Spinning Heads and Heavy Hearts

No doubt there are some lingering questions about the circumstances that led to our decision to leave Russia, and the registration issues we have faced. Here are the details...

First, a little background information about what "registration" is. Foreigners who enter the Russian Federation are required to register with the authorities within seven days of entering the country or changing their place of residence/stay. The registration process involves filling out a two-page document (in duplicate) that contains detailed information about foreigners' personal information, place of stay and hosting party, and making several copies of their passports, visas and migration cards (the entry cards issued

by border agents that contain details about foreigners' entry into the country). All of these forms and documents must be submitted to the relevant authorities through one of several channels: at the post office, specialized government centers or directly with the local branch of the migration authority.

The migration laws changed shortly before we left for Russia and again during our time in Russia, leading to confusing and at times contradictory interpretations of the migration law on the part of officials, landlords and average Russian citizens. Under the new law, the Russian host side (hotels, landlords or citizens with whom foreigners are staying) are required to register the foreigners they are hosting at the address of their physical presence in Russia.

Our first landlady promised to register us at her address, per the requirements of the new migration law, but then reneged on that promise and instead registered us at her mother’s address. This type of arrangement was normal and acceptable under the old migration law. We left Russia for Kazakhstan in January in accordance with the terms of our visa and returned to Russia a week later. In mid-May, four months later, a police officer and a translator came to our apartment and demanded to see our documents. He told us we were improperly registered and fined us. We told our landlady what happened and insisted that she register us properly. She agreed, and we met at the post office and obtained proper registration papers. At the same time, she said that if we intended to stay at her place, she would raise the rent by over 30%, since she had two other prospective tenants willing to pay her that amount.

Faced with that ultimatum, we immediately started searching for a new apartment. A nice apartment was available in our building, so we inquired with the listing agent whether the landlord would be willing to register foreigners. The realtor said he would check with the landlord, and he got back to us with an affirmative answer. He said the landlord was a law-enforcement official and was familiar with the registration process and would do it for us without any problems. The realtor then told me that the landlord wanted to know where he worked, and I told him that I do contract translation work for a publishing company in the USA and we decided to rent out our home in the USA and live in Russia for a while so that our children could learn Russian. We would be living primarily on savings and rental income, and I would be translating novels while living in Russia. (This was true: I translated two novels during our stay in Russia in addition to doing contract work for a publisher in the USA.) We liked the apartment and signed a lease with the understanding that the landlord would register us at his address. I gave him the filled-out registration papers and copies of our documents to file with the authorities. The landlord said he would have no problem with that since he works in law enforcement and his mom is the head of passport control in Novosibirsk.

The day after signing the lease, the landlord, Sergei, said that he did not want to register us at his address (which was owned by his mother) but at another address. This was technically an illegal arrangement under the new law, but our police officer landlord said we should not worry about it. Days passed, and Sergei still had not provided us registration papers. After finally getting in touch with him, he said that he had gone to the main migration office in the city with his mother and tried to register us but was refused “because we had the wrong visa.” He could not register us at the apartment on a tourist visa. He assumed that I had a work visa because we signed a long-term lease. The standard Russian tourist visa is valid for 30 days. Americans are an exception: They can get three-year visas that allow stays in the country for as long as 6 months before having to cross the border. So the common misconception among Russian officials in Siberia is that all tourists can be in the country for a maximum of 30 days -- no exception. That is why the hotel would register us for only 30 days.

I objected to Sergei's explanation, and said that it was in fact legal and possible for us to be registered at his mother's apartment on tourist visas. We know it is possible, based on what our friends have told us and the experience other foreigners have had in other parts of Russia. The law contains no such provision that tourists must be registered at only tourist facilities. Sergei said that he would try again. After a few days, he told us that he was told a second time that it was not possible to register us and he told me to call the migration office. The lady I spoke with at the office confirmed that we could only be registered at hotels or “tourist facilities” if we are in Russia on a tourist visa. This is not true; tourists can legally rent apartments in Russia! The migration official said she would discuss our situation with our landlord. He got back to us and said that he had found a “common language” with the migration officials and he would register us. Problem solved -- or so we thought...

The landlord showed up at our apartment a few days later with registration papers -- but showing us registered at a hotel across town and for only 30 days, not the six months our visas allow. He said that he had no other option: "We had the wrong type of visa." He said that we faced fines if we were caught. We left the country for Almaty in the summer for a few weeks and returned to Novosibirsk, and our landlord again registered us at a hotel for 30 days. Uncomfortable with the situation, our friend Aleksei called the migration office and sent an inquiry to the Internal Affairs Ministry to get a definitive answer on the registration issue. Meanwhile, I contacted the realtor, who got in touch with his agency’s legal department. The real estate agency's legal department said that our landlord was acting properly: Tourists are only allowed to be registered at hotels, hostels or other “tourist facilities.” The migration office told Aleksei the same thing. The written response we received from the Internal Affairs Ministry in September was as clear as mud, offering no conclusive guidance on the issue.

In October, our landlord Sergei said that we would have to find other means of registration support because he no longer wanted to get the hotel to register us every 30 days. Sergei said my employer or friends should register our family. I told him once again that I didn't have a Russian-based employer, so that was not an option for us.

We got in touch with a realtor who found an apartment with a landlord willing to register us. We got back to Sergei and told him we had a registration option, but it would require us to terminate our lease and move to a new apartment. Faced with that prospect, he said that he would continue to register us at the hotel “as long as we would need him to.” Since that was a less disruptive option than moving, we decided to stick it out, even though he continued to harass us about our “improper visas.” He warned us again that we faced fines because we had the wrong visa: He could only register us at his address if we left the country and came back on a work visa.

When our October registration period was close to expiring, I informed our landlord that we would again need registration, and he said he would take care of it. On the day that our registration documents expired, he said that he had the registration taken care of and would drop the papers off for us. After several days had gone by and he still had not showed up (he kept getting bogged down with work, he said) and we had only 2 days left on our expiration period, he finally showed up – but with no registration papers. He said that the hotel would no longer register us: We were on our own. We frantically contacted a realtor who began to search for an apartment in the vicinity that would enable us to keep Finn in his school. Meanwhile, we tried to get registration at Aleksei’s place. The post office and the local government office turned us away, because they can only do initial registration upon entering the country; we would have to leave the country and return or go to the main migration office.

We checked into a hotel for a night to get registration coverage for a seven-day period. After two days of searching for another apartment, the realtor got back to us and said he could not find any landlords willing to register foreigners and accept small children. So we decided to make plans to leave… We did not want to get tangled in red tape any further or find out what the deportation process looks like -- not with young children.

When we told our landlord of our plans to terminate the lease, he came over and we had a terse discussion about our situation. He said that if we ever come back to Russia, we would need "proper visas" or else stay at "tourist facilities." We again told him that obtaining a work visa was not an option for us and that American tourists could legitimately rent apartments, but he merely repeated his mistaken assertion.

The way this altercation played out confirmed that we made the right decision to leave Russia and go home. Our mental and emotional health was suffering after months

of uncertainty and harassment by the landlord regarding our visa and registration situation, and trying to find another option to live in Russia for six to eight more months was more hassle and strain than we could take and put our small children through.

No, we were not forced out of the country. Yes, we probably could have found a way to extend our stay in Russia by finding a new apartment, signing a lease, leaving the country, returning and then moving into the new apartment, but we were simply not mentally and emotionally prepared to coordinate all the numerous details to do that in just a matter of days, or jump through a lot of convoluted administrative hoops with small children in tow. And there was still no certainty that we would have conclusively satisfied the migration authorities or not encountered additional problems. The laws and officials interpreting them were simply too confusing. Heading home was the best option for our home and family life.

So we left Russia with spinning heads and heavy hearts. We left so may fond memories and good friends. Novosibirsk, Russia had become our second home... We are sad to be closing an exciting, adventure-filled chapter in life, but look forward to picking up where we left off and tackling the adventures (and challenges!) that will come with that.