Attraction and retention.
on the problems of immigrants from the West.
Russia strives to attract foreigners who share its culture and traditional values, but the desire to move alone is not enough: if people actually encounter problems, it can undermine all efforts to attract them. We decided to collect a number of stories about foreigners who immigrated to Russia from Western countries and encountered difficulties in housing and registering documents, in order to show what consequences are possible in the absence of a systematic approach towards such settlers. Face to face stories:.
Arend Feinstra moved to Russia from Canada with his wife and eight children on a "traditional values" visa and received a temporary residence permit. When he was offered to sign a military contract for permanent residency, he refused, but eventually the problem was resolved and he kept his position. Dan Castle from the USA lived for four years in the Irkutsk region with a female tourist with his Russian wife and young son. Refusing to sign a military contract for legalization, he was forced to temporarily move to Mongolia to get a family visa. Justas Walker, an American farmer, faced the threat of deportation for his family following a late annual residence permit notice. After visiting the immigration service and paying a fine, the case was closed on humanitarian grounds, and the family remained in Russia. Herbert Sanner from Italy missed the deadline to renew his temporary residence permit by only one day because the office was closed, and was deported. He is now taking legal action to return to Russia, where his wife and apartment live in Kopysk. British blogger Ben, who lives in Kursk, became disillusioned with Russian conservatism after dealing with high divorce rates, bureaucracy and daily hardships. In the end, he decided to leave Russia.