Proposed changes to Russia"s immigration...

Russia is poised to ease immigration restrictions for highly qualified foreign specialists in a bid to encourage the free flow of trade and investment in the country.

"The amendments will be sent to the government, we hope, in April this year," FMS deputy director Yelena Yegorova said.

The Economic Development Ministry has recently drafted a federal law easing the country"s immigration regulations after repeated calls from President Dmitry Medvedev.

A government official told business daily Vedomosti last week that Russia"s main goal is to try to attract the "best brains" to a country that dominated science for decades in the Soviet era. The official was quoted as saying that "modernization without an intelligent workforce is impossible."

While it often takes up to two years to supply and process all the necessary documentation, officials vow to reduce the "bureaucratic drag" to under a month.

The Economic Development Ministry has also proposed

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