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#1
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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 |
#2
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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 |
#3
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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. |
#4
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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 |
#6
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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? |
#7
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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? |
#8
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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? |
#9
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Immigration Cards - Russia.
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#10
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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? |
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