There are many ways to hire a foreign citizen. Much depends on the mechanisms for legalizing his status, as well as on legal ways to obtain a work permit. Among the fairly new scenarios is the registration for work of a person who has a patent. What kind of document is this? How to make a patent to a foreign citizen? What is the specificity of taxation in this employment scheme?
Patent Summary
What is a patent for foreign citizens? This is an official document issued by a state body that confirms the right to work in Russia by hiring a person who has foreign citizenship of that state with which the Russian Federation has signed an agreement on a special regime for crossing the border.
Which countries have the right to work in the Russian Federation using a patent? There are few of them. These are Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, as well as Uzbekistan. All these states are included in the CIS.
Those countries whose citizens can come to Russia without a visa - for example, Brazil, Argentina or Serbia, do not currently have an agreement with Russia. Therefore, employees from these states must receive official permission to engage in labor activities under the quota mechanism. A patent for foreign citizens cannot be issued for them. In turn, the status of a quota employee by citizens of CIS countries, which are listed by us above, can be exchanged from 2015 for one that reflects patent ownership.
Patent Criteria
Those foreigners who, crossing the border of the Russian Federation, indicated on the migration card that they are going to work in Russia, will be able to get the appropriate document. As soon as a person has entered our country, he can apply for a patent to a foreign citizen within 30 days. The criteria for issuing the relevant document are quite strict. So, in particular, in order to receive a patent, a foreigner must have medical insurance, be able to register at the place of stay, and also show a document confirming his knowledge of the Russian language, the history of the Russian Federation and key laws of our country. He should not have serious illnesses. To obtain a patent, a person must not have a criminal record.
Who can hire people for a patent?
Work patents to foreign nationals are not a new phenomenon for Russia. But earlier they were issued only for employment of citizens of other states with individuals - for example, to provide assistance with the housework. Since 2015, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs have the opportunity to hire foreigners with a patent.
Thus, according to the law, employers or customers of immigrants who have received a patent may be a legal entity, individual entrepreneurs, notaries, lawyers and citizens in a different status, which requires a license and other permits. One of the important criteria is that a foreign worker at the time of employment should be 18.
If a person works for a citizen of the Russian Federation who is not registered as an individual entrepreneur and does not act on behalf of a legal entity, then he can perform, as lawyers note, a sufficiently limited range of work. His activity can be connected with help, as we have already noted above, in the household or, for example, in raising children.
It is unlawful, as some experts believe, to attract foreigners in the status we are considering in order to derive entrepreneurial benefits. However, according to lawyers, running a business by a citizen without registering as an individual entrepreneur or as the owner of an LLC is illegal in itself, anyway, whether it attracts foreigners or not.
Who grants patents and how to apply for them?
How are patents issued to foreign citizens? Structures of the Federal Migration Service at the level of constituent entities of the Federation are involved in this procedure, coordinating their activities with the central department. At the same time, it will be possible to use the corresponding document only in the region where it is received.
Accordingly, a person will pay taxes only in the subject where he received the patent. The actual price of a patent for foreign citizens varies by region. For example, in Moscow it costs 4 thousand rubles. per month. There are regions where its price is several times cheaper. The cost of a patent for foreign citizens, therefore, depends on the policy of a particular subject. A little later we will study the corresponding aspect in more detail.
How to apply for a patent for foreign citizens in practical terms? As we said above, a foreign citizen must take the first steps to obtain the appropriate document within 30 days after crossing the Russian border. A person must go to the FMS and take a set of the following documents:
- application on the official form for granting a patent, a photograph of 3 by 4 cm in size should be glued into it;
- passport - domestic, if you can enter it in the Russian Federation, or foreign;
- a document confirming that the citizen is registered at the place of stay;
- migration card, in which it will be indicated that a person moved to Russia in order to get a job, it should have a border guard mark;
- VHI policy or a contract with a medical organization, according to which a person will receive paid medical care;
- certificates that the person does not suffer from drug addiction, that he has no infectious diseases;
- documents that confirm that a person speaks Russian, knows the history of the Russian Federation and the key laws of the country.
By the way, if a person has not had time to file documents for a patent within 30 days, he can still do it, but for this he will need to pay a penalty for delay in applying to the FMS in order to file a corresponding application. It is about 10 thousand rubles. You need to pay it, and then attach the bank receipt to the main set of documents.
Term of grant and validity of a patent
An appropriate type of migration permit is issued quite quickly - within 10 business days from the date of filing with the FMS. The patent for foreign citizens is valid from 1 to 12 months. But it is quite possible to extend it for another year. That is, in total a person can work in the Russian Federation for a patent for two years continuously. At the same time, it is important that he work officially, paying taxes on his salary. If the competent authorities find out that human activities do not meet this criterion, a patent, as some experts in the field of migration law believe, may be canceled. The actual validity period of a foreign citizen’s patent, therefore, largely depends on the financial discipline of its employer.
Patent Features
What features regarding the design of the relevant document can be noted? Among the noteworthy facts - the subject of the Russian Federation may decide that the profession of a foreigner, his proposed position or other information on labor activity must be indicated in patents. In this case, the person will not be entitled to do the work that is not associated with the information specified in the migration document.
A patent is issued to a foreign citizen in person by hand upon presentation of a passport or other document that can legally establish the identity of the person. You will also need to have a receipt confirming the payment of personal income tax, calculated on the basis of fixed payments and the duration of the immigration document. How does this formula work?
The amount of a fixed payment in the general case is 1568 rubles. 40 kopecks You need to multiply this value by a figure equal to the number of months during which the patent is valid - this will be the final amount that will need to be paid to the bank. Payment of patents for foreign citizens is the responsibility of foreign nationals themselves. However, many employers in practice compensate for these costs voluntarily.
The specified fixed payment is determined at the level of federal law. Moreover, as we noted above, the actual price of a patent for foreign citizens may be higher. The fact is that each subject has the right to establish additional factors to it. Thus, the state duty for a patent to a foreign citizen in its traditional sense is not paid, however, certain expenses for the preparation of the corresponding document are provided.
Another important nuance is that within 2 months from the receipt of the document in hand, the foreigner must bring it to the FMS or send by letter with notification of a copy of the employment contract or civil contract with the employer.
Document for work in another region
As we noted above, the type of migration document under consideration allows a foreigner to work only in the region where he was issued. However, if a person has moved, then obtaining a patent for foreign citizens can be carried out again. It doesn’t matter when exactly the person applies for this document to the FMS. Rules similar to the one in which appeal to the FMS is desirable within 30 days after crossing the border have not been established.
A person should, as the previous time, come to the FMS in another city with a passport, write a similar application, and also attach documents confirming the payment of personal income tax during the period when the previous patent was valid. You will also need to draw up a medical policy in advance or legally replacing it with a document, as well as certificates about the absence of drug addiction and infectious diseases. That is, the documents for a patent to a foreign citizen for the second time require almost the same as when they first applied to the FMS. But they should be, as some experts note, relevant in terms of validity.
An important nuance - obtaining a patent for foreign citizens for the second time suggests that the validity period of the relevant document cannot exceed that which was established for the previous work permit.
Renewal and renewal of a document
If a person has not moved from the region, then the document of the type in question can be reissued if its validity period has expired. But this must be done within 12 months from the receipt of the current sample. As we noted above, a new document can also be valid from 1 to 12 months. At the same time, one more cannot be obtained. It will only be possible to renew it - again, for up to 12 months from the date of issue. Also, a person can ask the FMS for a duplicate of the corresponding document, if he lost it - for this you need to fill out an application.
The fee for a patent to a foreign citizen actually correlates with its deductions under the personal income tax. And if the corresponding document was canceled due to the absence of such payments by the employer, then it will not work to immediately receive a duplicate or draw up a new one - according to the law, a year must pass from the moment the document is declared invalid.
Renewing a patent for foreign citizens is not a problem if, therefore, the employer has the financial discipline in the norm.As many lawyers believe, the legislator, through this mechanism, encourages immigrants to get formal employment.
Statement Structure
The application is one of the key documents that must be submitted to the FMS, while filing a patent for foreign citizens. A sample of its structure looks something like this.
At the beginning of the document there will be a fairly standard wording of the form “I ask to grant a patent” with an explanation that it is required for the implementation of labor activities.
Next - F. I. O., as well as information about possible changes in the relevant data.
Following is the citizenship of the person or the state in which he permanently resides.
The next item is the place and date of birth of the citizen.
The following is the address of residence.
Following is information about the identity document. If this is a passport, then its series, number, and also the date of issue, information about the authority that issued it are indicated.
The next item is information about the migration card: its number, as well as the date of issue.
Next, the address at which the citizen is registered at the place of stay, the period of the relevant statement is indicated.
If a person has a TIN, then he, as well as the date of issue, are indicated in the next paragraph.
Next, you need to specify information about the document, which confirms that a person speaks Russian. If this is, for example, a diploma, then this is indicated in the corresponding field, its number is indicated, as well as the date of issue.
The next item is information about the proposed place of employment. A person should note the legal status of the employing company, as well as the profession in which he plans to work, or, if this is preferable, the position and other facts about the proposed labor activity.
The following indicates the period during which a person plans to work in Russia.
If a citizen already has a valid patent, that is, he draws up a new one, but in a different region - in the next paragraph he must reflect the required facts about the relevant document.
At the end of the document, a person leaves a contact phone number, and also signs a statement.
Patent and employment
A person can apply for a patent job in several ways. In principle, they do not differ from those procedures that are used in the employment of Russian citizens themselves. Firstly, it can be the execution of an employment contract, according to the criteria of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Secondly, this is the signing of a civil contract.
At the same time, the employer should bear in mind that the nature of the work performed when working under a contract cannot be the same as when registering a person with a work book. In particular, it is impossible to require an employee to come to work strictly on a schedule and observe internal corporate discipline. And if the employer does not fulfill this criterion, the Labor Inspectorate has the right to require him to conclude a full-fledged contract with the employee in accordance with the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, if the employing company has issued a person under a civil law contract, then it has the right to pay for labor only upon the fulfillment of certain tasks, upon achievement of the result. In addition, in this case, the employer may not pay the person vacation pay; sick leave and maternity leave are also not paid to the employee. Therefore, both employment options have both advantages and disadvantages for both sides of the legal relationship. However, all these rules are relevant not only if the document legalizing the work is a patent for foreign citizens. The relevant standards also apply when registering labor relations when the employee is a citizen of Russia.
Specifics of taxation
Does the employer have to pay any additional tax on the patent of a foreign citizen? No, but the size of personal income tax will depend on whether the employee has the status of a resident of the Russian Federation.It should be noted that between him and the patent system for the legalization of a person in Russia there is no direct relationship. The rule in question applies, interestingly, to Russian citizens as well. Any person legally staying on the territory of the Russian Federation for more than 6 months within six months will receive resident status. In this case, he pays a 13% tax. If a person, in turn, lives mainly outside of Russia, then he, being in the Russian Federation, will be a non-resident. His personal income tax is much higher - 30%.
Thus, if a person came to the Russian Federation in order to obtain a patent for foreign citizens and get a job, then he, having got a job, will pay personal income tax of 30% until his stay in Russia exceeds 6 months for half a year.
It can be noted that the rules for calculating all the basic fees to the state treasury for employers hiring citizens of foreign countries are generally similar to the scenario that is typical for the employment of Russian citizens. Personal income tax for residents - 13%. At the same time, there are quite significant differences in terms of deductions for employee salaries in the PFR, FSS and MHIF. Consider the corresponding nuance.
As you know, these contributions need to be paid only with an employment contract, with a civil contract - only with the FIU and the Social Insurance Fund. In the first case, this is about 30% of the salary, in the second - a little less. This is if the employee is a citizen of the Russian Federation. The need to pay appropriate contributions if the employee is a foreigner depends on his migration status. There are three such Russian laws:
- temporarily residing in the Russian Federation;
- permanently resident in the Russian Federation;
- staying on a temporary basis in the Russian Federation;
Which one will have those who are granted patents for work to foreign citizens? Experts in the field of migration law, in general, agree that the third. Since in the first case a person will most likely have a work permit, and the FMS patent for foreign citizens will not force him to apply. In the second case, all the more so, since a foreign citizen will have not only a work permit, but also a residence permit.
Thus, the effect of a patent for foreign citizens in some way correlates with the migration status of a person. So, according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, if a foreigner has the status of a temporary stay, then he does not need to pay contributions to the MHIF, and to the FSS the fees are payable at a reduced rate. But in the FIU, you need to pay in any case.
So, the specifics of paying taxes and fees in case of employment of a person with a patent is as follows:
- a foreigner pays personal income tax 13% if he has the status of a resident of the Russian Federation, 30% - if most of the time he lives abroad;
- the employer transfers from his salary contributions to the FIU, to the FSS - at a reduced rate;
The corresponding obligations when registering a citizen for work under a civil law contract and when signing an employment contract according to the Labor Code will be the same for the employing company: in the MHIF, nothing is necessary to pay in both cases.
A discussion sometimes arises in the Russian business community - how does the procedure for applying for a foreigner relate to a patent with the status of a highly qualified specialist? Consider the corresponding nuance.
Patent system and highly qualified specialists
According to the law, if an employee with foreign citizenship has the status of a highly qualified specialist, MHIF contributions are not paid for him. However, the need to transfer fees to the FIU and the Social Insurance Fund, as in the case of employees who have a patent, depends on their migration status.
It is not necessary to pay to the FIU and the FSS for a highly qualified specialist if he is temporarily resident in the Russian Federation. At the same time, payment in the FSS is in all other cases at the standard rate.However, is a foreign citizen with such a status needed in practice? Based on the logic of migration legislation, as many lawyers have noted, highly qualified specialists may not draw up this document - they will be hired without it.
