Russia - Register as a Foreigner

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Procedure

If you are travelling on a tourist visa and staying in a hotel, the registration process is normally completed by reception staff on the first day of your stay, and all that you will need to do is provide them with your passport and migration card. The same should be true if you are renting an apartment through an agency. If you have obtained visa support through an agency that is not providing you with accommodation, you should check with the agency to ascertain who will register you in St. Petersburg. If you are traveling on a business visa, the company inviting you is responsible for registering you, while if you have a private visa, then the Russian citizen who invited you will need to register you. Registration can be completed by them at local branches of the Federal Migration Service or any post office, and again they will need your passport and migration card to complete the process.

If, for whatever reason, your accommodation provider is unwilling to register you (despite their legal obligation) there are always agencies in large cities that will register you for a fee.

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Required Documents

• An Application form for visa registration
• A Copy of the passport
• A Copy of the migration card
• A Copy of the Russian visa (if you have it)

Office Locations & Contacts

Federal Migration Service of the Russian Government
FMS of Russia
Address: 109240, Moscow, ul. Upper Radishevskaya 4, building 1, office 107
Phone: Reception: (495) 698-00-78
E-mail: [email protected]

Committee of Foreign Economic and Interregional Relations of Nizhny Novgorod City Administration
603109, Nizhny Novgorod
Suetinskaya Str. 1 A, 200
Tel: (007 831) 433-06-26
Fax (007 831) 433-06-80
E-mail: [email protected]

Visa House
22/2 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Str., Office 18,
Moscow, 125009, Russia
Tel. /Fax: +7 (495) 721-10-21
E-mail: [email protected]

Eligibility

Within 7 days all the foreigners coming to Russia must get migration registration, which means to deliver filled in blank of Arrival Notification of Foreign Citizen to the place of Destination to the local Migration office and get the detachable part of Notification back.

Before leaving Russia as well as moving to another place of stay in Russia foreign citizen must not be removed from the migration control in the local FMS, but have pass the detachable part of the notification form at the exit border guards or other persons upon request.

So it means that visa registration must be done every time the person enters Russia or changes the place of stay in Russia.

Fees

The foreign visitor is administratively responsible for the late registration or non-registration of their visa. The amount of penalty is at least 5000 RUB.

Validity

• 180 days maximum for foreign visitors who are in possession of a Russian visa
• 90 days maximum for citizens of CIS who do not have a valid Work permit
• Until the expiry date of the Work permit for those who are legally registered to worth within the Russian Federation

Foreign national must leave the Russian Federation after the authorized period of stay. To extend the validity of the visa or the period of stay should apply to the territorial agency in advance of the expiry of the aforesaid period.

Documents to Use

Arrival Notification

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

Please explain processing time taken in obtaining the document/certificate.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
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sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
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e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

Once you have been registered, you will be issued by the receiving party with part of the registration form. This form must be submitted by you at passport control when you leave the Russian Federation. Failure to do this can lead to significant fines. If you lose the form during your stay, you will need to go in person to a local branch of the Federal Migration Service to report the loss.

Required Information

• Personal data
• Terms of stay in Russia
• Purposes of visit
• Prospective stay of residence
• The name of the inviting company
• Address of the inviting company
• Address in Moscow where you are expecting to stay
• Contact phone number

Need for the Document

All foreign travelers staying in the Russian Federation must be registered with the Federal Migration Service in the city or region where they are staying within seven days of their arrival. The responsibility for registration lies with the "receiving party" - in other words your accommodation provider or the organization or individual who issued your visa invitation.

Information which might help

Basically, registration involves placing a stamp either in your passport or on your migration card and obtaining a registration slip. The stamps and registration slip show the period you are registered to stay in any one place. In addition to the dates it will also contain the name of the hotel, accommodation or apartment, where you are staying and the name of the sponsor organization.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Russian militia often stop people to check their passports and travel documents, especially around train stations, metro stations, bus stations and areas such as the Kremlin, so remember to take your passport, migration card and registration slip with you every time you leave your hotel or apartment. There is nothing unusual in this and there is nothing to be worried about if you are stopped, so long as you have registered correctly.

External Links

http://www.mid.ru/bul_ns_en.nsf/kartaflat/en08.01
http://www.realrussia.co.uk/visas/russian/registration
http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/main_eng
http://www.fms.gov.ru/

Others

It is the responsibility of the visitor to register in each place where you spend seven working days or more. When registering in each new city (where your stay is seven working days or more), you have to hand in the registration slip from the previous city, so it is recommend taking a copy of all your registration slips. You must hand in the final original registration slip at the border on departure from Russia.