In Russia, some migrants have been exempted from testing in the Russian language

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed to exempt some foreign citizens from testing in the Russian language, history, and legislation of the country against the backdrop of tightening migration policies and a shortage of labor.

According to Russian media, the draft law provides for the exemption of foreign citizens working in companies that are residents of priority development territories from these tests.

In particular, this concerns companies located in the Far East and the Arctic. According to the publication “Kommersant,” there are currently over 90 priority development territories operating in Russia.

This proposal comes amid the fact that Russian authorities have previously tightened the requirements for testing foreign citizens. Starting from July 10, 2025, the number of listening tasks in the Russian language test has increased, and minimum passing scores have been introduced for the “Listening” and “Speaking” sections, which were previously counted cumulatively. According to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, from October to December 2025, more than 201.5 thousand people passed the test, of which 35.5% were unable to pass on their first attempt.

Additionally, Russia has tightened its migration policy. In recent years, law enforcement agencies in Russia have intensified control over foreign citizens, conducting mass raids against migrants everywhere. Many of them, particularly those from Central Asian countries, are being deported en masse. Furthermore, in some regions and sectors of Russia, bans on hiring foreign citizens have been introduced.

At the same time, Russia is taking measures to attract labor from other countries. In addition to Central Asian countries, which have long been the main source of labor migrants for Russia, authorities have begun to attract citizens from India and other South Asian countries. According to Radio Ozodi, as of June 2026, more than 70 thousand citizens of India were employed in Russia.