Moving to Russia

At various times, people have inquired about living in Russia or joining the Russian military. Usually they do not have any language skills and have little or no ties to Russia - just the philosophical or spiritual connection to Russia. The following website is designed to assist those looking to take those steps - from the first visit, to an extended stay, to working or running a business in Russia to citizenship. Certainly moving to Russia is not some idealized dream - there are plenty of negatives to moving there but there are also plenty of negatives if you look 20 years into the future in the West. I think practically moving to Russia is best suited for people who want to run a business either physical or virtual (and who have the requisite financial resources) or who are young enough to go as a university student. It also is not a bad retirement option for people with a pension/income and I know of Americans planning to retire to smaller Russian cities where they can comfortable live on $2,000 a month. Here is the website:

www.mynewlifeinrussia.com

owais.usmani wrote:Nice website. Needs a lot more content though.

I agree. It is a work in progress.

Interesting website:
I already considered many times the idea of moving to Russia... just after my degree (in engineering) I was almost considering the idea , especially after i spent one month in moscow to improve my Russian...and i remember in a forum i saw an oppurtunity for an entry level sales Officer job in a relatively small italian firm with a lot of ties to Russia amd i applied for it, but unfortunately without success.

About freedom, I felt much more at ease in Russia than in the US or in the UK, and even here in Germany you cannot say your mind on some topics (as an example saying at work that while you don't care what two adults do in their private life, you do not appreciate the ostentation of LGBTetc movements and that you believe that the basic nucleus of a family (excluding grandparents, uncles,aunts,cousins, etc) is composed by a man, a woman and their children, and not by modern variation of it can cost you your job)....

Unfortunately till now I have been only in Moscow... I would like to visit a lot of more places... possibly in the next few years.

I would consider some opportunities in Russia, and the first time I was Moscow I met some engineers working for Italian firms there, but now the situation is more complicated.

As far as I understood, working as an employee is paid considerably less than in germany (italy will be in a worse position than Greece after the Draghi cure, instead), but it is possible to earn well if you are able to start your own activity and it is successful (while in Italy you are seen as a cow to be eated by the government).

I do not know where I'll be in 5 years from  now, but It is still more probable that I would end up in Russia than that I would move back to live in italy... (my country is now just a place I visit during holidays now).

Anyway, I know that even if I would move there I will never become a Russian,  but it is even less probable that I will become a german even if I remain here another 40 years

By the way, I just found a russian speaking babysitter for my son, probably he will be correcting my language mistakes soon enough

If you know Russian, you are free to move and are not contemplating coming back to your home country, move to Russia man. The wages will be low but in the future just the natural correction of the ruble will make you earn a fortune, plus you will have lots of opportunities to make money in business and real state. Anything you buy there now with the value of your euros is essentially a bargain if you do not wait too much, foreign investment is already moving in because they can read the signs. Furthermore, you will be living in a proper country with sovereignty and common sense, something that simply does not exist in Western Europe. Regulatory dictatorship and financial hypertrophy has turned Western countries, companies and economies into madhouses bound to crash very badly.

Personal economic freedom should not be the main consideration when choosing where to live, but it certainly matters. Here are the top marginal personal income tax rates in various countries:

United States       37%
United Kingdom   45%                  
France                 45%
Canada                33%
Germany              47.5%
Sweden                57.1%
Australia               45%

These do not include state or city taxes. In America, the top state income tax rate is 13.3% in California and 8.82% in New York. Cities also have income taxes like New York City's 3.88%.

In Russia, on the first RUB 5 million the personal income tax rate is a flat 13%. (About $68,000 per annum). Above that it is a flat 15%. If one is engaged as a a sole proprietor with no employees nor employer the tax rate is 4% on the first RUB 2,400,000 (about $33,000) if services are provided to individuals and 6% if services are provided to legal entities (applies to certain regions such as Moscow). A sole proprietor making $100,000 would owe about 10.7% in income tax. There are no regional income taxes.

If you move to Russia as a non-resident, you can qualify for the 13/15% tax regime if your monthly salary is at least RUB 167,000 and if you are a "Highly Qualified Specialist" which most ex-pats probably would be.

Capital gain tax after 5 years is 0%. Capital gains tax on assets held less than 5 years is the same 13/15% flat structure.

Canada has much higher provincial taxes than most US state taxes.   So that 33% is actually over 50% for most provinces.

https://www.bdo.ca/en-ca/insights/tax/tax-facts/top-marginal-tax-rates/

Note that France and the UK do not have province or state levels for taxation.

MynewlifeinRussia website got a featured article on rense today.

Looks like there a many, many people who think the future of life in post-modern West is pretty bleak. Many want to move to Russia. The only negative response I have received are from Russian liberals whose heads are exploding at the idea.

Russia is known for its educational system. I researched the ability of foreign students to study in Russian in English and there is a surprising number of Bachelor's and PhD programs available. The quality of the education per dollar is second to none. As an example for Bachelor's degrees:

Applied Mathematics and Computer Science MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) $4,300
Mathematics MIPT $4,300
Computer Science & Engineering NSU (Novosibirsk State University) $5,500
Chemical Engineering ITMO (Saint Petersburg in Russian) $3,300
Nuclear Engineering MEPhi (Moscow) $5,800

Anyone interested ins studying in Russia including at the Phd level can message me for more details.

calripson wrote:Looks like there a many, many people who think the future of life in post-modern West is pretty bleak. Many want to move to Russia. The only negative response I have received are from Russian liberals whose heads are exploding at the idea.

These are the same people who end up living in their cars or a jail cell in the west. So forget them. I'm talking of Russian libs.

The value in Russian education carries over to graduate degrees. Here is a sampling of Master's Degree programs taught in English:

Chemical Engineering                                              $3500                             ITMO
Neural Networks and Neural Computing                  $4,800                           FEFU
Optical Microsystems and Nanotechnology              $2,100                          Samara State University
High Energy Physics                                                 $2,800                           MEPhi


and just to add that you do not need to be a complete egghead to get a useful Russian education:


Physical Culture and Sports     $3,400                        IKBFU
Construction                             $2,100                         Southern Urals State University

All taught 100% in English.

When I was at uni I made some good money on the side teaching first year students in the papers I had already done. I would suspect an English speaking student could earn money helping Russian students perfect their English even if they don't speak Russian.

calripson wrote:Russia is known for its educational system. I researched the ability of foreign students to study in Russian in English and there is a surprising number of Bachelor's and PhD programs available. The quality of the education per dollar is second to none. As an example for Bachelor's degrees:

Applied Mathematics and Computer Science   MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology)    $4,300
Mathematics                                                MIPT                                                                      $4,300
Computer Science & Engineering                   NSU  (Novosibirsk State University)                          $5,500
Chemical Engineering                                   ITMO (Saint Petersburg in Russian)                           $3,300
Nuclear Engineering                                     MEPhi (Moscow)                                                       $5,800

Anyone interested ins studying in Russia including at the Phd level can message me for more details.

For admission to Bachelor's programs in Science (Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine etc), do Tier I Russian institutes like Lomonosov Moscow State University, MIPT etc consider past grades secured by international students? Also is there any upper age limit for these programs?



Thank You.

When I applied at Moscow State, I had to do an entrance exam. Turned out at the age of 18, my education here didn't even come close to teaching some of what they demanded as an entrance exam as some categories were more pertained to Universities here.

Maybe that changed?

All universities require entrance exams which can be taken in English. I can absolutely attest to the qualitative difference between Russian high school math and physics and math and physics in "elite" US high schools. US high school is like Middle School curriculum in Russia. I don't think entrance exams for liberal arts would be that difficult. There is no upper age limit that I am aware of and there are many graduate level degrees/courses for people with college education. I think being a student is the ideal way for someone in their twenties or even thirties to live in Russia, to see what the people and culture are like, and to decide if they want to move there. Of course, one still needs to learn basic Russian just for social interaction, but in a worst case scenario you spend a small amount of money to get a degree and have a tremendous life experience. Cost of living for students isn't too high and frankly if I were doing it, I would probably chose a regional school where the cost of living would be lower than Moscow or Saint Petersburg and where if you are single you would be more in demand by the locals. The only exception would be if you are straight up brilliant and want to study physics/math/chemistry/ect at one of the elite schools like MEPhi, MGU, or ITMO.

calripson wrote:Cost of living for students isn't too high and frankly if I were doing it, I would probably chose a regional school where the cost of living would be lower than Moscow or Saint Petersburg and where if you are single you would be more in demand by the locals. The only exception would be if you are straight up brilliant and want to study physics/math/chemistry/ect at one of the elite schools like MEPhi, MGU, or ITMO.

Cost of living in Moscow, St Pete is way lower than New York, Toronto, Sydney, London or Paris. So if students can afford to study in those cities obviously they can afford to stay in Moscow.

The issue is Russian universities mostly attract students from third world countries. They are mostly below average people who try to use the education back door to permanently settle in Russia. I see these students have now entered top end universities like Lomonosov, MIPT and Skolkovo. Indian, African students are known to fudge their past grades. They use several such underhand tactics.

Russian government should therefore advertise Russian education in western countries where tuition fees is killing the students and at the same time ban the entry of students form third world countries.