MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. The Russian Federation Council (parliament's upper house) on Friday approved a law, expanding the list of foreign nationals who can obtain a permanent residence permit without getting a temporary residence permit in the Russian Federation.

This simplified mode applies to persons born in the former RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic); those having the citizenship of the Soviet Union in the past; persons under 18 whose parents either live in Russia on a permanent basis or are receiving a residence permit together with their children; those, whose parents or children are residents of the Russian Federation and permanently reside there; and native speakers of Russian.

In addition, it includes former deportees from the territory of the then Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and their relatives.

It also applies to persons under 18 years of age declared as having no legal capacity in a foreign state whose parents are either also getting a residence permit or staying in Russia permanently; legally capable persons who were Soviet nationals as of September 5, 1991, or who arrived in Russia for residence before November 1, 2002; and those who failed to obtain Russian citizenship in the established procedure but are lacking foreign citizenship either. The eased rules are also introduced for skilled specialists and members of their families who have worked in Russia for at least half a year.

Applications for a residence permit will be considered within four months instead of the current six. One more novelty is the introduction of an indefinite leave to remain. However, it will be withdrawn unless a foreign citizen continuously notifies the Russian Interior Ministry about his or her residence in Russia within any two calendar years after getting such residence permit.

Foreign applicants for the indefinite leave to remain who received a residence permit before January 1, 2015, will need to submit the document confirming their command of the Russian language and knowledge of the Russian history and law only once.

Besides, foreigners born in Russia, married to Russian nationals or investing in the Russian economy to the amount that will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers, will be eligible to a temporary residence permit. The list also includes persons joining the army and those on the program for resettlement of fellow countrymen, Ukrainian nationals and stateless persons living there on a permanent basis who have been recognized as refugees and got asylum in Russia.

If the president signs the law, it will come into effect 90 days after being officially published.