Renewal of registration in the Russian Federation

Contents:

• The duration of stay and registration
• Reasons for extending the deadline
• Where to apply for renewal of registration in the Russian Federation
• Order of actions
• Legal grounds for refusal
• Responsibility for lack of registration
• Reissue of registration
• Renewal of registration of the patent

Migration registration includes state activities for collecting, storing, summarizing information about visitors. Registration in the migration authority is a mandatory procedure to every foreigner who comes to Russia, the exceptions are not provided. Unless for some categories of visitors there is a standard registration period of 7 working days, and for other categories the law provides for a longer period.

The duration of stay and registration

The law provides the exact period of registration. Violation of this requirement is fraught with large fines and other sanctions from the regulatory authorities.

The standard time to register  is 7 working days from the moment of crossing the Russian border. Moreover, this requirement is relevant both for citizens of countries that have a visa regime with the Russian Federation, and for those who came from a country with a visa-free regime.

For citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan, there is a longer period to register with the migration authority: 15 days from the date of entry. 

However, this is not the only exception to the general rule:

• Foreigners with the status of highly qualified specialists enjoy a grace period of stay in Russia without the obligation to register. This period is 90 days after entering the Russian Federation. After this period, a foreign citizen has 7 working days to apply for registration.
• Holders of a temporary residence permit are required to register within 7 working days after receiving the temporary resident permit. This rule also applies to foreigners who have obtained a permanent residence permit in Russia.
• Citizens of the member States of the Eurasian economic Union can register within 30 days from the moment of crossing the Russian border, only if the entry is made for the purpose of work. In all other cases, citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union countries must register within 7 business days.

If you cross the border of the Russian Federation and register with the Ministry of internal Affairs for the first time, this situation is called primary migration registration. The law assumes that your registration is valid for no longer than three months from the moment you cross the border. This is necessary to determine the primary period of stay of a foreign citizen in the country. What should I do if I plan to stay for a longer period? In this case, you can apply for renewal of registration in the Russian Federation in three months.

Reasons for extending the deadline

You do not need any grounds to register for primary registration. It is enough to present an identity card, migration card, and information about the place of stay. The law does not require more. However, if a foreigner wants to stay in Russia for a longer period than 3 months, they will have to submit the relevant grounds to the migration service. For example, such a basis may be official employment in the Russian Federation.

Renewal of registration of foreign citizens in Russia is also possible if there are the following reasons:

• waiting for a temporary residence permit;
• waiting for a residence permit;
• applying for a work visa;
• official status of a refugee or temporary migrant;
• inviting a foreigner as a highly qualified specialist;
• getting a degree in a Russian state university.

Please note that each of these grounds must be confirmed by submitting an official document to the migration service. If there are separate grounds, you can extend the registration period for three years. However, this only applies to obtaining a temporary residence permit.

Where to apply for renewal of registration in the Russian Federation

Migration registration issues are handled by the Ministry of internal Affairs. Accordingly, you need to contact the nearest Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of stay or residence. You should take it with you:

• statement;
• current registration;
• ID (passport);
• documents confirming the right to extend the Russian registration.

Order of actions

An application for renewal of registration of a foreign citizen in Russia is made in any form. The law does not provide for special forms or strict forms for filling them out. However, the application must include the following information:

• full name;
• date of birth;
• citizenship (citizenship);
• type and details of the passport;
• type and details of the document confirming the right to reside in Russia;
• address of residence or stay in the Russian Federation.

A foreigner can apply to the Ministry of internal Affairs on their own. For minors or disabled citizens, this can be done by their guardians. In addition, the law provides for the possibility to hire an official representative who will take care of contacting state bodies.

You can also apply for renewal of registration of a foreign citizen in Russia using the public Services portal. To do this, you need to create a personal account on the site, select the service you are interested in, and apply in electronic form. You can create a personal account on the website of public Services or in the service center.

After that, you will have to wait for the decision of the migration service: the application will be considered within three days.

Legal grounds for refusal

The decision of the state authorities may not be in favor of the foreigner. But there are not many reasons for refusal, and difficulties are easily prevented. The migration service will refuse to extend registration if the foreign citizen cannot justify the need to stay in the country, or there are reasons, but they have not been documented.

In addition, registration will be refused if its terms have expired, so it is important to track the validity of the primary registration to apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in time. Finally, the state authorities will refuse to extend the registration if you specify deliberately false information in the application, submit fake documents, or an incomplete package of documents. Of course, illegal residence in the country is also considered as a ground for refusal of registration.

The decision of state bodies can be appealed in administrative or judicial proceedings. Therefore, if you are sure that there are no grounds for refusal, and the application was wrapped up without legitimate reasons, contact our lawyers. Specialists will be able to get the registration extended. Most often, such conflicts can be resolved in a pre-trial manner.

Responsibility for lack of registration

The absence of registration can lead to administrative or criminal liability, not only for the foreigner, but also for the person who provided him with housing in Russia. Most often we are talking about fines, but sometimes the court can impose a penalty in the form of work or issue a ban on entry to Russia.

However, in 2020, the corona virus pandemic made some adjustments to migration accounting issues. Due to the epidemic and related restrictions, the validity of permits for foreigners has been changed. If the registration period was supposed to end between March 15 and December 15, it was automatically extended for 276 days.

Reissue of registration

In addition to renewal the registration of foreign citizens in Russia, there is also a re-registration. This procedure is carried out when you extend or get a new work visa, and the foreigner has only 3 working days to re-register. However, it does not matter if the current accounting period has not expired yet.

You also need to re-register when changing your personal data: last name, first name, position, and so on. And again, you need to do this within 3 business days after the official change of personal information.

Finally, please note that registration is automatically canceled when crossing the border. It does not matter which country a person leaves the Russian Federation for, or how long they stay abroad. If they return to Russia, they must re-register at their place of residence.

Renewal of registration of the patent

One of the legal grounds to extend registration may be a work patent. In this case, the registration period will correspond to the period for which the foreigner paid the patent tax.

If at the time of filing the application, the patent taxes were paid for a month, then the registration period will not exceed a month. However, you might as well pay for a patent for six months in advance, and then you will not have to contact the migration service again for another 6 months. You can also submit tax receipts for the year ahead.

But even if the basis for registration is a patent, this does not cancel other rules. For example, when crossing a border, registration is canceled regardless of whether the patent is still valid or not. Therefore, after returning to Russia, the patent owner will have to register again with the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of residence.

A foreign citizen has only 3 working days to renew the registration after paying for the patent. Violation of this period will be considered by the state authorities as a ground for refusal, and there is a risk of facing penalties. Therefore, if you don’t have time to apply directly to the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, apply for an extension of registration online or hire official representatives who will take the application and other documents to the migration service for you.