Migration registration of foreign citizens and stateless persons
Why migration registration of foreign citizens and stateless persons is necessary when staying at a hotel
We frequently encounter two questions from our guests: “What is data transfer services for the purpose of migration registration?” and “Why do I have to pay a data transfer services fee for the purpose of migration registration?” We will do our best to clarify this for you.
Russian legislation (Federal Law No. 109-FZ dated 18 July 2006 with a number of additions, the latest of which is dated 4 August 2011) demands that ALL foreign citizens and stateless persons temporarily staying in Russia be registered with the local migration office responsible for the area in which they are staying. A hotel that violates this law risks incurring a huge penalty – from 400,000 to 500,000 roubles (eq. 7000-8000 USD). Failure to register can also create problems for the visitor, who may be found to be infringing Russian legislation and required to pay a penalty, either in the case of a police check on the street or when crossing the Russian border on departure. In order to avoid trouble for us and our guests, we have to comply with the requirements of the law. We cannot accommodate our foreign guests who have not been registered for migration purposes.
Why do we charge a data transfer services fee for the purpose of migration registration?
Given the importance of being registered in a correct and timely fashion, we have a visa registration department which deals with invitations and registering foreign visitors in St Petersburg. These employees are qualified individuals with many years of experience dealing with registration documentation. Completing a single registration takes time and requires scanning documents, entering information into a database, and drawing up a statistical report in both electronic and hard-copy format. In addition, the electronic transmission of data of our foreign guests to the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a paid service for us.
Based on the circumstances outlined above, we consider it fair to charge a data transfer services fee from our foreign guests for the purpose of migration registration, which is 250 rubles per person/stay. We decided not to “hide” these expenses in the cost of the room rate, because we believe that the rates for accommodation for foreigners and Russians should be the same.