Russia's 2027 Income Rules for Foreign Workers: What Employers Must Check

Russian employers will face new income requirements for foreign staff from 2027. Under Federal Law No. 241-FZ of 26 July 2026, the Interior Ministry (MVD) will check whether foreign workers earn enough, and insufficient income can become grounds for refusing or cancelling work documents.

Phased rollout

From 1 October 2026, the Federal Tax Service passes the MVD data on payments to foreigners for 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of each calendar year. From 25 October 2026, the Social Fund adds information on employment. The minimum income requirements apply from 1 January 2027, and new salary thresholds for highly qualified specialists (HQS) from 1 March 2027. For patent and work permit holders, the new grounds for refusal apply to data for periods starting in 2027.

The rules cover foreigners from visa countries who need a work permit, those allowed to work without a patent or permit, including citizens of Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and HQS. Belarusian citizens and their family members are exempt from the rules taking effect on 1 March 2027 for those working without a patent or permit.

How the minimum is calculated

There is no single figure. The baseline is the regional per-capita subsistence minimum multiplied by a regional coefficient, which counts as 1 if unset or below one. It cannot exceed the region's average monthly wage. For workers in several regions, the highest subsistence minimum applies. Family members are added where the residency status requires it: a patent holder's norm covers the worker and dependent minor children in Russia.

In an illustrative example, a subsistence minimum of 20,000 rubles and a coefficient of 1.1 give 22,000 rubles per person, or 66,000 rubles for a patent holder with two dependent children. Income is measured as amounts accrued before personal income tax. One-off bonuses can distort checks: in one example, a 100,000-ruble December bonus lifts the annual average above the norm, but the 3-, 6- and 9-month averages stay below it.

New HQS thresholds

Until 1 March 2027, the HQS minimum is 750,000 rubles per quarter. After that date, Article 13.2 of Law No. 115-FZ sets 717,000 rubles per month for most HQS, and 358,500 rubles per month for preferential categories such as certain researchers and teachers, specialists at special economic zone residents, and staff of accredited IT companies.

Employers should check each worker's status, regional coefficient, dependants and payroll timing well before the first reporting periods.