Foreign Teachers are Returning to Russian Universities
New amendments have been made to the Russian migration law allowing highly qualified experts with citizenship of other countries to work in Russian universities. Boris Zhelezov, HSE Deputy Vice Rector for international relations, told us how the situation was repaired after its breakdown last autumn.
— Boris, what was the essence of the problem? What difficulties did the HSE face in terms of attracting foreign experts to teaching?
— Last year the procedure for issuing work visas for foreign teachers was suddenly changed. Prior to autumn 2009, they did not have to get work permits and the university didn't have to get permission for their invitation when coming here to read lectures. But then, on the basis of a court decision regarding a foreign teacher at one of the schools in the Volga region, the procedures were changed, and universities were obliged to obtain permission. The changes were instant and universities were unprepared for the new situation. The Higher School of Economics had to terminate contracts with some of our teachers whose work visas had expired which, of course, resulted in reputational and financial losses. And those foreign colleagues who managed to stay here using ‘humanitarian'visas issued for a 3 month period, could not receive remuneration for their teaching.
The new rules caused one more problem:teachers invited from abroad became subject to the quotas for foreign workers. Moreover, those quotas had to be ordered a year before the date of a foreign professor's arrival, and only on the condition that similar experts could not be found in Russia. Really, a situation when universities had to prove to officials that foreign teachers either differed from Russian ones in the level of their qualification or were defined as ‘irreplaceable', was quite strange.
— What steps did the HSE manage to take in the new circumstances?
— Of course, we could not stop inviting new teachers, especially after the HSE had received the status of a National Research University. That's why we used all the possible means to allow the teachers we have been cooperating for many years the opportunity to continue their work. At the same time we kept sending messages to the appropriate governmental bodies with requests to either restore the previous procedure or to improve the new one. We took part in sessions conducted by various interdepartmental commissions on improving the law. Under the initiative of HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov, the RF Public Chamber also sent a special request to the government.
—As far as I understand, that mutual effort led to the necessary changes in the law regulating the work of foreign citizens in Russia.
— Yes, on May 19th the President signed a law on amendments to the Federal Law ‘On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation'and separate legal acts of the RF. This law largely eliminated the existing problems, but still some of its wording remained unclear and needed further explanation. The law was put in force on July 1st, so we have again received the right to invite foreign professors and listen to their lectures at the HSE. Moreover, the law introduced a new category for foreign workers - ‘highly qualified specialists'- which means not only teachers but researchers will have the opportunity to work at the HSE. This is very important, since previously a professor coming here could read lectures but in fact had no legal right to carry out research here.
— Are you expecting the appearing of similar problems in future?
— We'll have yet to check the action of this law in practice. In particular, it sets a minimum level of remuneration for highly qualified specialists - they have to get not less than two million roubles a year (about $67 000) which is an extremely high amount by Russian academic standards. We have asked the Governement to, firstly, issue a special list of positions, including teaching and research, that are not subject to quotas, and secondly, to make the remuneration level for highly qualified specialists flexible depending on the period of their employment contract. The teachers, who we recruited on the international labour market, really want to work here, and we, from our side, need them to teach and carry out research and to get a realistic salary. Now these problems are being solved, but what is essential for now is that our existing foreign professors have come back to our staff and will continue their work in the new academic year.
Oleg Seregin, HSE News Service