Home/Blue-collar workers

Who we source

Foreign blue-collar workers for industry and construction

Welders, concrete workers, masons, machine operators, order pickers, drivers and machinists from 25+ countries. We verify the skill on work video before any ticket is bought, deliver them to your site, and replace them free of charge within 90 days.

25+source countries
4–8weeks to arrival on site
48–72hours to first shortlist
90days replacement guarantee

Trades

Who we bring in and how long it takes

RoleMain source countriesTime to arrival
Welder MIG/TIGIndia, Uzbekistan5–7 weeks
Concrete worker, steel fixerBangladesh, India5–8 weeks
Mason, installerIndia, Bangladesh5–8 weeks
CNC machine operatorIndia, Vietnam6–8 weeks
General construction labourerBangladesh, Uzbekistan4–6 weeks
Order picker, stock keeperUzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan4–5 weeks
Driver, category C or EIndia, Kyrgyzstan6–8 weeks
Sewing machine operatorIndia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka5–7 weeks
Food production workerVietnam, Uzbekistan5–7 weeks
Cleaning and facility staffUzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan3–5 weeks

Countries

Which qualification comes from where

CountryWhat we source there
IndiaWelders (MIG/TIG), CNC operators, masons, category C/E drivers, sewing machinists. The deepest talent pool and our most developed recruiting network.
BangladeshLarge-scale construction, concrete work, packing, warehousing. Works well where you need volume and consistency on repetitive operations.
VietnamAssembly, electronics, garment and food production. The lowest turnover of any source country we work with.
Sri LankaCrafts, finishing work, hospitality, garment production. Part of the talent pool speaks English.
BhutanConstruction, agriculture, facility operations. A small but steady flow.
Uzbekistan and KyrgyzstanVisa-free countries: faster arrival, simpler paperwork. Construction, warehousing, logistics, facility services.

Choosing a country is not a matter of taste but of trade. A mason or general labourer is cheaper and faster from Uzbekistan. A welder with a genuine grade, a CNC operator or a machinist with factory experience comes from India or Vietnam — even though the visa cycle is 2–3 weeks longer.

Screening

How we verify that a worker can actually do the job

Work video

The candidate films the operation: a weld in the required position, a part on a machine, brickwork, a seam. It is the only way to verify a manual skill remotely.

before shortlist

Self-presentation video

How the person speaks, what they expect from the job, whether they are ready for the schedule and climate. It filters out those who will not travel or will leave within a month.

before shortlist

Documents and background

Passport, education and skill-grade certificates, criminal record certificate, medical fitness.

2–4 days

Your interview

Optional online interview with your foreman or supervisor. Many clients watch the video only and find that sufficient.

per your schedule

Pre-departure preparation

Basic safety, everyday rules, expectations. This affects retention past month three rather than arrival itself.

1–2 weeks

Conditions

What the employer usually provides

Employer’s side

  • Work permit and invitation letter for the consulate
  • Flights to the place of work and back
  • Reimbursement of visa costs
  • Airport pickup on arrival
  • Accommodation and meals
  • Overtime and insurance per the Russian Labour Code

SmartRecruit Pro’s side

  • Sourcing and selection against the skill grade
  • Skill verification on work video
  • Documents on the source-country side
  • Logistics and escort to the site
  • Onboarding and check-ins on day 7, 30 and 90
  • Free replacement within 90 days

A real example of terms from one of our projects: a sewing machinist from India, net pay 70,000 roubles a month, 12-hour shifts, 26 days a month, a two-year employment contract and a work visa for the same term with an option to extend, selected on work video and a self-presentation video.

FAQ

What employers ask most

Which countries do you bring blue-collar workers from?

The main directions are India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bhutan through the visa channel, and Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan through the visa-free one. Our sourcing network covers more than 25 countries, but these are the ones that give a predictable flow in blue-collar trades.

What does a foreign worker cost?

The cost is the recruitment fee, documents and travel, and keeping people on site. For visa countries the consular stage and flights are the main lines; for visa-free countries the budget is noticeably lighter. As a reference: in a project sourcing machinists from India, net pay was 70,000 roubles a month on a 12-hour, 26-day schedule, with accommodation and meals provided by the employer.

What qualifications are realistically available?

MIG/TIG welders, CNC machine operators, concrete workers, steel fixers, masons, installers, category C and E drivers, order pickers and stock keepers, sewing machine operators, food production workers, cleaning and facility staff.

Do the workers speak Russian?

From visa-free countries, generally yes, at a conversational level. From visa countries, usually not; in that case the crew is built around a foreman who speaks Russian or English, and basic safety is covered in pre-departure preparation. Part of the pool from Sri Lanka and India speaks English.

Foreign blue-collar workers: matching country to trade

The practical question when hiring foreign workers is not "where is it cheaper" but "where does the qualification exist and how long will it take to arrive". Those two parameters are almost always in conflict.

Fast, but simpler qualifications: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan

Visa-free entry; citizens of Kyrgyzstan, as an EAEU state, need no patent either. Time from request to arrival on site is 3–5 weeks. The pool: general labourers, concrete workers, masons, order pickers, drivers, cleaning and facility staff. Skilled welding and machine trades do occur in this flow, but competition for such people is high and they are already taken.

Slower, but a deeper pool: India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka

The visa channel: a quota, a permit to engage foreign labour, an invitation letter and a work permit are required, and the timeline is 5–8 weeks. In return you get what the visa-free market has largely run out of: MIG/TIG welders with factory experience, CNC operators, machinists with production records, electronics assemblers. Contracts usually run two years, which gives predictable staffing over two seasons.

How many people you are allowed

Before counting timelines and money, check the limit. For 2026 the shares were cut: construction 50%, forestry and wood processing 40%, road freight transport 24%, retail sale of alcohol, tobacco and medicines 0%. If the limit is used up, foreign workers can still work on your site — but through outstaffing, where they are employed by the provider.

Why CV screening does not work for blue-collar trades

A skill-grade certificate is not hard to obtain in the source countries, and length of service in a form is written from the candidate’s own account. The only way to verify a manual skill remotely is to see the work. We ask the candidate to film the operation for your profile: a weld in the required position, a part on a machine, brickwork, a seam. You watch the video before any ticket is paid for, and you make the decision. We can afford a 90-day replacement guarantee precisely because most mismatches are filtered out at that stage.

See also

Let us fill your vacancies with foreign workers

Send us your positions and timeline — we will come back with pricing, start dates and the legal setup. First shortlist within 48–72 hours.