Registration
Foreign travelers have to register within the first seven working days (it used to be three) after their arrival in Russia. One registration is sufficient. For example: If you stay in Moscow for 3 days, in Saint Petersburg for 2 days and in Irkutsk for three days it is sufficiant to register in one of these cities. A second registration is only necessary if you are registerd in Russia already and want to change your place of residence for 7 working days or longer.
The registration is organised by:
For tourists: By the hotel.
For private guests: By the federal migration service "UFMS" or by the post office.
For business travellers: By the inviting company or by the responsible registration office.
You should also make certain that registration is issued for the entire period of your stay in Russia.
You don`t have to register at your local OVIR (a type of registration office) any more. For registration at the post office you need copies of your passport, your visa and your migration card and you have to indicate the adress and phone number of your residence. The registration fee is 180 rubles at the moment.
In case you do experience any problems departing, insist that you have not stayed for longer than seven days. If this fails, the following sentence nearly always helps - "Ya ne ponemayu" or in other words "I don't understand".
Note: At arrival you will still in the airplane get a small paper called "Immigration card". Don't loose it!!! You`ll be asked for it when you cross the border in other direction and a loss will not only cost you 1000 Rubles but a lot of trouble...
