registration

[Dustin Hosseini]

Very simply, those housed by friends/colleagues can go to most any hostel in
Moscow, or St. Pete to my best knowledge, and may a registration fee of 500
to 700 rubles - no other fees/bribes/payments demanded.

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

>and pay bribes.

>
>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.

Tourism is seen as the means of running of an economy by third world
countries by *some* Muscovites.  This does not in any way mean that all
people hold this opinion, and it is ridiculous to even say that all, or
nearly all Muscovites believe such a thing.  What should we say about Sochi
then?  It probably wouldn't be so popular today if it weren't for tourism,
and the Olympics should only boost its status.  

Tourism in Syria, sure it's not a great example.  My point is simply that
Syria is organized in regards to tourism while Russia isn't, though it
certainly could be.  

>
>> 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— íàøè ëþäè, 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.

Again, registration is not a headache if you know what to do.  Checking a
few websites, calling a few friends/acquaintances about Russian registration
rules is the best thing to do;  it will save you a lot of time and hassle
when you get here.  Americans are already, I think, used to jumping through
tons of hoops, some of them so banal that we don't even think about them. 
Getting registered in a foreign country within 3 business days shouldn't be
a mind-bending task if you do it right, and through the proper channels.  

No seasoned traveler to Russia is going to sit in the OVIR office for half a
day... that's pure insanity.

>> 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.

Russia will never be free in an American context, so this point of view is
moot.  

Dustin Hosseini
Middlebury College 

>
>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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