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.
Having mastered the first hurdle and holding your work permit and Russian Visa in your hands you feel a short moment of happiness. However, many visitors know the pain when they arrive in Russia. They have to register themselves with the Russian local authorities to avoid problems and fines when leaving the country. As most of the visitors are not familiar with the Russian language and don't like to spend time in queues at Russian administration offices they use the services of local service companies which provide a registration paper for a couple of Rubles without any hassle. But this time is over now.
From the legal point, it was never allowed being registered at a fictitious address. However, it was kind of tolerated. Now, being registered at a "virtual address" will be treated as a criminal offense. The person processing such a registration is facing huge fines from 2.000 to 5.000 Euro and jail up to 3 years. The person being registered will be sentenced guilty and fined as well, if it is provable that the person knew that the registration happened under a virtual address.
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 is important to know: It is the duty of the receiving side to register a foreign person in Russia. This can be the inviting person or institution. Usually this is the host or landlord as the place of stay factually counts as the decisive criteria. The good thing is, that you don't have to go yourselves to the registration office. The landlord should do that. Nowadays the registration can be done simply by public post. You are only obliged to hand over a copy of your passport and migration card you received at the boarder to Russia to your landlord.
There are some cases where Russian Courts decided that foreigners could be penalized for the missing registration despite of the fact that copy of passport and migration card had been handed over to the landlord. There are other cases where the Russian Court decided that the foreigners could not be penalized for not being registered. Unfortunately, sometimes legal entitlement and reality do not meet each other in Russia. Despite of the fact that the host or landlord is obliged to register the guest, doesn't matter if it is a Russian or foreign person. In the practice you will experience very often that already at the negotiation stage for renting a flat the landlord will tell you that the flat will be lent only 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.
Having mastered the first hurdle and holding your work permit and Russian Visa in your hands you feel a short moment of happiness. However, many visitors know the pain when they arrive in Russia. They have to register themselves with the Russian local authorities to avoid problems and fines when leaving the country. As most of the visitors are not familiar with the Russian language and don't like to spend time in queues at Russian administration offices they use the services of local service companies which provide a registration paper for a couple of Rubles without any hassle. But this time is over now.
From the legal point, it was never allowed being registered at a fictitious address. However, it was kind of tolerated. Now, being registered at a "virtual address" will be treated as a criminal offense. The person processing such a registration is facing huge fines from 2.000 to 5.000 Euro and jail up to 3 years. The person being registered will be sentenced guilty and fined as well, if it is provable that the person knew that the registration happened under a virtual address.
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 is important to know: It is the duty of the receiving side to register a foreign person in Russia. This can be the inviting person or institution. Usually this is the host or landlord as the place of stay factually counts as the decisive criteria. The good thing is, that you don't have to go yourselves to the registration office. The landlord should do that. Nowadays the registration can be done simply by public post. You are only obliged to hand over a copy of your passport and migration card you received at the boarder to Russia to your landlord.
There are some cases where Russian Courts decided that foreigners could be penalized for the missing registration despite of the fact that copy of passport and migration card had been handed over to the landlord. There are other cases where the Russian Court decided that the foreigners could not be penalized for not being registered. Unfortunately, sometimes legal entitlement and reality do not meet each other in Russia. Despite of the fact that the host or landlord is obliged to register the guest, doesn't matter if it is a Russian or foreign person. In the practice you will experience very often that already at the negotiation stage for renting a flat the landlord will tell you that the flat will be lent only 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.
