The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the intensification of migration processes and formation of post-Soviet migration system in which Russia plays the role of the recipient country. During the post-Soviet decades the configuration of migration flows changed resulting in the mass migration consisting largely of young residents of the Central Asian and Transcaucasian republics. Labor migration is primarily a return migration, however, a significant proportion of labor migrants settle in Russia, staying legally or illegally.

Drawing on a long-term fieldwork which comprised participant observation and series of in-depth interviews with first-generation migrants in St. Petersburg, Russia we explore the migrants' decisions to stay in Russia despite the failure of their initial expectations and weak integration into receiving society.

We suggest that initial decision to migrate is taken collectively by households as a strategy to control risk by diversifying sources of income and acquiring capital in the form of regular remittances to finance production and consumption. It is overwhelmingly a temporary migration. On the segmented labor market in Russia migrants are mostly offered unskilled and semi-skilled 3D jobs shunned by local workers as being of low prestige.

However, this fact does not undermine migrants' social status, because for them these jobs are only a means to the end of earning money for improving their life at home. On the contrary, in the perception of their home communities their status is raised. However, with the accumulation of migration experience some migrants extend their stay in Russia, repeat it and finally settle down. Those who successfully integrate in Russian society maintain their status in both societies. Those who fail to integrate rely on their social networks and stay in Russia fearing to definitely lose their status at home, if they return.