Registration and records
Migration registration at the place of stay
The arrival notice is filed by the receiving party — the person or organisation that provided the accommodation, not by the foreign national who arrived. This is part 2 of article 20 of Federal Law 109-FZ of 18 July 2006. The person who arrived hands over a passport and a migration card, and gets back the tear-off part of the form: that slip is what people call «registration» in everyday speech.
The general deadline is seven working days from the day of arrival at the place of stay (part 3 of the same article). Hotels, hospitals, sanatoriums and children's camps have a shorter deadline of their own: one working day, and their administration files the notice. Citizens of Tajikistan have fifteen days; citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan who came to work have thirty days — these come from international treaties, which override the general rule.
Who files depends on whose home it is. The law names four cases in which the arrival notice is filed by the foreign national personally: the receiving party has documented valid reasons; the home belongs to the foreign national; the owner of the home lives abroad; the person takes part in separately listed programmes. In every other case the duty — and the fine — sits with the receiving party.
What is in this section
What is known for certain
Who counts as the receiving party. A Russian citizen, a foreign national permanently residing in Russia, an organisation or a public authority — whoever «provided residential or other premises for actual residence» (point 7 of article 2 of Law 109-FZ). A foreign national can also be the receiving party if the home is their own property.
Which address you are registered at. The address where the person actually lives (point 1 of part 1 of article 21). Not a friend's address, not the employer's address if nobody lives there — the actual one.
Who is not registered at all. Anyone who came to Russia for no more than seven days, except when staying in a hotel or a similar place (point 5 of part 6 of article 20).
The deadlines in one list — details and quotations on the registration deadlines page:
- general deadline — seven working days from arrival;
- hotel, hospital, sanatorium, children's camp — one working day, filed by the administration;
- citizens of Tajikistan — fifteen days from entry;
- citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan who came to work — thirty days from entry.
What follows from this
What a missed deadline costs. For the foreign national — an administrative fine of two to five thousand roubles, possibly with expulsion from Russia (part 1 of article 18.8 of the Code of Administrative Offences). For the receiving party — two to four thousand roubles for an individual, up to fifty thousand for an official, up to five hundred thousand for an organisation (part 4 of article 18.9). From 3 November 2026 these amounts change: law 294-FZ of 4 August 2026 rewrites both paragraphs, and we have not verified the new wording — the figures above hold until that date.
Registration ends by itself. There is no separate de-registration step: it ends when the person leaves Russia and when they are registered at a new place of stay (part 1 of article 23). A departure notice is filed by the receiving party — and only when neither of those events has happened.
What documents to bring
What the arriving person hands to the receiving party:
- an identity document recognised as such by Russia — a passport;
- the migration card, except where an international treaty removes the duty to fill one in.
What the arriving person gets back: the tear-off part of the notice form. Keep it and show it when checked. If the notice was filed electronically, the receiving party prints the tear-off part and hands it over.
Where it is filed. In person at the migration unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, electronically, through a multifunctional centre (MFC) or by post (sub-point «a» of point 2 of part 2 of article 22).
We do not publish the form itself, and that is deliberate. Its layout is approved by an order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; we have not verified that order with its annex, and publishing an outdated form is worse than publishing none — it gets the filing rejected. Blank forms are issued at the migration unit, at an MFC or through the Gosuslugi portal. What goes into the form is described on the arrival notice page.
Registration lasts exactly as long as the permitted stay. Without a visa that is ninety days in total per calendar year — after which the stay has to be extended. For someone working, the work permit (patent) extends it: the law says the period of temporary stay «is extended when a patent is issued to a foreign national, when the validity of a patent is extended, or when a patent is reissued» (point 5 of article 5 of Law 115-FZ).
And a patent is not issued without the certificate of Russian language, Russian history and the basics of legislation. That makes one chain: exam — patent — permitted stay — registration.
Free practice test for the patent exam — 22 tasks, as in the exam, with an explanation of every wrong answer.
Test yourselfFrequently asked questions
Who has to file the notice — me or the owner of the flat?
As a rule, whoever provided the accommodation. The arriving person files it only in the cases named in the law: the receiving party has documented valid reasons, the home belongs to the arriving person, or the owner is abroad.
How many days do I have after entry?
Seven working days, unless you are a citizen of a country that has a treaty with Russia setting a different period. Citizens of Tajikistan have fifteen days; citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan who came to work have thirty days.
I came for five days. Do I need registration?
No, unless you are staying at a hotel or a similar place. People who came for no more than seven days are not registered.
What stays in my hands?
The tear-off part of the notice form. That is the document proving you are registered.
Do I have to de-register before leaving?
No. Registration ends by itself when you leave Russia and when you are registered at a new address.
Can it be filed through Gosuslugi?
The law lists the electronic form alongside filing in person, through an MFC and by post. The step-by-step procedure is set by an administrative regulation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which we have not verified, so we do not describe interface steps here.
The rules were verified on 22 September 2026 against the texts of Federal Law 109-FZ of 18 July 2006 (version of 31 July 2025, with amendments in force from 1 March 2026), Federal Law 115-FZ of 25 July 2002, Government Decree No. 9 of 15 January 2007, the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union and the Agreement with the Republic of Tajikistan of 8 February 2013. Every statement on this page is stored together with a verbatim quotation from the primary source, and a machine check finds that quotation in the text of the law.