The Russian government is ready to cut taxes, offer residence permits and abandon work permit quotas for foreign employees in an effort to attract more qualified professionals from abroad.

Will these policies help encourage a 'brain influx' to Russia? Who will agree to come to share their expertise and what will they ask in return?

On Wednesday May 12, lawmakers in the parliament's lower house adopted, in the third reading, amendments to a bill defining the legal status of foreign workers in Russia. The bill will essentially divide foreign workers into several major groups. Those arriving to work in the construction sector will have to apply to the Federal Migration Service for a work permit, as before, and the entry quota will remain in place for them. Foreign workers to be employed by individuals (such as household service staff) will have to buy a work license worth 1,000 rubles (about $30) a month. The payment will, in fact, work as an advance payment of income tax by the foreign employee.

However, the bill includes special provisions for another group, which is referred to as qualified professionals. To encourage an inflow of such professionals, primarily to the Skolkovo high-tech project, quotas will be cancelled starting from 2011. Employers will no longer have to prove to the migration authority how indispensable each of the proposed employees is or worry whether or not they will be included in the quota. Under the bill, the authority must issue a permit within 14 days. Moreover, qualified foreign professionals will receive three-year-work permits, rather than one-year ones, as is the case now. Professionals and their families will be given residence permits along with their work permits.

The bill will also create a better tax environment for professionals, as they will pay their income tax at the same flat rate as residents, 13%, rather than the current 30%.

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