Your legal status in Russia, from arrival to graduation

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Migration rules changed a lot in 2024 to 2026. Before you act, check with your international office, an official source or a qualified lawyer.

Your status, step by step

1. Invitation. Your university applies to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) for your study invitation. The standard processing time is 20 working days.
2. Visa. With the invitation, you apply at a Russian consulate. Among other documents, you need an HIV-negative certificate and a passport valid for at least 18 months. Your first visa is an ordinary study visa: single entry, valid for up to 90 days. Our Visas and travel guide gives the details.
3. Migration card. You receive it when you enter Russia. Keep it with your passport: you need it for registration and for your visa extension. The government is discussing replacing it with registration through Gosuslugi, but this is not law yet.
4. Registration. You must be registered within 7 working days of arrival. In a dormitory, the international office does it, so go there on the first working day after you arrive. In a private flat, the landlord files it, or you can both do it through Gosuslugi. A hotel registers you itself.
5. Yearly visa extension. After you arrive, the MVD extends your visa at your university’s request, as a multiple-entry visa for up to 1 year. It is renewed every year until your full-time studies end. Universities usually ask for your documents 30 to 45 days before your visa expires, and they only extend it if your health insurance is valid. After the extension, your registration is extended up to the end of your studies.
6. Option: temporary residence permit for education. Full-time students at state institutions can apply for this permit instead. It lasts for your program plus 180 days. Ask your international office whether it suits you. It can also matter after graduation.

Medical examination and fingerprinting

Medical examination. Since 1 September 2026, every foreigner staying more than 90 days, students included, must have a medical examination within 30 calendar days of entry, and then every year. It checks for drug use, dangerous infectious diseases and HIV. You can only do it at clinics approved in your region, and the results go electronically to the MVD and to the health authorities. Missing it can lead to a fine and possible expulsion.

Fingerprinting and photo. These are done once. By law, for stays of more than 90 days that are not for work, the deadline is 90 days after entry. But fingerprinting is done after your medical results, so universities tell students to finish both procedures within 30 days.

Some people are exempt: citizens of Belarus, children under 6 (for fingerprinting), and holders of a temporary or permanent residence permit.

The registry of controlled persons

Since 5 February 2025, the MVD keeps a list of foreigners who, in its view, have no legal grounds to stay in Russia. People on this list face strong limits. Their bank cards can only be used for taxes, fines and utility bills, and the cash they can take out each month is capped. They cannot buy property or a car, cannot marry, and cannot move to another region without MVD approval.

Students with a valid status have sometimes been added by mistake, for example when their registration did not appear in MVD systems. If a bank suddenly blocks your card, or an office refuses you a service, this could be the reason.

What to do:

1. Check your status online through the official MVD service. Your international office can show you how.
2. If you are on the list by mistake, go to your international office straight away with your passport, visa, migration card and proof of registration.
3. Ask the MVD in writing to remove you, through official channels, and keep copies of everything you send.

Never pay anyone who promises to “remove” you quickly. Only the MVD can do it.

Staying after graduation

• 30 extra days. Your stay can be extended for up to 30 days after graduation. If you hold a temporary residence permit for education, it stays valid for 180 days after the end of your program.
• Work. To work after graduation, you need an ordinary work permit, or highly qualified specialist status. That status requires a minimum salary set by law, with lower thresholds in some fields such as research, teaching and accredited IT companies.
• Permanent residence. The law allows some graduates to apply for permanent residence without holding a temporary residence permit first:
  • honours graduates of full-time, state-accredited higher education in Russia;
  • graduates who held a temporary residence permit for education, if they apply within 3 years of graduating;
  • people who have worked continuously for 1 year in a qualified profession on the Government’s list.
• Temporary residence without a quota. After graduation, this route is open only to citizens of former USSR states.

How these routes work in practice can vary. Ask the MVD or a qualified lawyer before you apply.

Changes due in 2027

Several rules described here are due to change. We have not seen the new texts, so we do not guess what they will say.

• January 2027: parts of the rules on foreign workers, including the employer’s duty to notify the MVD, and the permanent residence route after one year of qualified work.
• March 2027: the salary thresholds for highly qualified specialists.

If your plans fall in 2027, check the current rules with your international office before you act. Our Work guide covers the student work rules.

Your next step

Keep your documents together and note every deadline in your calendar. If you are unsure about your own situation, tell us through the Start Your Journey form. We reply by email in your language. We cannot give legal advice, but we can help you find the right official source.