Which country is easier to immigrate to?
Germany is extremely tough on migrants, and the best chances are for Russians who go there to work under the Blue Card program. However, to do this you must be a highly qualified specialist and be of interest to German companies or the economy.
The same goes for Canada and the USA. A few years ago they were quite loyal to migrants from Russia, but now the legislation has become stricter, and the number of refusals is extremely high. The documents of Russians are treated even harsher in France. Israel is suitable only for a narrow circle of people who are ready to accept Judaism.
Therefore, it is best to choose a developed country where you can emigrate without problems and extra costs. Particular attention should be paid to states that are open to migrants and have special investment programs for those wishing to obtain residence permit status, permanent residence or citizenship. These include: Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Cyprus, Greece and Malta
.
Caribbean countries also demonstrate loyalty: St. Kitts, Antigua, Grenada
.
Investment programs in individual countries make it possible to resolve the issue of official status within a month. The same process in the USA, France, Canada, Italy, Australia may drag on for years. You can read more about investment programs in previous articles on our blog.
.
The best country for emigration
Spain
is in third place in the world in terms of the number of Russians - 68,160, according to data at the beginning of 2015. There are more only in Germany and France, but now it is extremely difficult to obtain a residence permit there due to many obstacles from migration services.
The UK is in fourth place
– 35,200 of our former compatriots.
If we consider the most accessible countries from those listed above, then it is worth paying attention to Austria
, where 29 thousand Russians live.
In Greece
18,200 Russians found a new life, 9,400 in
Switzerland
, 6,500 in
Hungary
, 4,900 in
Portugal
. At the same time, Hungary and Greece currently offer the most favorable conditions for obtaining a residence permit or permanent residence for investment.
Read about ways to obtain Hungarian citizenship here
.
Türkiye, Bulgaria and Israel are attracting Russian emigrants more and more
The interest of Russian-speaking users in a number of countries grew during 2020, even though they were not included in the top five. Among them are Türkiye, Bulgaria and Israel.
In 2021, requests to “move to Turkey” increased by one and a half times. In August, more people were interested in citizenship and residence permits in Turkey than in other summer months - apparently, the trigger was the fact that Turkey was one of the first to open its borders after quarantine.
Buy a home in Turkey 2,051 ads on Tranio
$1,785,000 Villa in Alanya (Alanya), Antalya, Turkey Total area 520 m² Land area: 11,000 m²
$488,000 New Luxury apartments 2+1. In Alanya, Konakli. Total area 144 m² Land area: 11,000 m²
$72,000 Two-room apartment in a new luxury complex, Esenyurt, Istanbul, Turkey Total area 66 m² 1 bedroom
In 2021, information about Bulgarian citizenship was searched for 1.2 times more often than in 2021. The peak of interest in Bulgarian citizenship this year occurred in April - then there were 1.5 times more requests for this wording than in other months of 2021 , and 2.25 times more than in April 2021.
The number of requests for “Israeli citizenship” increased 1.4 times in 2021 compared to 2021. At the same time, in the summer months of 2020, the number of requests for “move to Israel” and “immigration to Israel” almost doubled compared to the summer of 2021.
Why does Spain attract Russians?
- The largest Russian-speaking diaspora in Europe - about 250 thousand people from various CIS countries.
- Ease of doing business.
- Mild and warm climate, excellent environmental conditions.
- Spanish is a fairly simple and easy language to learn.
- High standard of living at average European prices.
- Visa-free entry to all Schengen countries.
- Obtaining a residence permit within 3 months.
Here you can always open a business in the service sector for tourists. Doctors and engineers in the field of construction, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are also extremely in demand. The level of taxes corresponds to the average European level.
You can get a residence permit here quickly, provided you participate in the investment program for migrants. It is necessary to invest 500 thousand euros in the country's economy (for example, through the purchase of state-approved real estate). At the same time, the government guarantees a return on investment for 5 years.
Aren't these attractive conditions? They began to act not so long ago, when Spain needed to find an effective way out of the economic crisis.
The most desirable residence permit
In the first 8 months of 2021, people were most interested in residence permits in Spain (30,386 requests), Turkey (19,905) and Bulgaria (17,743). Latvia (11,497) and Germany (11,441) round out the top 5 most desirable residence permits.
Spain and Turkey attract Russian-speaking emigrants with low prices of living, close proximity and pleasant climate, says Tranio managing partner Georgy Kachmazov. People often vacation there; they are familiar with these countries. In the case of Turkey, the rise in demand is due to the low base effect - a couple of years ago demand fell, but has now begun to grow again. Judging by Tranio’s experience, during the period of self-isolation, many people thought about obtaining a residence permit in another country, which would allow them to travel abroad even with closed borders.
The popularity of Turkey among Yandex users continues to grow: in 2021, the number of requests for Turkish residence permits increased by a third compared to 2021.
Immigration for wealthy people
The UK and Austria are suitable for immigration of people with high net worth. The English state also attracts qualified specialists, especially in the field of high technology. What attracts Russians to them?
- Countries with the most stable economies.
- The highest standard of living in Europe.
- Absolute capital protection.
- Personal safety, favorable crime environment.
- Leaders in ease of starting and running a business.
When you invest 2 million pounds in the English economy, you will receive residence permit status within 4 months, and after 2 years - permanent residence. After living in the UK for 5 years, you can apply for citizenship.
Austria even offers to obtain citizenship immediately, but for this you need to make a “significant contribution to the economy.” We are talking about an amount of more than 6 million euros. Given the stable economic development of both countries, this is far from a risky investment. It is not surprising that many of our wealthy fellow citizens, when choosing a country for immigration from Russia, choose these options.
Best Immigration Deal Available
Many Russians, when choosing a country to emigrate to, go to Greece
, despite the crisis. What attracts them in the first place?
- Affordable prices for goods and services with European quality.
- Favorable property prices.
- Acceptable level of taxes.
- A simple and profitable business in the tourism sector.
- Obtaining a residence permit for investment in just 1 month.
Greece is becoming the most affordable “ticket” to the European Union. With a residence permit status, you can visit any Schengen country, establishing new business contacts with partners. At the same time, former Russians note the high level of Greek healthcare and the opportunity to study at the best European universities.
To become a participant in the “Residence Permit for Investment” program, it is enough to purchase real estate in Greece in the amount of 250 thousand euros. A truly advantageous offer attracts more and more immigrants from Russia here.
Where to emigrate from Russia?
You can follow the example of your compatriots and choose a country where there are many Russian-speaking people and therefore it is easier to adapt. Or you can go the individual route, choosing the countries of the Caribbean, because there, for an investment of 250-300 thousand dollars, you can obtain citizenship using a shortened procedure in 2 to 8 months. You will be allowed to visit Schengen countries and fly to business partners from the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong without a visa.
Do you want to know more about emigration programs from Russia? Subscribe to our blog - we will give you a large amount of interesting information for fruitful reflection. If you have any questions, write to us and leave comments. We'd love to hear your opinion.
Where to go from Moscow?
COLTA.RU continues cooperation with The Question portal, where you can get an answer to any question.
Denis Danilov
Left Moscow for Yekaterinburg
In Moscow I worked in marketing, and in 2006 I went on a trip to Goa, where I met my future wife. Then for five years we traveled around India, Europe, Central America and sometimes returned to Moscow for a month or two. In 2012, we decided to move to Yekaterinburg because we found developers there for our Miorama project, and lived there for 2.5 years. We really liked Yekaterinburg for its calmness and openness of people. This is one of those Russian cities where you can live comfortably. Although Yekaterinburg is still a harsh place; not only by climate, but also by internal state.
My feelings about Moscow are mixed: now we live in Edinburgh, to which we moved from Yekaterinburg for further development of the project, and when we arrive, we feel like guests. Moscow remained the city of my childhood, but in the mid-2000s something happened to it, maybe there were too many temptations. The pace of Moscow life, especially after Asia, seems unnatural for a happy life. Everyone says that you can make money in Moscow, but this is not the main thing.
Polina Alekseeva
Left Moscow first for Tbilisi, and then for Yaroslavl
I left Moscow twice. For the first time in 2003: my first husband was Georgian, and shortly before that visas were introduced, they stopped me at every turn in the city. It was almost impossible to get a visa, and we left for Tbilisi, where I lived for six years. Then she separated from her husband and returned, worked in Moscow - making films, writing a script for a series. After some time, I just realized that this is not my city. I love calmer, more humane cities: for example, I don’t like Paris, but I like Berlin. In Moscow, on the one hand, there is a lot of things, but on the other hand, it is so blurred, stretched out in the distance. Because of these gigantic distances, people simply do not see each other.
Life is not only work.
Of course, there were doubts because of work, but I left for my native Yaroslavl. It is a compact, convenient city with a central location so you can use a bicycle as your main means of transport. We are now fighting to build bicycle paths, I work with difficult children - it seems to me that it is more correct to try to change something in our hometown. To live normally in Moscow, you have to work a lot, and life turns into a “work-home” pattern: you don’t see either friends or your own children. And in Yaroslavl everyone walks together, you can get on a bike at any time and go with the whole family for a picnic on the river. Outside of Moscow, you understand that life is not only work.
Alexandra Dyoshina
Left Moscow for Yakutsk
The reason for my departure is quite utilitarian: I decided to study singing professionally, and it was difficult to do this in Moscow - there is huge competition, it is difficult to find a good teacher and, moreover, it is very expensive.
The first feeling upon arrival in Yakutsk is a huge breath of freedom. It was no longer necessary to spend a huge number of hours getting from home to the place of study. The feeling of a heavy space through which you must necessarily wade through has disappeared. What I don’t like about Moscow, first of all, is that you constantly feel a sense of competition. Even if there is no professional one, then you are always in a fight with yourself, there is absolutely no time to concentrate, and even to understand what you really need. You constantly need to overcome something: yourself, space, circumstances. Before moving to Moscow, I lived in St. Petersburg - this is a completely different environment, very productive. I felt moving to Moscow with my husband as a new stage and was on an absolute high, but I had to face reality. Life in Russia outside of Moscow is possible when you set specific goals for yourself. Leaving helped me focus on personal tasks, this is difficult in Moscow: there are a lot of opportunities there, so many that it starts to feel a little feverish, and it is not clear which of them are real. In Moscow, you constantly feel as if your vision is −3 in one eye and +5 in the other, everything is mixed up and you can’t imagine a clear picture.
I can't live in a city that I have to fight with every day.
Anna Barinova
Left Moscow for St. Petersburg
Strictly speaking, I left the Moscow region, not Moscow: I lived in Podolsk, but I still spent every day from morning to evening in the capital.
I always knew that Moscow was not my city, and the contrast after moving to St. Petersburg was huge: it turns out that it’s an amazing feeling to live in a city that you love. It’s funny that over the years in Moscow I still haven’t figured it out: it’s unclear not only where is Sviblovo and where is Mitino, but even how to get, for example, from Chistye Prudy to Kuznetsky Most. And it took me a couple of weeks to understand how St. Petersburg works. I know one thing for sure about Moscow: it has a feudal structure and encloses its inhabitants in many rings: boulevards, roads, highways. Maybe this is where there is such a feeling of pressure in this city. In Moscow, it’s unclear where time disappears, and every second passerby has symptoms of asthenic syndrome written on their faces. You can consider this a defeat, but I cannot live in a city that I have to fight with every day.
Anna Shchyokova
Left Moscow for Kemerovo
I left for Kemerovo for family reasons. It took me a month to find a job: I do management in a company that produces suspended ceilings. Finding a job in Siberia is difficult. This is the second time I’ve been to Siberia: a year ago I went to Krasnoyarsk. I really like it here, I plan to travel to different cities. The nature here is completely different and the people are completely different. Here the city is not a jumble of high-rise buildings, but wide roads, at the end of which the taiga is visible. There is something special, “Siberian”. People don't fuss, there are no traffic jams, everyone is polite. Sometimes locals tell me about Kemerovo: be careful not to get lost, and in general there are traffic jams - after Moscow it sounds funny. I have always been very drawn to Siberia: I don’t want to try everything in life, but I want to test my strength. How do they work here, how do they endure the cold, how do people survive? For me, Siberia is a challenge to myself.
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