RUSSIA – Medical Tests for Standard Work Permit Applications Now Required in Advance
Effective immediately, applicants for a standard work permit for Russia must now submit, with their application, the results of a medical test from a specially designated clinic in Russia. Highly skilled workers are exempt from this new requirement.
How Does This Affect Employers and Applicants?
Since the medical test must be carried out at an approved clinic in Russia, applicants for standard work permits now have to make an extra trip to Russia, on a business visa, to undergo the medical examination before the personal work permit application can be made. Applicants must then return home to apply for the entry visa for work. The change means extra expenses will be incurred by the employer and extra time will be spent on the application by the applicant. However, there will not necessarily be any delay to the applicant starting work in Russia, provided the applicant can make time for the extra medical examination trip during the local labour market search or while awaiting approval of the company work permit application.
How Has the Requirement Changed?
Previously, the medical test could be carried out, and the results submitted, after the personal work permit and entry visa applications and entry into Russia. Previously, the medical test results had to be submitted when the applicant collected the work permit.