The Russian language exam for migrants seeking work permits or residency in Russia is set to become more challenging, with tougher questions in the listening and speaking sections. Rosobrnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science) has also introduced mandatory minimum scores for these parts. However, for migrants brought to Russia by employers under a government quota from visa-required countries, the language exam may be abolished entirely.
The government submitted a bill to the State Duma on May 31st proposing to cancel the language and history exam for migrants arriving through group recruitment. This topic was raised by Alexander Kalinin, head of «Opora Russia» (Support of Russia), at a recent Sberbank business breakfast during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). He provided an example of a company in the Far East that brought a group of Vietnamese workers to Sakhalin. They failed the exam, forcing the company to pay for their repatriation at its own expense, despite local bricklayers demanding salaries of 300,000 rubles.
Business FM managed to contact the head of this company. Yuri Dyakov, head of «Yuvest Company,» told the editorial team that in addition to covering hotel accommodation for the Vietnamese workers while they prepared for and took the exam, the company also had to pay for the exam itself, translators, and other related costs. He pointed out that the language is not particularly necessary for their work on the construction site, as they live in centralized housing near the construction site.
We faced a situation where about 90% fail [the exam]. Why? Because there are no Vietnamese translators; they don`t even understand what is expected of them. They were invited to Sakhalin State University for these exams, sat at a computer, and told: answer these 120 questions.
— Yuri Dyakov, head of «Yuvest Company»
The questions included topics such as the Battle of Kulikovo and the Battle of Borodino. Without translators, the Vietnamese workers did not even understand what the examiners and teachers preparing them for the test wanted. The same issues apply to workers from North Korea and China. The interviewee from Business FM stated he would gladly hire citizens from CIS countries, but firstly, they are not coming to the Far East, and secondly, those who do come tend to work in delivery services. The businessman is eagerly awaiting the adoption of the bill.
Since the initiative comes from the government, Yaroslav Nilov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy, and Veterans Affairs, is confident in its adoption. «People come to us, for example, from India, Sri Lanka, Korea, and other countries on work visas. For this category, which constitutes a very small number compared to the total number of foreigners coming here, it is proposed to improve the mechanism, as this will contribute to building migration based on the `on demand` principle, which is necessary for establishing migration order,» Nilov commented.
The quota under which Russian businesses can recruit labor from visa-required countries was slightly less than 160,000 people in 2024. According to Alexander Kalinin, head of «Opora Russia,» this law will not solve the overarching issue of the shortage of labor migrants.
According to a Ministry of Labor study, Russia`s labor market currently lacks a million people, and there`s nowhere to get them except from abroad. Furthermore, there`s a forecast that by 2030, the shortage will reach up to 2 million. Moreover, at the Sberbank session, German Oskarovich [Gref] showed statistics: we used to have 6 million foreign workers, now it`s less than 4 million. That is, 2 million left after changes in the legislation on the status of foreign citizens. We are not talking about an influx; we are talking about restoring the situation that existed.
— Alexander Kalinin, president of «Opora Russia»
Nevertheless, «Opora Russia» supports the adoption of this law. However, they also support the requirement for migrants who come to Russia with work permits and enter the open market to pass a language exam and know and comply with Russian laws.
