Job Discussion Forums

jwagner7 · Joined: 05 Aug 2015 Posts: 2

Hi all,

I am in the US and hope to move to Russia soon to teach English. I secured a job offer at a school in one of the "satellite towns" around Moscow. Rather than living in the satellite town, I desire to live in Moscow, halfway between the school and Moscow's center, and commute to work.

When I mentioned this to my employer, the school said living in Moscow would be impossible because they will register me in the town where the school is located, and therefore I must live there as well.* Does anyone have experience here or know if this is a reasonable concern from a legal standpoint?

I appreciate any insight. Thanks!

*(They went on to mention that it is really more convenient to live within walking distance of the school anyway.)

Shelby · Joined: 24 Dec 2010 Posts: 66 Location: Russia

You have to be registered at the place you live. In my case the school owns the flats teachers live in and if we wanted to live elsewhere we would have to find a landlord who is prepared to do the registration (and pay the rent etc). I am not in Moscow but where I am a lot of landlords don't want the hassle of registering foreign tenants (or maybe they don't want to declare the income).

It probably would be more convenient to live within walking distance of the school and have a slightly longer journey into Moscow on days off.

Phillip Schofield · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:16 am Post subject:

I would also be careful regarding which town you're working in. Some of them have limited public transport to Moscow itself. I know that a few of the towns in Moscow region only have trains connecting them once every hour and the trains stop working between 10am and 4pm.
So if you happen to be commuting from Moscow to such towns you will find yourself having problems in even getting to work.

jwagner7 · Joined: 05 Aug 2015 Posts: 2

Thanks for the input, Shelby and Phillip. Moving to Russia is the strangest thing I've ever done, and I love all that the people on this forum do to make aspects of this process clearer.

So, there is nothing illegal about living in Moscow and commuting, as long as you are registered where you live (which is possible); it would just likely be more of a hassle for all involved, right?

Shelby · Joined: 24 Dec 2010 Posts: 66 Location: Russia

Strange has only just started!

As far as I know, nothing illegal but you need to find a landlord who is willing to do the registration. If you go away they have to cancel it then register you again when you return. I have heard of people going to other countries for 3 or 4 days and having problems at immigration on their return. I think a fine was involved but I'm not sure if it was for the teacher or the landlord.

Unless your Russian is excellent the whole process of securing a flat could be rather daunting.

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

This is just another one of those Russian hassles which seems to have survived from the Soviet era!Bureaucracy gives people jobs and sometimes very lucrative ones.......often it just seems unneccessarily complicated to do things which we wouldn't worry about at all in the west and renting a flat is one of them,even more so if you don't know how to deal with the system or have a local person to help you.Basically,nobody wants problems with the tax authorities and registering a foreigner at a place you own means that you make it known that you are getting rent etc.
I was lucky to get around it when a close friends father agreed to register me as living at his place,even though I wasn't and I paid him the small fees it incurs when he went to the passport office.You then have to go to a specified bank to pay and obtain a receipt which you then take back to the passport office..and queue up again to complete the registration!!Of course if your firm does this the problem is solved for you.