Respect to this man!!!

Dear all,
We would like to emphasize the critical importance of learning Russian for those who are planning to relocate or have already moved to Russia. Mastering the language is essential not only for navigating daily life but also for unlocking meaningful communication and friendships with local communities and a deeper understanding of local culture.
Additionally, please note that Russian language proficiency is legally required for obtaining permanent residency as well as enrolling in municipal schools. We therefore strongly encourage you to begin your Russian language journey as early as possible.
To support you, we are delighted to introduce our partner, RUSBERRY Russian Language School. Their professional tutors make sure language acquisition is effective, engaging and enjoyable and help you achieve fluency in a relatively short time.
The RUSBERRY school currently offers:
●Free learning materials and speaking practice
●Russian taught in any working language
●Wide choice of group courses for both children and adults
●Permanent and Temporary Residence permit exam preparation (group or individual)
●Municipal school exam preparation
●School subject tutoring for children
●Only professional Russian as a foreign language teachers
●Official contract guaranteeing customer rights

We recommend you to explore the most interesting programs and book a free online consultation with a placement test if needed: https://movingtorussia.ru/rusberry

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VCQCgUddyvE


A family from USA moved to Russia, its their story. You can turn on the video with English subnoscripts

Dear all,
We would like to emphasize the critical importance of learning Russian for those who are planning to relocate or have already moved to Russia. Mastering the language is essential not only for navigating daily life but also for unlocking meaningful communication and friendships with local communities and a deeper understanding of local culture.

Additionally, please note that Russian language proficiency is legally required for obtaining permanent residency as well as enrolling in municipal schools. We therefore strongly encourage you to begin your Russian language journey as early as possible.

In this regard, we are delighted to inform you about our partner's, RUSBERRY Russian Language School work. Their professional native tutors make sure the process of language acquisition is enjoyable and effective in order to help you achieve fluency in a relatively short time.
Some of our clients are already taking one-on-one and group classes at the RUSBERRY school, and here’s what they say:

Tanya, we are now about 1 month into the course, and I wanted to take a minute to let you know that I'm very pleased with the course so far. I like your method of teaching, the book is interesting, and the classes are engaging. Most importantly, I feel like I'm effectively learning. Since I started learning Russian, I've had a few big "reality checks" when it comes to my expectations for how quickly I can improve my Russian, and each time, when I realize it's going to take longer than I expected to reach the level where I am able to express myself freely and completely in Russian, it is discouraging. But, it helps that I can actually feel small improvements from lesson to lesson, and this is encouraging and helps to keep me motivated.
At this point, I'm very interested in starting the 18 month residency exam preparation course when this course is complete. But I also had the thought, that if there was a course similar to this one, that focused on verbs of motion, I'd be interested in that, too.

The RUSBERRY school currently offers:
●FREE online training in History and Legislation parts of residency exams
●Highly engaging grammar course
●Course to significantly improve your pronunciation
●One-on-one lessons with PhDs in teaching Russian as foreign language
●Wide choice of group courses for both children and adults
●Permanent and Temporary Residence permit exam preparation (group or individual)

We recommend you to explore the most interesting programs and BOOK FREE CONSULTATION today.

By all means you should watch this interview!! You haven’t seen anything more precise about moving to Russia than this

🇨🇦🇷🇺Farming in Russia vs the West

Arend and Anneesa from @countrysideacres say you need at least $50,000 to start a homestead in Russia. In this video, I revisit the famous Feenstra family who moved from Canada to Russia over a year ago.

What does it really cost to buy land, build a house, and start an off-grid farm in Russia compared to the U.S., Canada, or Europe? The answers might surprise you.

🎥 Click here to watch the full episode on Rumble

Friends, next week i will be traveling to a region in Russia I have never been before. A dear collegue has invited to join him at the invitation of the regional government to discuss the possibilities of relocation to this region. A separate topic will be relocation of foreign farmers to this region.

Stay tuned and follow the updates!!

Immigration Alert!! Presidential Decree # 821 on "Temporary way of foreign citizens of obtaining permanent residency and citizenship of Russia" dated 05.11.2025


Quite serious immigration amendments concern able-bodied men between the
ages of 18 and 65.

All men aged from 18 to 65 that are applying for Russian citizenship based on having a Russian child, parent or in the naturalization procedure (after
5 years of residence in Russia based on a permanent residency) should sign a
volunteer contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Moreover, all men aged from 18 to 65 that are applying for permanent residency in Russia based on residing 1 year in Russia based on temporary
residency (including those that received TRP based on the Shared value decree 702) should sign a volunteer contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Decree comes into force from 5th of November 2025



A very questionable decision if to say it gently

Please subscribe to the Russia Up Close a show created by dear friends Jozeph Shutzman and Eddie Gonzales

https://youtu.be/0KojkKotsHc?si=UcIctmWPWD0bvX8F

RUSSIA JUST LAUNCHED A TALENT RESIDENCY VISA

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 883 of December 2, 2025
"On Supporting the Resettlement of Foreign Citizens that are of Interest to Russia to the Russian Federation, and on the Specifics of Their Legal Status in the Russian Federation"

Decree allows foreign nationals that represent interest to Russia in scientific, economical, investment, industrial, educational, sports spheres, possibility to apply either for 3-year residency without immigration quota or passing the Russian language test, or directly for permanent residency

Foreign nationals can apply for a talent residency visa as of 15th of April 2026

The main takeaway is that Decree is applicable not only to citizens of non-friendly countries as the 702 Decree.

In case foreign national is recognized as representing interest to Russia due to his qualification or achievements such foreign national is exempt from 821 Decree when applying for permanent residency

http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202512020025?ysclid=miopnkcekr698235922

New 883 Presidential Decree on Talent Visa in Russia

First - it is a great initiative that shows that Russia introduces new immigration rules that are focused on bringing talent from all over the world to Russia.

The new program allows foreign nationals and their family members that
represent interest to Russia in scientific, economical, investment, industrial, educational, cultural, business, sports spheres, possibility to apply for 3-year temporary residency without immigration quota or passing
the Russian language test, or for permanent residency skipping the temporary
residency.

New program is a two-stage process, which firstly entails an application to the special to be established agency and in case a foreign national is recognized fit to the program the second stage is submission of an
application for temporary or permanent residency to the immigration authorities. The possibility of filing the application starts from 15th of
April 2026

The decision of the agency that grants the status to the foreign national is valid for 1 year and within this period foreign national should file his
application to the immigration authorities.

Application to the agency can be filed digitally from applicant's home country and in case of approval such foreign national and his family members will be granted a 1-year business visa to enter Russia and file for a
temporary or permanent residency in Russia. Moreover, such foreign national and his family members are ennoscriptd to legally work in Russia without
obtaining of a work permit while his application to for a temporary or permanent residency to the Russian immigration authorities is pending.
Immigration authorities should process the issuance of the temporary or permanent residency within 30 days after the application is accepted.  

The Decree establishes 7 categories of foreign nationals in different spheres that are of interest to Russia.

1.    Outstanding achievements in scientific and technological development

2.    Achievements in production sphere in case foreign national is an owner of a company in Russia with an income of 10 million rubles for the year prior to the application. Such company should be conducting business in manufacturing
industries, food and beverage, hotel management and IT sectors.
3.    Outstanding achievements in amateur and professional sports
4.    Outstanding achievements in creative or cultural spheres. That
includes professionals in architecture, design, gastronomy, acting, artists
and gallery management, public relations, blogging
5.    Educational achievements. Graduates of the 100 best world universities rankings. Three most recognized rankings are used: Academic Ranking of World Universities; QS World University Rankings; Times Higher Education World University Rankings  
6.    Investors in accordance with the Residency by investment program that exists in Russia from January 2023
7.    Qualified professionals in accordance with the list of 27
professions that has been prior established by Russian Labor Ministry and has at least 5-year documented experience in such profession outside of Russia. Qualified professionals in the following spheres and industries:
manufacturing, mining, transport, tourism, construction, telecom, IT,
educational, healthcare, agriculture, energy, ecology. Such professionals
should have a relevant higher educational diploma and at least 5-year of
employment outside of Russia.

Personal notes:

Hundreds of thousands of foreigners fall under the new Talent Visa Decree, which is definitely a very positive and proper step towards attraction of talented professionals to Russia. For that to happen a major PR campaign must be launched

For the citizens of Western countries (currently non-friendly) the 702 Decree on Shared Values is more straight forward as 702 Decree doesn't require any additional qualification or preapproval mechanism. Although in
case the 821 Decree about military service in order to apply for permanent

residency in Russia will still be in force by 15th of April 2026 foreign nationals that already have 3-year temporary residency based on 702 Decree should consider applying for the Talent visa status as that status will
allow such foreign national to apply for permanent residency without servicing in the Russian military.

Nothing changed from the point of view of necessity to pass the Russian language test when applying for permanent residency, even for investors, although we had many hopes for that.

Still the biggest challenge to immigrate to Russia and successfully reside in Russia is the knowledge of the Russian language and dependency on
employer as it's the labor market conditions. Government can adopt perfect laws but it can't force employers to employ foreigners  

Attending 2nd Catherine the Great Forum! Expecting great event and will share the insights

On the 2nd Catherine the Great Forum had an honour to be speaking about immigration to Russia with other outstanding experts!

Russia is much to offer to you and your family, safety, support of tradional values, vast opportunities in all spheres, tailored new immigration laws!

I finished my speech with a statement: “Name me another country in the world that can stand against 30.000 plus sanctions, defend its interests and independence from the NATO for almost 4 years and yet be showing better economic results than most Western economies?

Main Christmas Tree in London vs beer pub in Izhevsk, Russia🤣🤣
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!