The article describes results of a questionnaire survey by the authors on migration aspirations of Magadan region residents. It has been found out that 69% of respondents intend to leave the region mostly under the influence of its negative image, which hampers Magadan residents to achieve desirable social status. An illusion has been formed in the minds of respondents that exit to the Mainland, as people call the Southern and the Central regions of Russia, is an openly available channel of the upward social mobility. According to prevailing views, Mainland, in contrast to Magadan, provides greater opportunities for social status increase. Geographical transfer is seen as a means of raising social status allegedly explainable by characteristics of modern social mobility, basically by its greater speed, by status stability, and expected ablity of persons involved to retain and to demonstrate results of mobility.