A total of 343 MPs voted for the bill, 117 more than the needed figure, which amends the law on the legal status of foreign citizens in Russia.
In particular, under the bill employers will be able to employ citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose association of former Soviet states, without having to receive a special permit from the authorities.
The State Duma also passed in the first reading a bill simplifying the registration procedure for foreigners and people with no citizenship. The bill also envisions the creation of a migrant database.
A deputy from the pro-presidential United Russia faction, Nikolai Gonchar, highlighted the worrying demographic situation in the country and the shortfall in labor.
"Russia categorically lacks workers," he said, adding that the current regulations in regard to migrants were not working properly and created conditions for corruption. Given that many workers from the CIS are unskilled and flock to the many building sites, particularly in the capital, he said a failure to address this problem could lead to a sharp growth in prices for housing in Moscow.
However, a deputy from the nationalist Rodina (Motherland) faction, Andrei Savelyev, said the bill would make Russians' life harder as it would "open possibilities for all migration winds across the post-Soviet space."
Rodina courted controversy in last year's election campaign for the Moscow legislature with adverts that appeared to call for immigrants to be expelled from the capital.
