Send message to Author

Abstract

Migration from Central Asian countries to Russia is most often considered as temporary and for the purpose of employment. But many migrants eventually decide to move to a permanent place of residence and subsequently become Russian citizens. Based on the analysis of official administrative statistics, we would like to present some of the results of a study that shows which channels of immigration and naturalization are used by migrants from different countries – with a focus on citizens of Central Asian states – to obtain residence permits and Russian citizenship. The study allowed to propose an approach how to aggregate detailed statistics on the issuance of residence permits and the acquisition of citizenship (broken down by numerous individual provisions of the laws On the status of foreigners in Russia and On the citizenship of the Russian Federation) into enlarged classes of admission to permanent residency and naturalization. It also made it possible to show what percentage of migrants come for family reunification through the channel of ethno cultural migration - as compatriots and native speakers of the Russian language, or as carriers of in demand professions and competencies, etc. The pilot study demonstrated significant differences in the composition of immigrants arriving from different countries by the major classes of admission and also to better understand the peculiarities of Russia's migration policy.

The research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation.