Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

Hi

My wife and I are shortly "doing" the Trans-Sib rail trip from Moscow
to Beijing, flying into Moscow's Domodedovo Airport at the start of
the journey.

However, I have just received the following info from the travel
company:-

"In accordance with the new laws on immigration, all foreign visitors
to Russia are now (as of 9th Jan 2003) to be issued with an
Immigration Card. The card will be issued to you on arrival by the
Immigration Officer who examines your passport at Passport Control.

The card is extremely important - effectively as important as your
passport and you MUST NOT LOSE IT. If you lose it, it will prejudice
your position most severely.......However, the implementation of the
Immigration Card scheme has not gone entirely smoothly and there have
been reports that some border posts - at Moscow and St Petersburg
airports - do not have an adequate supply of the forms. This
obviously places visitors in a difficult position which we are unable
to advise upon......"

It goes on to suggest that you try and insist on being given a card
and if this fails, "...They cannot reasonably take action against you
if you were not given an Immigration Form in the first place" - which
sounds to be a Catch 22 situation to me and a trifle dodgy!!!!

What happens if they don't give you a card? Have the Russian
Authorities resolved the problem yet and if not, can the card be
downloaded and printed out from the WWW in advance? - (I know this is
possible with the Customs Declaration Form but cannot find any
reference to the Immigration card being downloadable).

Any recent experiences in this matter and up-to-date info would be
appreciated - neither my wife nor myself fancy languishing in a cell
at the Russia/Mongolia border whilst the lack of Immigration Card is
sorted out!!!!!!

Regards
KGB

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

Any recent experiences in this matter and up-to-date info would be
appreciated - neither my wife nor myself fancy languishing in a cell
at the Russia/Mongolia border whilst the lack of Immigration Card is
sorted out!!!!!!

Domodedovo is much better run than Sheremetevo, so your odds of
obtaining a proper card are good. But I recommend contacting your
local Russian embassy to see if you can obtain a blank card before you
leave.

Pete

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

Pete wrote:

Any recent experiences in this matter and up-to-date info would be
appreciated - neither my wife nor myself fancy languishing in a cell
at the Russia/Mongolia border whilst the lack of Immigration Card is
sorted out!!!!!!


Domodedovo is much better run than Sheremetevo, so your odds of
obtaining a proper card are good. But I recommend contacting your
local Russian embassy to see if you can obtain a blank card before you
leave.

Is this card in addition to the visa? I don't see the reason behind
having a card since you would normally have you visa checked on arrival,
registered at the hotel (or business, or with the government), then
checked again at departure.

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 19:32:32 GMT, mtravelkay wrote:

Pete wrote:

Any recent experiences in this matter and up-to-date info would be
appreciated - neither my wife nor myself fancy languishing in a cell
at the Russia/Mongolia border whilst the lack of Immigration Card is
sorted out!!!!!!


Domodedovo is much better run than Sheremetevo, so your odds of
obtaining a proper card are good. But I recommend contacting your
local Russian embassy to see if you can obtain a blank card before you
leave.

Is this card in addition to the visa? I don't see the reason behind
having a card since you would normally have you visa checked on arrival,
registered at the hotel (or business, or with the government), then
checked again at departure.


Hi

Yes, apparently this card IS in addition to the visa and is issued on
arrival in Russia.

Who knows what the reason is behind having an extra card - bureaucracy
moves in mysterious ways!!!! 8^)


Regards
KGB

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

It was implemented in response to illegal immigration in the major
cities such as St. Petersbug and Moscow.




Immigration Cards - Russia.

Group: rec.travel.air Date: Sat, Mar 20, 2004, 10:52pm (EST+5) From:
(KGB=A0(=A0KGB))
On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 19:32:32 GMT, mtravelkay wrote:
Pete wrote:
Any recent experiences in this matter and up-to-date info would be
appreciated - neither my wife nor myself fancy languishing in a cell at
the Russia/Mongolia border whilst the lack of Immigration Card is sorted
out!!!!!!
Domodedovo is much better run than Sheremetevo, so your odds of
obtaining a proper card are good. But I recommend contacting your local
Russian embassy to see if you can obtain a blank card before you leave.
Is this card in addition to the visa? I don't see the reason behind
having a card since you would normally have you visa checked on arrival,
registered at the hotel (or business, or with the government), then
checked again at departure.
Hi
Yes, apparently this card IS in addition to the visa and is issued on
arrival in Russia.
Who knows what the reason is behind having an extra card - bureaucracy
moves in mysterious ways!!!! =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 8^)
Regards
KGB

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

maryanne kehoe wrote:

It was implemented in response to illegal immigration in the major
cities such as St. Petersbug and Moscow.

But why do they need an additional card? After all, the Visa is supposed
to remain with you. Doesn't the visa let them know that you are legally
in the country?

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

Yes, but as I understand it the immigration card lists ALL of your
addresses that you will be at during your time in the country. A lot of
people were staying in private accomodation and not registering with the
local militia (police) as is required within 72 hours of arriving in the
country. The immigration card was designed to counteract that.



Immigration Cards - Russia.

Group: rec.travel.air Date: Sun, Mar 21, 2004, 1:01am (EST+5) From:
(mtravelkay)
maryanne kehoe wrote:
It was implemented in response to illegal immigration in the major
cities such as St. Petersbug and Moscow.
But why do they need an additional card? After all, the Visa is supposed
to remain with you. Doesn't the visa let them know that you are legally
in the country?

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

maryanne kehoe wrote:

Yes, but as I understand it the immigration card lists ALL of your
addresses that you will be at during your time in the country. A lot of
people were staying in private accomodation and not registering with the
local militia (police) as is required within 72 hours of arriving in the
country. The immigration card was designed to counteract that.

How does this prevent people from lieing about the addresses they will
be staying at? How does this change anything? If the concern is about
illegal immigrants, then they should be able to determine if they have a
valid visa or not, and if it has been registered. How does the
immigration card improve on this, other than give you a second piece of
Russian government paper to carry around?

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 21:28:25 -0500 (EST), (maryanne
kehoe) wrote:

Yes, but as I understand it the immigration card lists ALL of your
addresses that you will be at during your time in the country. A lot of
people were staying in private accomodation and not registering with the
local militia (police) as is required within 72 hours of arriving in the
country. The immigration card was designed to counteract that.

Hi Maryanne

The original plan was for my wife and I to stay with a family in
private accomodation in Moscow for a few days prior to the start of
our Trans-Sib trip. However, we were subsequently informed by our
travel company that this has now been banned by the authorities and we
would have to stay in a hotel instead.

Your reply presumably indicates why it has been banned.

Unfortunately, the people in charge make the rules so you have to make
the best of it.

Regards


KGB

Immigration Cards - Russia.
 

The immigration cards are stamped with the official stamp of the
places where you stay. You don't fill in the card, the hotel fills in
the card. If you do a private homestay (which is a totally separate
issue compared to staying at hotels) then the immigration official in
whatever city you are staying in fills in the form and stamps it.

And in reponse to one of your earlier observations- It's their country
and they can insist on whatever type of registration they want. The
option is to simply not go.


On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 09:04:15 GMT, mtravelkay wrote:



How does this prevent people from lieing about the addresses they will
be staying at? How does this change anything? If the concern is about
illegal immigrants, then they should be able to determine if they have a
valid visa or not, and if it has been registered. How does the
immigration card improve on this, other than give you a second piece of
Russian government paper to carry around?