Number of work permits for foreigners in Tatarstan falls 3-fold

Number of work permits for foreigners in Tatarstan falls 3-fold
Photo: realnoevremya.ru/Maksim Platonov

As Realnoe Vremya found out, the difficult 2022 year, when difficulties arose with the movement and transfer of funds abroad after the start of the special military operation, turned into a decrease in the inflow of foreign labour for the labour market of Tatarstan and other regions. The situation turned out to be worse than in 2021, when the consequences of the coronavirus restrictions of 2020 were still affecting. In Tatarstan, the issuance of work permits to foreign citizens and stateless persons has collapsed 3 times, while in a number of other regions of the Volga Federal District, including neighbouring Chuvashia, the influx of labour from abroad has increased. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.

197 times more than in Ulyanovsk Oblast

In 2022, 1,578 work permits were issued to foreign citizens and stateless persons in Tatarstan. This is the largest indicator among the regions of the Volga Federal District and almost half of the total number of work permits issued in 14 of its regions.

For comparison, in Ulyanovsk Oblast, such documents were issued 197 times less last year than in Tatarstan — eight. This is the smallest number among the regions included in the Volga Federal District. Nine work permits in January-December 2022 were issued in Mari El.

Photo: realnoevremya.ru/Maksim Platonov

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is the second in the Volga Federal District in terms of the number of work permits issued during the year — 807. Samara Region (507) is the third, Bashkiria (300) is the fourth, and Perm Krai rounds out the top 5, where 231 work permits were issued.

Of the 1,578 work permits issued in Tatarstan in 2022, 67%, or 1,053, were issued to highly qualified specialists. Another 74 documents were received by just qualified specialists.

In terms of the number of work permits issued to highly qualified specialists, Tatarstan is among the leaders among the regions of the Volga Federal District. The situation of the republic looks different in terms of the number of documents issued for skilled workers — fifth place after Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (184), Samara Oblast (164), Bashkiria (96) and Kirov Oblast (79). At the same time, there are regions in the Volga Region in which no work permits were issued to qualified specialists in 2022 — these are Ulyanovsk Oblast and Orenburg Oblast, it follows from the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Photo: realnoevremya.ru/Rinat Nazmetdinov

At the end of 2022, out of almost 1,6 thousand work permits, only a little more than half were valid — 824. For comparison, in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast by the beginning of 2023, 1,161 such documents had not lost their force, and in Ulyanovsk Oblast and Mari El — 8 each.

In 2021, 5k work permits were issued

Compared to 2021, the number of work permits issued to foreigners and stateless persons has decreased threefold. Then 5 thousand such documents were issued in the republic, which, as in 2022, was the largest indicator among the regions of the Volga Federal District.

The number of work permits issued to highly qualified specialists in Tatarstan fell 4,5 times last year compared to the previous one — from 4,781 to 1,053. At the same time, such document was issued to qualified workers more often — if 45 of them were issued in 2021, then 29 more in 2022.

More noticeably than in Tatarstan, the issuance of work permits in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast has decreased by four times. In January-December 2021, 3,2 thousand such documents were issued in the region, and last year only 803.

Photo: realnoevremya.ru/Maksim Platonov

It is worth noting that the issuance of work permits in 2022 has not decreased in all regions. For example, in the Volga Federal District, it has grown 1,2 times in Perm Krai, twice in Mordovia, and three times in Chuvashia. In Kirov Oblast, nine more permits were issued last year than in 2021, and in Penza Oblast, the indicator remained stable — 107 documents.

Tatyana Demina
Tatarstan