Registration of foreign citizens in Russia

Contents:

• Who needs registration and why
• Registration at place of stay
• Registration at place of residence
• Procedure for foreign citizen’s registration at place of residence in the Russian Federation, necessary documents
• For how long registration at place of stay is issued
• Migration registration form
• Peculiarities of foreigners’ registration in the Russian Federation in 2020
• What to expect and how to protect yourself in the absence of migration registration

Migration registration: what does this term mean

Migration registration of foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Russian Federation is state activity for recording and summarizing information about foreign citizens and their movements, carried out for the purpose of developing and implementing state migration policy, as well as for conducting state statistical monitoring in the field of migration. Migration registration is of notification nature and includes registration of foreign citizens at place of residence and registration of them at place of stay.

Who needs registration and why

Almost all foreign citizens and stateless persons who have arrived on the territory of Russia require registration (notification) in the framework of migration registration at place of stay.

Exception may be only some few categories of persons (for example, highly qualified specialists and members of their families; crews of military ships arrived in Russia on official state visit and ships when leaving shore and stay on site longer than 24 hours; traveling through Russia in transit; crew members of aircraft, trains and buses if they do not leave the area of airport, railway station, bus station, etc.; travelers who have been in Russia less than seven days).

Registration of foreign citizens in Russia is needed to protect themselves from possible problems with law in future.

Registration at place of stay

A foreign citizen is registered at place of stay:

• at the address of dwelling that is not his residence, where foreign citizen actually resides or at the address of hotel or other organization rendering hotel services, sanatorium, rest home, boarding house, children’s camps, tourist bases, camping or other premises in which he actually resides, 
• in medical organization or social service organization providing services in stationary form, 
• at the address of organization where foreign citizen performs labor or other activities not prohibited by law, in case of his actual residence at the address of specified organization or in premises of specified organization that does not have address data (building, structure), including temporary.

Foreigners permanently and temporarily residing in the Russian Federation are required to register in this way after seven working days from the date of arrival at place of stay.

Registration at place of residence

Foreign citizen permanently or temporarily residing in the Russian Federation who is entitled to use residential premises located on the territory of the Russian Federation must register at the address of specified premises.

Procedure for foreign citizen’s registration at place of residence in the Russian Federation, necessary documents

Registration of foreign citizens at place of stay is carried out when migration authority receives notifications of foreigners’ arrival at place of stay.

To do so foreign citizen upon arrival at place of stay should provide the receiving party with document proving his identity and migration card; after the receiving party submits notification about his arrival at place of stay the foreigner receives detachable part of the form of the notice.

Meanwhile, receiving party shall submit a notice of foreigner’s arrival at place of stay to the migration authority directly or through multifunctional center or send it by mail or other means, and sends a foreign citizen detachable part of the arrival notification confirming foreigner’s arrival in stay place.

Foreign citizen permanently residing in the Russian Federation, with written consent of the receiving party, has the right to independently notify the relevant migration authority about his/her arrival at place of stay directly or by mail in accordance with established procedure.

Host party’s and (or) foreign citizen’s performance of the actions necessary for registration at place of stay is confirmed by a mark in the detachable part of notification form on the arrival of foreign citizen at place of stay, affixed in accordance with established procedure by migration authority, hotel or federal post service.

When registering at place of residence foreign citizen’s application on registration at place of residence should be submitted to the migration authority at the location of dwelling, which foreign citizen has chosen as his residence, within seven working days from the date of receipt of temporary residence permit or permanent residence permit or from the date of arrival at location of above-mentioned premises.

When foreign citizen or stateless person submits an application for registration at place of residence to an official of migration authority, the following documents are necessary:

1) a foreign citizen permanently or temporarily residing in the Russian Federation:

a. an identity document;

b. permanent residence permit or temporary residence permit;

c. documents confirming the right to use residential premises;

2) stateless person permanently or temporarily residing in the Russian Federation:

a. permanent residence permit or temporary residence permit;

b. documents confirming the right to use residential premises.

For how long registration at place of stay is issued

Terms of registration at place of stay vary greatly depending on the purpose of stay and country the person arrived from. As a general rule, for visa countries, this period does not exceed validity period of visa, and for visa-free countries – no more than 90 days in total within period of one hundred and eighty days.

Migration registration form

Form for temporary registration of foreign citizen is an established form that is filled out by the receiving party. Please note that since June 2020 the form has been changed.

The receiving party should fill out the notification of foreigner’s arrival. It should not contain any errors or corrections. 

The completed form for registration is submitted to migration authority, where it is carefully checked and marked on the form’s acceptance for migrant’s registration in database. The receiving party still has a separate part of the notification of foreigner’s arrival with a mark.

This detachable part with the seal of migration authority that accepted the form constitutes the document certifying foreigner’s registration for migration registration in Russia.

Peculiarities of foreigners’ registration in the Russian Federation in 2020

In 2020, there was a number of changes in the field of migration regulation.

So, the planned ones include the fact that now foreign citizens who own residential real estate on the territory of Russia will be able to provide it for the actual residence of other foreign citizens, acting as a host party.

At the same time, the owner of the premises does not have to appear in person to confirm ownership. This action can be performed by an official representative of the owner under a notarized power of attorney. 

The application for registration at the place of residence can be submitted in person or in electronic form through the portal of public services.

Unplanned changes were made due to measures taken in terms of declared COVID-19 pandemic.

They include postponement of events relating to holding European football Championship 2020, as well as suspension of deadlines for certain migration documents.

So, in the period from March 15 to September 15, 2020, terms of following permits will be automatically suspended: 

• visa;
• migration card;
• registration at place of stay/at place of residence (however, if a foreigner changes place of temporary stay or place of residence, he/she is registered for migration according to the general rules (within 7 days from the moment of arrival);
• temporary residence permit;
• permanent residence permit.

Suspension of terms means that when the validity period of one of the above-mentioned documents expires, the foreigner or the owner of the apartment where the foreigner lives does not have to go to migration authority and apply for extension. The permit will be valid for another 6 months after the expiration date.

What to expect and how to protect yourself in the absence of migration registration

If a foreign citizen does not have migration registration, he/she will be required to pay a fine in the amount from 2 to 5 thousand rubles with or without administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation, and if such a violation is committed in Moscow or St. Petersburg or in its regions, then 5 to 7 thousand rubles with or without administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation.