How to register your visa in Russia

Russian visa registration is a form of migration control managed by the Russian FMS (Federal Migration Service), and involves receiving a stamp in your passport, or on your migration card, and obtaining a registration slip. These will show the period you are registered to stay in one place, as well as where you are staying and who is your sponsor organisation.

You will have to register your visa for each visit to Russia and re-register for each city that you stay in for seven working days or more. You will also have to register if you plan on getting married in Russia.

If you have registered in your arrival city, and then move on to another city for less than seven working days, you do not need to register, but we would recommend you do so where possible.

The Russian visa registration process will depend on the type of visa you have, which city you are visiting, and what accommodation you are staying in.

There may be some exceptions for certain restricted cities, or areas, which you can find below, but the following rules will cover most travellers:

If you already have a tourist or business visa and are staying in a hotel or hostel

Most hotels and hostels will register you upon checking in at the reception desk. They will take a scan of your passport and visa, before giving you your passport back with a copy of your registration. This should take no more than a few minutes.

While it is rare, some hotels or hostels may charge a fee, the cost of which would be on a hotel by hotel basis.

Remember, when travelling in Russia you must always have your passport with you, so do not leave your accommodation without it.

If you already have a tourist or business visa and are NOT staying in a hotel or hostel

Please note: due to a new law that came into force in 2018, Real Russia are no longer able to offer visa registration in our Moscow office.

If you are travelling to Moscow or anywhere else within Russia and need to register your visa, you will have two options:

1. You can register your visa with the local Federal Migration Service (FMS).
2. You can register at the local post office (почта in Russian).

If you already have a private visa:

You will need to take your passport and migration card to the local Federal Migration Service (FMS) office when you arrive in the town or city that issued the invitation you used for your visa. You should not need any other documents, as all your details are included within the visa itself.

You may complete the required forms yourself, and apply directly at the local Federal Migration Service (FMS) office. This office must be the one responsible for the area in which you are staying.

Your landlord will need to accompany you in order to complete a ‘Notification of arrival’ form.

You will need to supply both the original and copies of the following:

1. All used pages within your passport, including the photo page.
2. Your current visa with the entry stamp.
3. Your current migration card with the entry stamp.
4. Your landlord’s internal passport.
5. Your landlord’s current registration stamp in their passport – it must match the address you are registering against.
6. A document to prove that your landlord owns the property you will be staying at.

If you have everything correct the process should take around 15 minutes; though the queue to register may take a little longer.

Registration support letter

While not always necessary, some cities will also require an official letter requesting that the Federal Migration service (FMS) agents register your visa.

To obtain one from Real Russia, please select ‘Registration support letter required’ when applying for your visa with us. When you receive your passport with its visa, send the following by email to visas@realrussia.co.uk:

1. A clear copy or scan of your visa.
2. The full address of the private accommodation you will be staying at, and the name of the person who will be your host or landlord – this should preferably in Cyrillic.

We will then be able to prepare your letter. We aim to complete this within 48 hours of your initial request.

Please note: this is not a visa registration, it is simply a letter requesting to be registered. This letter must be presented at the local Federal Migration Service (FMS) office upon your arrival.

An alternative to registering at the local Federal Migration Service is to visit the local Multi-functional Centre (MFC).

You will need to supply both the original and copies of the following:

1. All used pages within your passport, including the photo page.
2. Your current visa with the entry stamp.
3. Your current migration card with the entry stamp.
4. Your landlord’s internal passport.
5. Your landlord’s current registration stamp in their passport – it must match the address you are registering against.
6. A document to prove that your landlord owns the property you will be staying at.

In addition, you will need the following:

1. An application form completed and signed by the landlord (provided by the MFC).
2. Birth certificates for those under 18 years of age.
3. EGRN (Unified State Register for Real Estate) statement from the landlord (issued by the MFC).

As this service is handled by a private body, there will be a cost for this registration process. The price may vary from city to city.

This is common when travelling on the Trans-Siberian Railway and depart on the train soon after you arrive in Russia.

Where you have been travelling between cities and haven’t had the chance to register your visa, you should keep copies of any tickets as evidence of this. This will help if you are asked to explain any gaps in your registration in Russia, though you may still be subject to a fine upon exiting Russia.

If you do have the opportunity to register your visa at any point along the way, for example, if you stay overnight anywhere in a hotel, please do so.

While it is rare, your passport and visa may be spot checked by local police or officials, and if you have failed to register your visa you may be subject to on the spot fines of between 2,000 to 5,000 roubles. They may also take you to the local police station to check your details, passport and visa, and levy further fines.

If you have not registered your visa upon departure from Russia, passport control can fine you between 2,000 to 5,000 roubles. In some cases, they may immediately deport you, and you will be banned from entering Russia for five years.

If you receive two official fines, and your details are taken, these will be shared with Russian Consulates worldwide, and you may be barred from obtaining a Russian visa for five years.

If you have registered your visa, but simply lost your registration slip, you will not be liable for any fines. If you are still within the original registration period for your visit, you may be able to get a new registration slip, but you cannot get a replacement for the one you have lost.

You may stay in Russia for the entire validity period of your visa, though you may need to renew your visa registration if it does not cover the full period of time you are planning to stay in Russia.

A Russian migration card is an official document required for entering Russia by land, sea or air that requires you to fill in your personal, passport and visa details.

There are two parts to this, ‘A’, and ‘B’. Part ‘A’ will be kept by passport control. You will keep part ‘B’. You must keep this with your passport at all times, and it must be presented to passport control when you leave Russia.

If you lose part ‘B’, you will have difficulties when leaving Russia, including fines of up to £1,000.

It is very important that if you do lose you migration card you should visit the local Federal Migration Service (FMS) office as soon as possible to declare it and get a replacement.

Part "B" of a migration card showing an entry stamp

UFMS registration stamp on the rear of part "B" of a migration card

In some cases, the migration card may only be in Russian and not have an English translation and you may find the following sample form below useful.

Sample migration card in Russian only with English translation of text

A Russian ‘Notification of Arrival’ form is required if you are staying in private accommodation rather than a hotel or hostel. The form is entirely in Russian, and must be filled in by your host or landlord and handed in alongside any other documents required for registration.

The following must be completed:

1. Your personal details.
2. Your passport and visa details.
3. Your trip details.
4. The address and details of your host or landlord.
5. Details of your inviting organisation.

Once completed and approved, you will be given the bottom section, which will act as your visa registration. You should keep this with you at all times.

Click here for a sample of the form

If you would like to print this out to use, you must ensure it is printed on both sides of a single sheet of A4 paper.

The registration slip is a thin slip of paper that will contain all the details of your trip to Russia, including your personal details, passport and visa details and the length of your stay.

You will receive this upon registration and must keep it with you, in your passport, at all times.

You will always need to keep your registration slip with your passport and visa to show that you have registered your stay in Russia. If you register in a second city, passport control will replace your original registration slip with a new one and discard your old one. You only need the most recent registration slip.

When you exit Russia, your registration slip will be kept by passport control.

Registration is straightforward in most Russian cities, and if you plan on staying in a hotel or hostel, you should have no issues.

There are a few exceptions, though. If you plan to stay in private accommodation in one of the following cities, you should do the following:

1. Make sure you list the city in your application for both the letter of invitation and your visa, bringing both with you to Russia.
2. Request a registration support letter from Real Russia once you are in Russia.