Once upon a time it was sufficient to pay some Rubles and to have a stamp on a piece of paper to have an acceptable registration for Russia. But the times have changed and since January 3rd, 2014 it 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 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. To avoid waiting in queues at local administration offices they use the service of companies, which provide 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 it was tolerated, but never allowed to be registered at a "fictitious address". Being registered with such a "virtual flat" became now a legal crime. People or companies providing such registrations can be fined from RUB 100.000 to 500.000 (about 2.000 to 5.000 EURO). Furthermore, there may be an imprisonment for up to three years for such activity. If it can be proved that the person to be registered knew about the "fictitious registration" it also can be fined and treated as guilty.
The registration of a person in Russia was and is still obligatory, but "being simply registered" is not enough anymore. The good news are: Being not registered has much fewer consequences than being incorrectly registered. And there are things you can do to be more on the legally save side. The Russian law says that non-registered migrants may not be fined at all, at least in theory.
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 factual counts as the decisive criteria. The good point is that you don't have to go yourselves to the registration office. The landlord should do that. Nowadays the registration can be done easily by public postal service. You are only required to hand over a copy of your passport and migration card you received at the border to Russia to your landlord.
In practice, there are some cases where the foreign person handed over a copy of the passport and migration card to the landlord and was sentenced guiltily for not registering properly. And, there are other court decisions where it was decided that the foreign person should 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 required the execute the registration of the hosted person. Unfortunately, in fact, you will hear at negotiation stage when renting a flat that the flat can be only rented without registration.
If you rented a flat already, there are things you can do to make sure you are more on the safe side than breaking the rules. What you need to do is handing over copies of migration card and passport to your landlord. If the landlord doesn't want to accept these documents, you should send them by registered postal service with receipt confirmation and stating a list of contents. The dilemma is that your landlord might try to put you on the street. But there is hope in the Russian legal system, and if you have a signed renting agreement in your hands this cannot be done easily and fast.
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 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. To avoid waiting in queues at local administration offices they use the service of companies, which provide 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 it was tolerated, but never allowed to be registered at a "fictitious address". Being registered with such a "virtual flat" became now a legal crime. People or companies providing such registrations can be fined from RUB 100.000 to 500.000 (about 2.000 to 5.000 EURO). Furthermore, there may be an imprisonment for up to three years for such activity. If it can be proved that the person to be registered knew about the "fictitious registration" it also can be fined and treated as guilty.
The registration of a person in Russia was and is still obligatory, but "being simply registered" is not enough anymore. The good news are: Being not registered has much fewer consequences than being incorrectly registered. And there are things you can do to be more on the legally save side. The Russian law says that non-registered migrants may not be fined at all, at least in theory.
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 factual counts as the decisive criteria. The good point is that you don't have to go yourselves to the registration office. The landlord should do that. Nowadays the registration can be done easily by public postal service. You are only required to hand over a copy of your passport and migration card you received at the border to Russia to your landlord.
In practice, there are some cases where the foreign person handed over a copy of the passport and migration card to the landlord and was sentenced guiltily for not registering properly. And, there are other court decisions where it was decided that the foreign person should 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 required the execute the registration of the hosted person. Unfortunately, in fact, you will hear at negotiation stage when renting a flat that the flat can be only rented without registration.
If you rented a flat already, there are things you can do to make sure you are more on the safe side than breaking the rules. What you need to do is handing over copies of migration card and passport to your landlord. If the landlord doesn't want to accept these documents, you should send them by registered postal service with receipt confirmation and stating a list of contents. The dilemma is that your landlord might try to put you on the street. But there is hope in the Russian legal system, and if you have a signed renting agreement in your hands this cannot be done easily and fast.
About the Author:
Michael Haase is the owner and Managing Director of RUSCONSULT24 a Russia Consulting company based in Moscow. The company consults and provides services to foreign firms based in Russia. The services include the outsourcing of bookkeeping, application for work- permits and Russian visa and search for human resources. Visit RUSCONSULT24 at the links above for more information.
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