Work Permits
From Moscowiki
Work permit is necessary if you wish to be officially employed by a Russia-based company. Work permits are valid for 1 year (not more) and only in one area. For example, if the work permit says it is valid in St. Petersburg, one cannot be employed in Moscow or Leningradskaya Region. To be employed in Moscow you've got to have a Moscow work permit. Work permit looks pretty much like a driver's license: there is your photograph, name and citizenship in Russian, occupation, employer, validity period, and territory of validity. Work permits are issued by the local Agency of Federal Migration Service. For foreign citizens who need visa to enter Russia, work permit is usually obtained by the employer. The reason is that to hire such foreigner, the employer needs to have a permission to hire a foreigner. The permission has the information about the employer company to which it is granted, the country of residence of the foreign workers, their number and occupation. Based on this permission, FMS issues work permits upon the employer's request, and based on the work permits it issues work visas to the foreign workers. If you are employed by a Russian company and stay in Russia with a business visa and without a work permit, your employer is violating the migration law. At the bottomline, it means a couple of not so nice things for foreign citizens who wish to work in Russia: 1. A Russian company (or a foreign one accredited in Russia) can sign with him only a temporary work contract (for the period of work permit validity, not longer than 1 year); 2. The employer has to really want him because it's a headache to have all permissions in time and right. 3. He cannot change the employer without losing his work permit and work visa.
If a foreign citizen has a residence permit in Russia, he doesn't need a work permit to work. Note: the territory in residence permit and the territory of employment have to be the same.
Those foreign citizens who don't need visa to enter Russia, obtain work permits by themselves, which makes it more flexible for them: they can shift employers within one territory, and the employer doesn't need a special permission to hire them.
