registration

[Alina Israeli]

On Jun 17, 2007, at 3:29 AM, Dustin Hosseini wrote:

> The registration for tourists isn't as scary as it sounds.  It's  
> down to the
> hotels and hostels to do their job in registering those who stay at  
> their
> respective places.

So those who are housed by friends and colleagues have to waste time

> The one thing about tourists is that most of them are greenhorns.   
> They
> don't know many underlying customs and rules here in Russia.  One  
> of them
> is, unfortunately, bribes.

and pay bribes.

> I don't appreciate the comment about Russia being a police state.   
> I hear
> Syria is a police state as well, but at least in terms of tourists,  
> you
> don't have to register if you aren't staying for more than 15  
> days.  So, I
> guess in this case, Syria is just a free a country as any other --  
> *that
> does not have registration of tourist visas*.

I guess you are telling us that Syria is better for tourism. I  
already heard the opinion that Muscovites don't want much tourism,  
they don't want it to become another Turkey (one of Russians'  
favorite destinations). That's the sure way to control and limit  
tourism which by the way would lead to limiting many other things,  
such as language learning which of interest to some of us, but not only.

> I'd like to add that the new US law that was passed within the last  
> couple
> of years regarding passports has created many problems for a lot of  
> people
> in the US.  Now, Americans wishing to travel to Canada, Mexico, or  
> Caribbean
> nations are required to hold a passport or a "passport card".  How
> ridiculous is THAT?  This is a step back -- a step in the complete  
> opposite
> direction of where Europe is going.

This is a backlash from the 9/11 fiasco. The terrorists lived in my  
state of Virginia for a while and had Virginia driver's licenses.  
These licenses technically would have entitled them to foreign travel  
to Canada and Mexico and presumably the re-entry. So now there is  
also some legislation as to whether the aliens could obtain driver's  
licenses or not etc. Unfortunately, this wave of terrorism hasn't  
died down and there are additional regulations (we may remember  
people drinking up their bottles of liquor in the airport prior to  
boarding a plane— наши люди, and others giving away enormous bottles  
of perfume).

> Let's not forget that foreign nationals arriving to the US have to get
> fingerprinted.  This is a kind of registration, don't you think?

Indeed. But everyone registers WHILE entering another country and  
gets a passport stamped, same goes for leaving the country.  
Fingerprinting now is not what it used to be yesteryear, no messy goo  
finger by finger and then cleaning with solvent which doesn't always  
work or takes three days. Conversely, registering in Russia requires  
finding your regional OVIR which is not open every day or has a short  
work day, thus maybe you would have to nicely kill two days in the  
process of such a visit, three if you are not lucky enough. And all  
you were doing was using a library or doing field work.

> We can
> even say that the US has become more of a "police state" under the  
> pretext
> of protecting the nation against alleged terrorist threats.

WE can, but it is still freer than any other country I know in one  
way or another. Russia could claim to be free only when it formally  
and absolutely abolishes all forms of propiska, including the big  
cities. New York, Paris and London somehow manage without it. Freedom  
of movement is a necessary one for a civil society.

> At least the EU and Russia are doing something to ease bilateral  
> relations
> regarding visas. Last I checked, the US and RF aren't doing  
> anything at all.
>

And that's a good thing. Last time I had to go to a conference in  
Moscow all Americans (including the renegade me) got their visas  
while Paillard and Giusti from France and Italy respectively did not.  
Something was terribly wrong there.



Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington DC. 20016
(202) 885-2387 	
fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu




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