Social media is littered with accounts of Westerners who say they are moving to Russia to escape what they deem society's moral decline – and what others see as much-needed migration and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
For those determined to make the move, there is a way: since last year, Russia has offered a "shared values" visa scheme, aimed at attracting foreigners who reject what Vladimir Putin calls "destructive neoliberal ideology". The president is seeking immigrants of the "anti-woke" variety, committed to traditional, conservative values.
What is the 'Shared Values Visa'?
Putin introduced the visa with a decree in August 2024, saying it was designed to "provide humanitarian support to people who share traditional Russian spiritual and moral values". Citizens or residents of countries Moscow considers "opposed to Russia" – 47 in total, including most European countries, the US, Australia and Japan – have the right to apply for what is informally known as the "anti-woke visa".
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The process is expedited: unlike most immigration visas, there are no quotas, or requirements for knowledge of the Russian language, culture, or laws. But applicants must demonstrate that they disagree with the policies of their country that contradict "traditional" Western or Russian values. The visa is usually issued for three years, and can be converted into citizenship. Those who obtain residency are eligible for pension and child payments, and health care.
Is this really happening?
"The Russian state media reports extensively on what they see as successful cases, helping create the impression that many Western expats are moving to Russia," said DW. A spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of the Interior said 1,156 people had applied for the "Shared Values Visa" by May, nine months after its introduction. The largest group, comprising 224, were from Germany.
About 700 people have obtained this visa so far this year, according to The Washington Post. "Hundreds of others" have moved on work or student visas, or as spouses of Russian citizens, according to Maria Butina, a Russian political activist convicted in 2018 of "acting as an unregistered foreign agent" in the US. She was deported to Russia in 2019, where she is now a lawmaker and director of an organisation that helps foreigners obtain this visa.
One man who moved his family from Texas to Russia earlier this year to "escape 'woke' America" has been sent to fight in the war with Ukraine, said The Telegraph. Derek Huffman, 46, relocated to a small town about 25 miles from Moscow with his family, and agreed to join the Russian military "in a non-combat capacity", thinking he would be a "welder and later a war correspondent". But despite no experience as a soldier and "limited" understanding of Russian, his wife says he has been sent "near" the front line.
What does Russia get out of it?
This is "symbolic politics", Katharina Bluhm, head of the Institute for East European Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, told DW. Russia uses the positive stories of Western immigrants to show its citizens: we "fulfil what they miss in the decadent West". And the message to the West is: "We represent the better Europe, the Europe of patriotism and traditional values and gender roles that no longer exist elsewhere."
Russia's foreign broadcaster RT, sanctioned by the US and many European governments, finances social media videos in which resettled foreigners praise Russia and criticise the countries they left.
These videos are "part of a larger soft-power effort by Moscow" to portray Russia as "orderly, stable and poised to thrive despite international isolation", said The Washington Post. "Their journey reflects the ideological narrative Putin has spent years crafting: Russia as the guardian of family-centred traditions amid a Western world spiralling into moral and social decay."
But the "ideological angle" is a "velvet glove, hiding a far more calculating economic fist", said UnHerd. The true nature of this visa is "driven by a ruthless economic logic": Russia, like many other Brics countries, needs highly skilled migrants. Now, the West seems like a "potential goldmine" of these workers, which is "simply a good deal" for Russia: all the benefits, none of the costs of training or educating them.
In addition, there are Russia's "terrible demographics": its population has long been shrinking; its fertility rate is far lower than the replacement rate, and its war on Ukraine has led to high casualties and emigration, especially of young Russians. All of this is "strictly business", laying the groundwork "to loot the West of talent the moment a crisis or moment of weakness strikes".
