Way to Russia Talk Lounge

riggers1 · Just Starting Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

I have been to Moscow this year a couple of times on a tourist visa. Last time was in Easter. I have a tame (1000 rubles) hostel that registered me last time, while I stayed with friends. But I realise I came home with the stamped tear off strip from the registration form oops! Fingers crossed I have not been blacklisted... gulp. Anyway

Next trip I am considering options.

1) get my company to invite me to our Moscow office, and then a business registration. Then stay with my friends.

2) get my Tourist visa and get my tame hostel to do the registration. Then stay with my friends.

3) get my Tourist visa and then get my friends to go to the Post Office and then get them to post back the tear off.

Which do you think is the easiest and best ? I think option 3 is the most 'legal'. How much of a risk would it be to go on a Tourist Visa, but stay with friends.
Would the fact I did not get a Home invite visa be an issue.

I understand that the letter of the law is so loose as to put most people in a grey area, and that in Russia this is not an unusual situation. We all no registration is a nonsense, but perhaps it is one of the things that ensures Russia's unique character Smile

DITTRICH · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject:

Get your tourist voucher and confirmation from an agency.
Get your visa.
If staying at a friend's apartment, provided your friend is registered at this address in their russian passport (propiska) then they can register you through the post office and either you or them send back the tear off slip when you depart. The post office routine is relatively easy to perform and has been written up by someone helpful in the blogs part of the website.
Les

riggers1 · Just Starting Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

Thanks DITTRICH.

So effectively Tourist Visa = Private Visa these days.

DITTRICH · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 1:17 pm Post subject:

charles · Lounge Lizard Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 179 Location: USA

I talked to some friends at the university foreign student office, where they prepare invitations and do registration for students all the time. I was told that the fine for not registering is 2000-8000 roubles. And for a company who registers someone whom they didn't invite, the fine is even more (14,000?). I wonder, does this apply to a landlord who registers someone with a business visa? Is it possible they'll have to pay this fine, if caught? I've read many times on this site that the inviting organization does not have to be the one who registers the invited person, rather the actual host must do it. However, what I am experiencing seems to contradict that. Maybe it's only true when you are living in the same city as the inviting organization?

IntelService is going to send me a letter of support from Moscow, but it will only say that I'll be living at my current address in Novosibirsk, because I can't find a company who will take responsibility for my registration. I don't know if that will be good enough for the people at the immigration office, but it's worth a try.

If I had known this was going to be such a problem, I would have thought twice about paying $300 for this little slip of paper called a business invitation. How can IntelService invite people to places where they don't have an office? To me, that's very misleading. They, and WayToRussia, should make clear that a business visa is taken seriously in Russia, and it's not simply a one-year tourist visa. If the inviting organization doesn't have an office where you want to go, it might be a problem.

DITTRICH · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:02 pm Post subject:

Dear Charles,
Given that the documents are only required to get the visa and the visa doesn't state exactly where you are going to stay (just the cities) nor who invited you, surely you might just get the visa and then rent an apartment anywhere and convince your 'host' to go and register you through the post office. I believe teh regulations don't really say who a host has to be and therefore so long as you ensure you get registered at an address then that's all you need to do. Maybe I'm being incredibly thick but your problem doesn't seem insurmountable to me.
Les
Note - I tried using Intelservice for my tourist voucher and confirmation and wasn't very impressed with their service. I eventually used another agency.

goDutch · Frequent Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 64

charles · Lounge Lizard Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 179 Location: USA

Visas do show the name of the inviting company, but not their address. People seem really puzzled by the name "Evroparnas" which is the name of the company IntelService uses. Nobody has heard of it, and they always ask me "Who is Европарнас?" saying the name really slowly, like it's difficult even to pronounce the name of this strange company. I think Russians are just naturally suspicious of foreigners, more so than in other countries.

DITTRICH · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 2:10 pm Post subject:

It appears that I did not read far back enough on this thread - sorry Charles. I think you will just have to plug away at this one at the Russian end in Novosibirsk. I once arrived in Moscow without a migration card - it took a whole day but I managed to get one in the end.
I have had many an encounter witht he Russian bureaucracy and always managed to get a result in the end - never give up - people will initially say no but be persistent.
Les

raggedclaw · Frequent Guest Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 18

My experience with visa registration has been altogether pleasant, considering that -- as others have noted -- it is a silly requirement.
Staying with friends in Yekaterinburg, or once in a hotel there, I always just go to OVIR and register. Sometimes the office is closed without reason or notice; sometimes it is crowded; but, the process has never taken over a few minutes. A few years ago, I would have to go a couple blocks to Serbank and pay a few rubles and return to OVIR with the receipt, but the last few times, I've been told registration is free.
Once, I failed to get to OVIR in Yekat, and wound up in tiny Tavda with no visa registration. In my fifth day incountry, I became concerned so I went to the local police station and asked for advice. A nice fellow offered to take me to OVIR there, so we got in his police car and went to OVIR where he went to the head of the line and took care of my registration.
Visa registration and much of the other paperwork here is a lot like wetting your pants while wearing a black suit -- makes the Russian government feel nice and warm, but nobody notices.

krasatulya · VIP Joined: 29 May 2005 Posts: 571

surfguy · Lounge Wizard Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 6996

that is awesome! Good that you shared it with all of us...perhaps there is hope afterall and some good too.

raggedclaw · Frequent Guest Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 18

Regarding my visa registration post, I probably should have noted that I've always traveled on a tourist visa or home-stay visa, except this time I am in Yekat for a long stay, so am using a multi-entry 12-month business visa.
I've always used a visa service here in the U.S. -- gotorussia.com -- that handles everything, i.e., invitation, processing, etc. They are very good. I first learned of them back in 2000 when I visited Russia's Washington Embassy website -- the embassy website had a link to them!
I have never known who my tourist visa or business visa "invitation" was from, nor have I been asked about it.
Gotorussia.com also runs a VIP service at Sheremetyevo that gets you escorted off the plane ahead of others, taken to a private line for passport and customs and out of the airport in 30 minutes. It felt good the one time I used it, but at $120 it isn't my routine arrival.

StephenB. · VIP Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 810

What if you would like to stay more than a year? Do you have to go back to the US and register for a one visa again...or can you register from Russia where you are staying? Can you just register at the Russian Embassy in Moscow or any other service where they give visas out? d'oh!

raggedclaw · Frequent Guest Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 18

My understanding at this time is that I will have to leave the country; get a new visa and then return. At this time, I figure to do everything online, FedExing my passport back to the U.S. I have two U.S. passports, so I'll be able to have my current visa and passport in hand while the other is being processed for the new visa. When it comes, I'll just drive to Old Europe for a vacation and then return on the new one.
I am about to start exploring temporary residence, permanent residence, and citizenship. I've seen lots of conflicting information on the time frames and complexity of those processes. I have the official requirements, but reality might be different. I had searched the internet for how to get those things done, but could find nothing that resembled official policy or procedures.
So, I wrote Putin.
His staff lit a fire under the Houston consulate, which quickly sent me a personal letter outlining the process. Now, whether it works is something I've yet to learn.