Once upon a time it was sufficient to pay some Rubles and having a stamp on a piece of paper to have an acceptable registration for Russia. But the times have changed and since January 3rd, 2014 if is a legal crime if you are registered with under a fictitious address. However, the law may be on your side when you are not obviously breaking the rules.
You just have got your work permit and Russian Visa and you are already on the way to Russia, not knowing what hurdle you have to master next. It is the registration of you in Russia. Without a proper registration you will get problems and probably a fine when leaving the country. Usually many visitors of the Russian country try to avoid the pain of making a correct registration. Instead of standing in a queue at the local administration office they use the service of a company, which provides a registration paper fast and uncomplicated for a small fee. The bad news, you might get in huge trouble by doing so any further.
Legally correct was such a registration never, but it was somehow tolerated. But now, starting from January 3rd, 2014, such a "fictitious registration" is treated as a criminal action and can lead to a fine from 100.000 to 500.000 Rubles (2.000 to 10.000 Euro). Persons processing such registrations can even be jailed for up to 3 years. Along with the person who made the fictive registration also the foreigner will be sentenced guilty if it can be proofed that he was aware that the address of registration was wrong.
A virtual registration want do anymore, however, the registration is still obligatory. The good thing is, that not being registered is by far not considered such a strong crime than being registered under a fictitious address. The consequences are much milder. In theory, a non-registered migrant even may not be fined at all.
What you need to know: The obligation for registration of a foreign person in Russia is duty of the housing side. It can, but doesn't have to be the person or institution, which invited the foreigner. The determining criteria, is the factual place of stay. You don't have to go yourself to the local administrative office, you are only obliged to handover a copy of the passport and the migration card, which you received on the border to Russia, to your host or landlord. The host or landlord can then proceed with your registration, which nowadays can be done by post.
In practice there are some cases where the foreign person handed over a copy of the passport and migration card to the landlord and anyway was sentenced guilty for not registering properly. And there are other court decisions where it was decided that the foreign person could not be sentenced as it provided the landlord with the required documents. As it happens from time to time, reality and legal entitlement are far from each other, doesn't matter that by law the host or landlord is obliged the execute the registration of the hosted person. Unfortunately, in reality you will hear at negotiation stage when renting a flat that the flat can be only rented without registration.
What can you do now to be on the save side? If the landlord refused the receipt of passport copy and migration card you need to document that you fulfilled your obligation. This can be done, by sending passport copy and migration card by registered mail with content list and receipt confirmation. One could think that this is the best way to be thrown out of your flat, however, if you hold a legal binding renting agreement in your hands, this has even in Russia some legal power and you can hope that you cannot be set on the street easily.
You just have got your work permit and Russian Visa and you are already on the way to Russia, not knowing what hurdle you have to master next. It is the registration of you in Russia. Without a proper registration you will get problems and probably a fine when leaving the country. Usually many visitors of the Russian country try to avoid the pain of making a correct registration. Instead of standing in a queue at the local administration office they use the service of a company, which provides a registration paper fast and uncomplicated for a small fee. The bad news, you might get in huge trouble by doing so any further.
Legally correct was such a registration never, but it was somehow tolerated. But now, starting from January 3rd, 2014, such a "fictitious registration" is treated as a criminal action and can lead to a fine from 100.000 to 500.000 Rubles (2.000 to 10.000 Euro). Persons processing such registrations can even be jailed for up to 3 years. Along with the person who made the fictive registration also the foreigner will be sentenced guilty if it can be proofed that he was aware that the address of registration was wrong.
A virtual registration want do anymore, however, the registration is still obligatory. The good thing is, that not being registered is by far not considered such a strong crime than being registered under a fictitious address. The consequences are much milder. In theory, a non-registered migrant even may not be fined at all.
What you need to know: The obligation for registration of a foreign person in Russia is duty of the housing side. It can, but doesn't have to be the person or institution, which invited the foreigner. The determining criteria, is the factual place of stay. You don't have to go yourself to the local administrative office, you are only obliged to handover a copy of the passport and the migration card, which you received on the border to Russia, to your host or landlord. The host or landlord can then proceed with your registration, which nowadays can be done by post.
In practice there are some cases where the foreign person handed over a copy of the passport and migration card to the landlord and anyway was sentenced guilty for not registering properly. And there are other court decisions where it was decided that the foreign person could not be sentenced as it provided the landlord with the required documents. As it happens from time to time, reality and legal entitlement are far from each other, doesn't matter that by law the host or landlord is obliged the execute the registration of the hosted person. Unfortunately, in reality you will hear at negotiation stage when renting a flat that the flat can be only rented without registration.
What can you do now to be on the save side? If the landlord refused the receipt of passport copy and migration card you need to document that you fulfilled your obligation. This can be done, by sending passport copy and migration card by registered mail with content list and receipt confirmation. One could think that this is the best way to be thrown out of your flat, however, if you hold a legal binding renting agreement in your hands, this has even in Russia some legal power and you can hope that you cannot be set on the street easily.
About the Author:
Michael Haase is the owner and Managing Director of RUSCONSULT24. RUSCONSULT24 is a Russia Consulting company. The company is specialized in business consulting and provision of services to foreign companies in Russia. The services include the outsourcing of bookkeeping, application for work- permits and Russian visa and search for human resources. Visit our website by clicking at the links above for more information.
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