Hello,
I’m going back to Russia in September to visit my partner. However, I’m a bit confused about the registration rules because, for certain reasons, her landlord can’t register me.
From what I understand, you have to register within 7 working days.
I’ll be staying at her place in St. Petersburg from September 5 to 9. From September 9 to 12, we’ll be in Moscow. Then we’ll return to her place from September 12 to 20.
If I’ve understood the rules correctly, since I won’t be staying at her place for more than 7 working days at a time, she wouldn’t need to register me. Is that correct?
I’m afraid you have misunderstood the rule. You have to be registered within seven working days of entering Russia, irrespective of whether you are staying in the same place or moving from place to place. You would need to leave Russia entirely to reset the seven-day clock.
You have 7 days from entering Russia to be registered somewhere. Technically, you could do the first 2 stops and not be registered [ though you would need to keep documentation of travel to prove that you are in transit and have not met the 7 day rule if stopped and asked for documents] when you arrive back in SPB you would need to fully register. 12th to the 20th is 8 days… though you are pushing your luck by threading the needle of the 7 day initial registration.
By the sounds of it, her landlord cannot / will not register you… you would need to find a place that does.
Technically I’d be fine — in total I’ll stay 7 business days in SPB, if you don’t count the split in the stay. There’s a bit of legal grey area regarding the splitting of the stay. And I’ll definitely be registered at the hotel in Moscow, since the rule for hotels is registration within 1 working day. I’ll keep the train tickets to prove that I was indeed in Moscow.
The idea of getting accommodation and not really going there felt off to me, it didn’t really match my actual stay.
But I noticed she can register me herself — the decree doesn’t mention the notion of “owner,” but rather a “hosting party,” in the case where she’d go register me.
She’d just need her passport, her lease, my migration card and my passport, along with a 500-ruble fee.
That would solve this little issue.
Thank you very much!
I think you are confusing two different things that “seven working days” refers to. a) It is the minimum length of stay in Russia before which any registration is required. b) It is also the amount of time that a private host has to register a foreign guest.
These are not referring to the same thing. If you stay somewhere new after day seven of your total stay in Russia, your new host still has seven days to register you, but they must register you for each day eventually (because by that stage you will already have been in Russia for more than seven days). Confusing, I know.
So the 7-day window does not mean that if you stay in St Petersburg for six days, go to stay in Moscow for a few days and are registered by a hotel, and then go back to St Pete for another six days, you never need to be registered in St Petersburg. Once you have stayed in Russia for more than seven working days in total, you then need to be registered at each place of stay (including, therefore, your second stay in St Petersburg).
I also think you are wrong in thinking that a tenant (your partner) can register you instead of the landlord. Try asking AI about this.
When I asked, it said (of 109-FZ, Clause 7, Part 1, Article 2): “The requirement for ownership is primarily derived from the phrase “in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation”, which links this law to the Russian Civil and Housing Codes. Under these codes, a standard tenant usually lacks the legal authority to grant usage of the property to another person, as that right rests with the property owner.”
Regarding this point you raised about 109-FZ (Art. 2, Cl. 7, Part 1), I have written to the embassy to clear up this small area of ambiguity. In principle, this poses no problem for the owner, but she lives in Novorossiysk, and I think the online registration process would be a hassle for her, and we don’t want to bother her with it.
She will send her written consent along with a copy of her passport. There might also be a relevant clause in her lease agreement addressing this point, which I will check.
I have therefore written to the Russian Embassy to clarify this specific point. Thank you for your response.
