Part one of Passport's guide to Moscow's favorite - Passport magazine

ank. But as you know, there are many of these banks across
Moscow. The medical tests can all be completed in about two
weeks max, unless there are some unusual circumstances.
“The really time-consuming documents are, first, getting hold
of a document confirming that you do not have a criminal record.
Americans have to get this letter from some government
office in their place of ‘permanent US residence’; in my case the
court office in the county where I lived. That document has to be
notarized, then sent to the secretary of state of the state where
you live, for the second difficult document, the apostille. (This is
a necessary, internationally-valid document which certifies the
notarization of the other document. You must have them both.
Google “apostille”). This must be done in your place of origin,
and, for Americans at least, can not be done at the embassy.)
This can take a few weeks, and I recommend starting the process
immediately, as it is impossible to get an extension on the
two-month period within which you can submit documents for
the permit. I was actually first told that for Americans the documents
might have to be done by the FBI which is complicated
and can take 6 months! I didn’t think this was necessary as there
was no such stipulation in the instructions or the forms I had to
fill out. In fact, the migration officer who received my completed
forms and documents didn’t want to accept them at first for this
reason, but he made a phone call to some top office in Moscow
and was told to his surprise – and my relief! – that documents
from the local state government were accepted.
“Your passport needs to be translated and notarized, and
you need copies of your registration and current immigration
card [the white slip of paper you fill in when you enter the
country]. As a tip, I would say that you should make sure that
your name is spelt the same way on all your documents (in
Russian) as in your notarized passport translation.
“I am now waiting for news on whether or not I will get my
temporary residence permit. I am confident that everything
will be okay. I was told it should come in about 4 months, and
there seemed no question as to whether it would come! In
general, if you follow the rules and don’t have to get things
done in a hurry, everything is cheap, and possible. The stipulation
that you wrote about in the April issue, that you have to
prove your income or show you have hundreds of thousands
of rubles in the bank, appears to have been dropped. In my
experience, the process is not onerous, and is doable. I had
expected terrible inconvenience, long lines, dirt and worry; I
was pleasantly surprised.
July 2009
How To
“I would add a couple of things: first that, unless you have at
least basic Russian, the process can be a bit intimidating, and I
would suggest having a friend at least help you at the first clinic
to get started. (And for sure let a Russian fill in the application
form for you!) Also, take all your personal documents with you to
all of the clinics and other places, as you never can be sure what
they might ask for!”
Visas have become an expensive headache in recent years.
The РВП is in a way a different kind of headache, but one which
leads to a relatively stress-free coming and going, living and
working in Russia – when you get the Permanent Residence
Permit (which is the third part of the permit process). P
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