Interior Ministry approves new regulation for work permits for foreigners: up to 79 days, in force in 90 days

On 21 September 2026 the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia published Order No. 343 of 29.05.2026 approving a new Administrative Regulation for issuing permits to hire and use foreign workers, as well as work permits for foreign citizens and stateless persons. The order was registered by the Ministry of Justice on 18.09.2026 under No. 88330 and enters into force 90 days after the day of its official publication.

What has changed

The previous regulation, approved by Interior Ministry Order No. 541 of 01.08.2020, and its amendments of 02.03.2021 No. 99 are repealed. The new document describes the whole range of services in one procedure: issuing a permit to an employer to hire foreign workers, issuing and extending a work permit for a foreigner, amending the recorded details, issuing duplicates and cancelling permits. All results are issued on paper at the Migration Centre of the Interior Ministry and at migration units.

Terms and fee

• Maximum service term is 79 calendar days from the day the application and documents are registered, including those filed through the Unified Portal of State Services (Gosuslugi).
• An application filed by post or through the Unified Portal is registered within 1 working day.
• The state fee is paid in the amounts set by article 333.28 of the Tax Code, by bank transfer to the account details. For issuing permits and duplicates it is paid before the document is issued; for amending details it is paid before filing the application, and for electronic filing after filing but before the application is accepted for consideration.
• The applicant is notified of a change in the application status through the personal account on the Unified Portal, regardless of how the application was filed.

Who is affected

Employers hiring foreigners on a visa and the visa-holding foreign workers themselves: for them the work permit remains a mandatory document. Citizens of EAEU countries and foreigners working under a patent are not covered by this regulation.

What to do

• If you plan to file at the end of the year, keep in mind the date the regulation enters into force: 90 days after official publication on 21.09.2026.
• Check the set of documents against the new regulation in advance and prepare translations: documents in a foreign language are filed with a notarised translation into Russian.
• Pay the fee strictly to the unit's account details and at the right moment: before the document is issued or before filing, depending on the service.
• File through the Unified Portal if you want to track the status in your personal account.

What translations you will need

A work permit requires a notarised translation of the foreign citizen's passport; amending details requires a translation of the new passport or other documents where the details have changed. An employer applying for a permit to hire workers may need translations of the foreign company's constituent documents.

Send your documents to Stylus: we will translate the passport and other papers into Russian and have them certified by the notary in the next office, so you can file with the migration unit without returns.