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Since 1989, Russia has received on its soil more than 10 million migrants from various countries. If immigration was only a secondary issue in the 1990s, it has now become one of the main political, social and economical stakes. Because of the demographic decline, which is already affecting the amount of available workforce, Russia will not be able to do without immigration. Nowadays, the flows from the Community of Independent States (CIS) are the most dynamic and play a part in maintaining the link between the old centre and its peripheries. Moreover, they are at the origin of evolutions, which influence not only the relations between Russia and its “close foreigner”, but also Russian domestic policy concerning immigration.