Question

What is Registration, why is it important?

Answer

Registration is simply the process of validating your visa, and registering your presence in Russia. The law states that all visitors' passports and visas have to be registered within 72 hours (3 working days) of arriving in Russia. Also you have to complete an immigration document prior to passing through passport control. The second half also needs to be stamped.

This is important, and fines are levied by policemen conducting a document check, travel tickets can be hard to purchase within Russia; and the worst of all, having problems at passport control when leaving the country are the major pitfalls of non-registration. Some people who have not registered have been lucky, and not penalized, but these are few and far between.

If you are staying in a flat, then you should have an Izvesheniye from the person whose flat it is, and they will be responsible for registering you with the OVIR (the Ministry of Passports, Visas and Registration). These are the ones who generally fail to register because of the complexities.

Traveling on a tourist visa, your hotel will register you. Please note that some small hotels, guest houses and hostels are not licensed by the OVIR to do this, therefore you need to ensure that the hotel you stay in can register your passport and visa. If you are staying in a 3* plus hotel you should have no problems.