2.3 Registration on the Migration Registry

Under the 2007 laws, all foreigners arriving in Russia for a stay of less than 90 days must, within three business days of their arrival in Russia, register on the migration registry of the Federal Migration Service (also known as residency registration). Previously, foreigners could register only through their hosts, such as homeowners, renters, hotels, etc. Under the new laws, foreigners can register both through their hosts and through employers or other entities, such as employment agencies. This process can be done by mail. [42] The migrant receives a portion of the submitted form to carry with him or her as an indication of the legal right to stay. There is no fee to obtain a residency registration, and the authorities cannot deny a person registration on the migration registry. Failure to register on the migration registry renders a person's stay in Russian irregular after three business days, and a person without a residency registration may incur a fine of 2,000 (US$84) to 5,000 rubles (US$211) with or without administrative expulsion from Russia. [43]

The Three-Day Rule for Residency Registration and the Difficulty It Poses for Migrants

Despite these changes and simplification in procedures, obstacles to registering on the migration registry remain. Migrant workers, migration policy experts, and officials from labor-sending countries' governments interviewed by Human Rights Watch indicated that migrant workers frequently struggle to comply with the requirement to register on the migration registry within three days of arrival in Russia. Many migrant workers entering Russia under the non-visa regime do not have a job or a place to live when they arrive in Russia, and for most of them three days is a very short period in which to identify one or the other, unless they already have established contacts prior to their arrival. [44] Unable to register themselves, and fearing fines or deportation for remaining in Russia in violation of registration laws, many migrants resort to the use of intermediaries, many of whom who provide false residency registrations and work permits and may charge excessive fees. Employers also often charge high fees for arranging residency registration.  

One worker from Tajikistan who had worked in Russia on and off for three years told Human Rights Watch: "There is a big problem of not being able to do all of the documents [in time]. There are only three days to do the registration." [45] Farukh F., also from Tajikistan, stated that only through personal connections could a migrant find decent housing quickly. "It is really hard to get the registration done in three days," he said. "If you don't have friends [to help you] then you can't get normal housing. There were times when we tried to rent an apartment [from someone unknown to us], but then the landlord asks, 'Where are you from?' and [when you answer] he replies, 'I'm sorry, I can't rent this apartment to you.'" [46] A worker from Uzbekistan stated similarly, "It is particularly difficult to organize your registration in three days if you don't already have contacts in Russia." [47] Government officials from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan also said it was difficult for migrant workers to register within three days and cited the requirements as the source of many other problems for migrants who are unable to meet it. [48]

Numerous migrant workers told Human Rights Watch that they obtained registrations through intermediaries. These registrations are often illegal, insofar as intermediaries organize registration at an address where the worker does not live, or at an address that does not exist. In some cases, migrant workers do not understand that these registrations are false until they are stopped by police or at the border. Ozod O., a brigadier (a person who recruits others to work in construction brigades in Russia) who has been working on construction sites in Moscow seasonally for six years told Human Rights Watch, "I got a registration and work permit [through a middleman] for 7,000 rubles (US$260). At the airport they checked it and put a stamp in my passport canceling it saying it was a false [registration] stamp. They drew up an official report and [I paid] a fine of 2,000 rubles (US$84)." [49] Aziz A., a 28-year-old construction worker from Kyrgyzstan, told Human Rights Watch, "A middleman … did a fake registration [and a work permit] for me for 10,000 rubles (US$422). I didn't know that the registration was fake." [50]

In other cases, migrant workers know that the registration is fake, but they choose to take a chance that no officials would identify the registration as false. Zufar Z., who worked laying tiles at construction sites in Moscow said, "I needed a registration, so the son of a friend of mine offered to do it for 500 rubles (US$21). I understood that it would be false, but I still needed it. Once the police caught me, and they called the address indicated on my registration and learned that the address did not exist. My boss came and paid 1,000 rubles (US$42) to get me out [of police detention]." [51]