Who is to blame if the landlord refuses to put a foreign citizen on the migration registration?
The article was prepared by Andrey Sholokhov, Relocation Specialist, Confidence Group
New rules
Upon entering the territory of Russia, a foreign citizen must make his stay legal and get migration registration.
On July 8, 2018, Federal Law 163-FZ entered into force, with a number of amendments to the procedure for registering foreign citizens, regulated by Federal Law 109-FZ. According to this law, foreign citizens are subject to migration registration in the territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of actual stay in a residential or non-residential building, where they sleep and rest.
These rules apply to all foreign citizens, regardless of citizenship and status in the Russian Federation. This applies to citizens of the EAEU, highly qualified specialists, and those who work on a patent or work permit. Previously, employers could register foreign citizens at the place where they work, but now it is forbidden to them. The receiving party for a foreign citizen can only be the one who legally provides the accommodation where the foreign citizen actually lives.
The procedure
The migration registration procedure for a foreign citizen is when the receiving party informs the territorial body of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs about this foreign citizen’s arrival at the place where he/she will actually live. As a confirmation of such migration registration is a tear-off part of the special form that remains with a foreign citizen. The form itself is filled out in Russian, it is allowed to use abbreviations, but it should not contain corrections and missing fields, because due to such errors the document will not be accepted, and it will not be possible to register a foreign citizen.
In other words, the receiving party must send to the migration authorities a form notifying of the foreign citizen’s arrival, filled out with the data from his migration card, passport and visa. You will also need a set of documents appropriate to the situation, including from the receiving party. It is important to inform these authorities no later than 7 business days after the arrival of a foreign citizen. However, for highly qualified specialists and their family members, as well as for citizens of some countries with which there are international agreements, there are exceptions and their timing for migration registration may vary.
Reasons of receiving party’s refusal
If the owner or other rightholder directly provides the foreign citizen with accommodation, then he/she will be the receiving party. However, not all owners are ready to fulfill the obligations of the receiving party, despite the legislation and possible fines. In practice, the owners of accommodation often refuse to put foreign citizens on the migration registration. Let's consider the possible reasons.
Firstly, the owners may refuse to put someone at his address on a migration registration because they have not done this before and are afraid that there are some risks. Many do not understand this issue and confuse the concepts of "registration at the place of residence" and "migration registration". Migration registration is simply a notification to authorities that a foreign citizen resides at a given address. It, unlike ordinary registration, does not entail an increase in utility bills or any other difficulties. A foreign citizen will not be able to claim ownership of this accommodation. Therefore, the owner just needs to understand this and, perhaps, then he will agree.
Secondly, sometimes the owner does not want to spend extra time and effort on paperwork, collecting and filling out documents, and queues (this often happens with elderly owners). The most appropriate solution is to transfer all this work to an experienced person, for example, a lawyer. However, during the process of migration registration itself, the personal presence of the owner is necessary.
Thirdly, the owner can permanently reside abroad. In this case, the foreign citizen will have to receive confirmation that the receiving party is abroad, collect all necessary documents, fill out the form and send it to the owner. After that, the owner should put his personal signature and send this form to a foreign citizen. Next, a foreign citizen personally goes to the territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to put himself on the migration registration for the receiving party. But in practice, even such a scheme, unfortunately, does not always work. It is better to specify in advance the migration registration procedure in a specific territorial authority.
Finally, there are cases when the owner does not want to take the responsibility of the receiving party for a foreign citizen in Russia and control his residence. But the lack of desire does not exempt from compliance with the law. If the owner has provided a foreign citizen with accommodation, then he automatically becomes the receiving party and carries full administrative responsibility for the following actions: providing information to migration authorities about the arrival of a foreign citizen, communication with the control authorities about the movements of a foreign citizen; control over the implementation of the rules of residence
Penalties for the lack of migration registration
Violation of the new rules entails the imposition of an administrative fine on both the owner and the foreign citizen:
- if the owner is an individual - a fine of two thousand to four thousand rubles,
- if an official - from forty thousand to fifty thousand rubles,
- the fine for a legal entity will be from four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles.
A foreign citizen may be fined from 2,000 to 5,000 rubles with possible expulsion from the Russian Federation. Moreover, expulsion is guaranteed if there is a repeated violation within a year, and if there is a violation in Moscow or St. Petersburg or in the Moscow or Leningrad Regions, the liability will increase to 5,000 - 7,000 rubles (the fine may reach 10,000 rubles for repeated violation during the year ) with guaranteed administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation.
Conclusion
Migration registration is the responsibility of the receiving party. And if it turns out that the owner did not put a foreign citizen on migration registration, the owner will have to bear legal responsibility.
Recommendations:
- try to explain to the owner that migration registration is necessary - and there is nothing wrong with that, to convince him in accordance with the laws;
- inform the territorial Ministry of Internal Affairs that the owner refuses to register a foreign citizen (this option is conflicting, you can use it if you cannot find another apartment)
- talk with the employer: perhaps he will agree to rent an apartment for a foreign citizen or arrange accommodation in the company premises.
The Confidence Group company is always ready to help foreign citizens find accommodation/apartments suitable for their requirements, advise on migration registration and resolve problem situations. We hope this article was interesting and useful for you!
