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.
Simply being registered, that doesn't work anymore since January 3rd, 2014. The registration is still obligatory, however, being not registered has much less consequences than being registered on a fictitious address. But to make it a bit more complicated: the Russian law about the registration of migrants says that non-registered foreigners even might not be fined at all, at least theoretically.
It is important to know that responsible for the registration of a person is the receiving or housing side. That might be the inviting person or institution. The decisive criteria, is the place of stay of that person. This makes the host or landlord usually responsible for the registration. You don't have to go yourself to the registration office. Registration can be done nowadays by post and it shouldn't be a big hassle for the landlord to register you. You only have to make sure that you hand over to your landlord copies of your migration card and passport.
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.
But there are things you can do to be legally more save in such cases. You need to make sure that you fulfilled your part of the obligation, meaning you need to provide your landlord with a copy of passport and migration card. If the landlord refused to accept these documents you should send it by registered mail with content list and receipt confirmation. You might think this is the best way to get thrown out of your flat. This is a dilemma one has to live with, but there is still the hope on the Russian legal system and with having a legal renting agreement in your hands no one can easily put on the street.
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.
Simply being registered, that doesn't work anymore since January 3rd, 2014. The registration is still obligatory, however, being not registered has much less consequences than being registered on a fictitious address. But to make it a bit more complicated: the Russian law about the registration of migrants says that non-registered foreigners even might not be fined at all, at least theoretically.
It is important to know that responsible for the registration of a person is the receiving or housing side. That might be the inviting person or institution. The decisive criteria, is the place of stay of that person. This makes the host or landlord usually responsible for the registration. You don't have to go yourself to the registration office. Registration can be done nowadays by post and it shouldn't be a big hassle for the landlord to register you. You only have to make sure that you hand over to your landlord copies of your migration card and passport.
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.
But there are things you can do to be legally more save in such cases. You need to make sure that you fulfilled your part of the obligation, meaning you need to provide your landlord with a copy of passport and migration card. If the landlord refused to accept these documents you should send it by registered mail with content list and receipt confirmation. You might think this is the best way to get thrown out of your flat. This is a dilemma one has to live with, but there is still the hope on the Russian legal system and with having a legal renting agreement in your hands no one can easily put on the street.
About the Author:
Michael Haase is the owner and Managing Director of RUSCONSULT24 a Russia Consulting company based in Moscow. RUSCONSULT24 consults and provides services to foreign companies based in Russia. The services include the outsourcing of bookkeeping, application for work- permits and Russian visa and search for human resources. Visit RUSCONSULT24 by clicking at the links above for more information.
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