LAND PLOTS in Russia - how much they cost and how to become a farmer

We were often asked whether a foreigner can become a farmer in Russia, how much it is to buy land there and how to do it.

Let's discuss it, but first of all it's worth mentioning what a non-citizen can or can't acquire in our country:

A foreign national, be it a visa holder or resident, has the right to buy apartments, houses, dachas (summer cottages), and land plots; in cities, towns, villages and hamlets. There are some RESTRICTIONS for them - foreigners can't buy real estate:
1) on the border area, no matter if it's a land or sea border - their list is given in the law, for example, the Kronstadt district of St. Petersburg.
2) in closed cities or towns - a foreigner doesn't even have the right to appear there
3) and agricultural land, although they can buy suburban land plots if they officially belong to the category of "land of settlements", not "agricultural land". How to tell them apart? Only by documents. Two pieces of land may look exactly the same, but one can be bought by a foreigner, and the other can't. Although a foreigner can RENT such "agricultural land".

And some restrictions regard plots that no one, even Russian citizens, is allowed to purchase, such as plots in the coastal area, forests, protected areas etc.

Note that in this video we are going to talk about those people who want to do an agricultural business; if your dream is to simply buy a country house, grow vegetables or raise livestock for yourself and not make any big money from it, all you need to know is the restrictions on land ownership, which was mentioned above.

PRICES
Nonetheless, if you decided to acquire Russian citizenship in the future or your spouse is a Russian citizen, you can consider buying agricultural land.

The price depends greatly on the location: it can be 30,000 rubles, 60,000 rubles and more per 100 square meters. Plus, there is still the option of renting a plot, which costs approximately 1,000 rubles per 100 square meters monthly.

A lot of land will be required. For example, the minimum land area for a dairy farm is about 1,100 hectares, for a pig farm, about 700 hectares.

HOW DO I START A FARM?

There is no special program in Russia to attract foreign farmers to move to Russia and engage in agriculture, but such a program will be probably developed in the future. However, this does not mean that there is no way to do this now.

First of all, a foreigner has the right to set up a company in Russia and even, with some reservations, become its director, that is, the head of a company. In other words, non-citizens can do business in our country - it is not prohibited.

A foreign national can come to Russia to apply for a temporary residence permit, in a year or later, for a permanent residence permit, and in five years, for citizenship. For the sake of stability, we would recommend aliens naturalize if they want to live in the country permanently - living on a permit document is not so good. This is the standard way of naturalization, which is used by foreigners that have no reason to speed up this process. This is not a bad way, but not 100% reliable.

But if you've made it this far in the article, you're probably a professional farmer, which makes things a little easier. There is such a category of workers in Russia as «qualified specialists» (not to be confused with highly qualified specialists), which include, among other things, agricultural specialties. They have the right, having worked as such a specialist in Russia at least half a year on a worker visa, to get for a Permanent Residence Permit, even without a temporary one. As you may know, a temporary permit is usually obtained under a quota and through a special commission that decides whether to give you a permit or not. This way, you will avoid it. How to use this opportunity? Find a job either from a third-party employer or by registering your own farm company, but be sure to do so in the profession that is listed in the list of the «qualified specialists».

If you have problems with completing paperwork, you got confused in this topic, or you just want an expert to do everything for you, feel free to reach out to our team.



Need legal help? Feel free to contact us:
Tel: +7 909 961-19-09
Email: legalsolutions@inbox.ru
Visit us: Moscow, Zubovskiy bulvar, building 4/1, office 308

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