A stamp and a couple of rubles are not enough anymore to register you in Russia correctly. Starting from 2014 being registered in a virtual flat counts as a legal offense. However, if you do not obviously break the rules you have at least the law on your side.
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.
The registration of a person in Russia was and is still obligatory, but "being simply registered" is not sufficient anymore. The good news is: being not registered has much less consequences 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 you need to know: The obligation for registration of a foreign person in Russia is duty of the housing side. It can, but doesn't have to be the person or institution, which invited the foreigner. The determining criteria, is the factual place of stay. You don't have to go yourself to the local administrative office, you are only obliged to handover a copy of the passport and the migration card, which you received on the border to Russia, to your host or landlord. The host or landlord can then proceed with your registration, which nowadays can be done by post.
In reality there have been some cases where persons have been sentenced guilty for registering not correctly even when copies of passport and migration card had been provided to the landlord. And there also had been cases when persons were found innocent in the same matter. It is an unpleasant reality that legal entitlement and factual jurisdiction are from time to time far away from each other in Russia. Also, due to the fact that the landlord is obliged to run the registration of the hosted person you will very often hear at negotiation stage when renting a flat, that the flat can be rented only without registration.
What can you do now to be on the save side? If the landlord refused the receipt of passport copy and migration card you need to document that you fulfilled your obligation. This can be done, by sending passport copy and migration card by registered mail with content list and receipt confirmation. One could think that this is the best way to be thrown out of your flat, however, if you hold a legal binding renting agreement in your hands, this has even in Russia some legal power and you can hope that you cannot be set on the street easily.
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.
The registration of a person in Russia was and is still obligatory, but "being simply registered" is not sufficient anymore. The good news is: being not registered has much less consequences 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 you need to know: The obligation for registration of a foreign person in Russia is duty of the housing side. It can, but doesn't have to be the person or institution, which invited the foreigner. The determining criteria, is the factual place of stay. You don't have to go yourself to the local administrative office, you are only obliged to handover a copy of the passport and the migration card, which you received on the border to Russia, to your host or landlord. The host or landlord can then proceed with your registration, which nowadays can be done by post.
In reality there have been some cases where persons have been sentenced guilty for registering not correctly even when copies of passport and migration card had been provided to the landlord. And there also had been cases when persons were found innocent in the same matter. It is an unpleasant reality that legal entitlement and factual jurisdiction are from time to time far away from each other in Russia. Also, due to the fact that the landlord is obliged to run the registration of the hosted person you will very often hear at negotiation stage when renting a flat, that the flat can be rented only without registration.
What can you do now to be on the save side? If the landlord refused the receipt of passport copy and migration card you need to document that you fulfilled your obligation. This can be done, by sending passport copy and migration card by registered mail with content list and receipt confirmation. One could think that this is the best way to be thrown out of your flat, however, if you hold a legal binding renting agreement in your hands, this has even in Russia some legal power and you can hope that you cannot be set on the street easily.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment