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I'm visiting Russia, and I've read that I need to register my visa after arrival.

Some hotels do this for you, but I'm staying in a rental apartment. What exactly do I need to do? Where should I go?

I'm staying in Saint Petersburg.

What will happen if I don't register?

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The authoritative answer is at Way to Russia, but I'll summarize for posterity.

  • Whoever you're staying with, be it hotel or apartment, is supposed to take care of registering you.
  • They can take care of the registration at any police station or post office, you do not need to be present.
  • When it's done, they'll get a piece of paper for you that confirms registration, and all is good.

If you do not register, and you're stopped by police, and it's been over seven working days since you arrived in Russia, you'll be fined (€50-100). In theory, you can even be deported and blacklisted for returning for 5 years, but this is very unlikely.

In your case, I'd get in touch with whoever is renting you the apartment and ensure they sort it out, the magic word is propiska (registration). It's in their best interest to do so as well, since they can also get fined even more heavily for having unregistered foreigners staying with them.

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    Actually propiska means something like 'constant registration' which has different legal meaning than registration (just registratsiya). Natives have propiska for place where they constantly live in, it gives them legally approved rights to do so. So for rented apartment you just need registratsiya.
    – bizzz
    Aug 14, 2013 at 7:10
  • Interesting -- in Finnish proopuska (obviously borrowed from the Russian) means any official government authorization to do something, particularly when it's a little silly (like, say, the "right" to live somewhere!). Aug 14, 2013 at 23:46
  • "and it's been over a week since you arrived in Russia" - shouldn't this be "since you arrived in the city you're staying"? Because for every city you need a new registration.
    – user16913
    Jun 26, 2014 at 13:02
  • Yes, but the OP is staying only in St. Petersburg. Jun 26, 2014 at 22:25

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