Immigration to Russia involves foreign citizens (or people without any citizenship) seeking permanent residence in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Russia experienced a considerable population decline during the latter period due to a decreased birthrate, lowered life expectancy and growing emigration.
To combat these demographic problems, the Russian government adopted in 2006 "Program for the return of compatriots to Russia", which was made into a permanent law in 2012.
[1][circular reference] According to the law, "compatriots" are individuals, who are direct descendants (in either mother's or father's line) of people, who lived in the past within the current territory of Russia.
In 2020 Russia held the 4th place among countries with the largest absolute numbers of immigrants in their population after the USA, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
[9] The majority of recent immigrants to Russia come from the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
[14] Under current law, one can receive citizenship of Russia after five years of residence and after passing an exam in Russian language, civics and history.
[18] Native speakers of Russian-language, spouses of Russian citizens, highly qualified specialists (e.g. with PhD or MD degrees), investors and refugees are eligible for a simplified immigration procedure.