accordingly, everyone who strives here for some reason automatically falls into the zone of close attention of the authorities. For supporting Russia, as we remember, the United States even imposes sanctions, I repeat, sanctions for its own citizens! - up to and including confiscation of property. There is a corresponding order signed personally by Joe Biden».

As Beslangurov noted, in order to help such “compatriots in spirit,” Russia needs its own analogue of the American Green Card system – an official lottery in which a residence permit in the United States is drawn every year.

«Everyone has long known that in fact this is not a lottery, Beslangurov noted. This is a completely controlled process in which Americans select the people they need most, for example, outstanding scientists, technical specialists, and so on. It is my deep conviction that we need exactly the same system. This would solve a large number of problems, including the imperfection of our migration legislation, which now represents a bureaucratic dam».

However, the matter will not be limited to just a green card. Also, Chairman of the US CSOR Elena Branson drew attention to two more important aspects that prevent Americans, Canadians, and Australians from pouring into Russia in a stormy stream.

«The first of them is a mandatory certificate of no criminal history, the expert noted. Now its receipt directly depends on the intelligence services of the United States and other Western countries. They simply do not issue it to people who want to go to Russia for permanent residence. Or they give it out when it’s too late. And the second thing that needs to be changed is the quota. You cannot apply until you receive your quota. And a quota can only be obtained based on a number of criteria, some of which are simply impossible for many of those who want to move».

In general, the discussion participants agreed that now the increased interest of foreigners in Russia could be – and should be! - actively used for the purposes of the country. However, this requires the targeted correction of Russian legislation.