New minimum salary requirement for HQS: what employers need to know

In our view, the salary increase should apply from March. 

The new minimum salary requirement for HQS will enter into force on 1 March 2027. For January and February 2027, the minimum salary payable for the two-month period should total RUB 500,000 (RUB 750,000 / 3 months x 2 months). For March, at least RUB 717,000 must be paid. Accordingly, the total salary payable for Q1 2027 should be at least RUB 1,217,000. 

Employers should ensure well in advance that this amount will be met when planning company expenses, calculating payroll, filing tax returns as personal income tax agents and completing notifications confirming compliance with HQS salary payment obligations.

Migration law does not define what constitutes an HQS salary. Under the Labor Code, salary is remuneration for work based on an employee’s qualifications and the complexity, quantity, quality and conditions of the work performed, as well as compensation and incentive payments.

To date, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has generally not questioned the composition of an HQS’s remuneration where the total amount paid exceeded RUB 750,000 per quarter.

To meet the RUB 717,000 monthly threshold, employers are exploring the possibility of including various payments, both in cash and in kind, in HQS remuneration. However, as migration authorities are expected to intensify their scrutiny of compliance with the new requirement and the prevention of abuse, they may scrutinize individual payments and challenge the inclusion of certain items in the salary amount. 

Employers should analyze payments made to HQS, assess which components may be challenged as not qualifying towards the salary threshold (e.g., in some cases rent paid by the employer), and develop measures to eliminate or mitigate the related risk. 

A literal interpretation of the law suggests that HQS salaries must be indexed annually based on the growth rate of the average monthly gross salary for the previous year, regardless of the amount of the salary (i.e., whether it is set at the minimum threshold or at a higher level). 

The indexation coefficient will be determined by the Ministry of Labor.

In our opinion, there is a risk that failure to comply with the indexation requirement may result in the revocation of an HQS’s work permit and a two-year ban on engaging HQS.

When analyzing the structure of HQS salaries for compliance purposes, companies may identify payments that do not qualify as salary and can therefore be excluded from HQS salaries and fall outside the scope of the indexation requirement. The tax implications of removing such payments from HQS salaries should also be assessed, including their deductibility for corporate income tax purposes.

We recommend focusing primarily on the following documents:

1. Employment contracts with HQS – to ensure that their provisions comply with labor and migration law requirements;
2. Corporate salary indexation policy – to ensure that it is aligned with the new requirements applicable to HQS. 

Labor law establishes the principle of equal pay for equal work. Accordingly, paying different salaries to Russian citizens and HQS in comparable positions may give rise to a risk of discrimination.

• Assessing the ability to meet the new salary requirements in your particular situation, including an analysis of the remuneration structure and a detailed review of the income mix to determine whether individual items may be included in HQS income
• Developing an action plan, including making the necessary amendments to employment contracts with HQS
• Assessing alternative immigration regimes for engaging foreign employees where the new HQS requirements cannot be met
• Reviewing and updating the corporate salary indexation policy
• Analyzing labor risks and developing a risk mitigation plan where Russian citizens and HQS hold comparable positions