From January 1, the rules for moving compatriots to Russia will change

 Those wishing to move to the Russian Federation from January 1 will confirm their knowledge of the Russian language

From January 1, compatriots living abroad and wishing to voluntarily move to Russia will have to document their knowledge of the Russian language, according to the government decree published on the legal information portal.

"The condition for receiving applications from compatriots who are not citizens of the Russian Federation, the republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova or Ukraine is their knowledge of the Russian language at a level sufficient for communication in oral and written form in a language environment," the document says.

It will be possible to confirm the proficiency in the Russian language with a document (or its duplicate) on obtaining education in Russia after September 1, 1991. Or it can be an education document issued in a foreign country where Russian is one of the state languages, as well as the decision of the commission on the results of the interview.

The program to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad to Russia was adopted by presidential decree in 2006. It is aimed at resettlement to the homeland of people who found themselves after the collapse of the USSR outside Russia.