As of 1 March 2027, a new minimum salary (or remuneration) amount is established for highly qualified specialists (hereinafter referred to as "HQS"), which will amount to 717,000 rubles per calendar month.
For certain categories of HQS, the minimum salary amount will be 358,000 rubles per calendar month:
- Scientists and university teachers;
- Specialists engaged in labor activity by residents of industrial, tourist, recreational, and special economic zones, the "Sirius" federal territory, and the "Skolkovo" project;
- Medics, university teachers, and research workers invited to engage in the respective activity within the territory of the international medical cluster;
- Specialists engaged to work by organizations operating in the territories of Crimea and Sevastopol.
In addition to increasing the salary amount, the amendments to Federal Law No. 115-FZ "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation" provide for an annual indexation of this amount based on the growth rate of the average monthly accrued salary of organization employees for the previous year, the coefficient of which is determined by the Ministry of Labor of Russia.
The law also provides employers with a smooth transition to the new rules. Thus, employers can change the status of their HQS employees by issuing a work permit for them under a different status (for one year on a quota basis or for a non-quota position) without the need to leave the country, provided that the HQS status was acquired before 1 March 2027.
However, it should be noted that in practice, the process of issuing a work permit based on a quota or a non-quota position can take a long time (4-6 months or more). Therefore, we recommend setting up internal company processes in advance to ensure compliance with the new migration legislation requirements within the established timeframes.
To strengthen control over actual payments to HQS (as well as regarding the income of all foreign workers), the tax authority will now transfer information on the amounts of such income to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The absence of information received via interdepartmental electronic communication grants the Ministry of Internal Affairs the right to cancel the current work permit or refuse to issue a new one (upon renewal).
Please also note that by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 290 dated 12 May 2026, new forms of notifications on the conclusion/termination of employment contracts with foreign employees, as well as on the payment of salaries to HQS, are introduced starting from 1 September 2026.
