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I have a tourist visa question about registration and hotel requirements.

0 votes
I have a friend in Kaliningrad who wants to host me for a trip there in October - she is applying for a homestay visa for me.  The problem is, she's a huge procrastinator and dragging her feet like crazy.  I'm hoping I can just get the invitation from her, and then expedite my visa with the Washington DC consulate so I can fly as planned in October.  But just in case she takes too long and drags her feet more, I was going to try and obtain a tourist visa as a backup.  So my confusion lies in lodging and registration.  I am OK with booking a hotel for say a couple of nights so I can be registered, etc., but I'm hoping that I'd have some freedom of movement after that and be able to just stay with my friend since it would be more convenient and cheaper.  I'll only be there for 2 weeks, but booking a hotel for 2 weeks that I'm not going to stay at seems like a huge waste of money.  I read that after my time at the hotel is up, I'll have to be registered again wherever I'm staying, and that having a private person register me may cause some problems.  I'm combing the internet and finding no answers.  So what I'm wanting to know, in a nutshell, is how do people travel independently in Russia without having to book a hotel the entire stay, and how does one go about registering themselves again after their stay at the hotel is over?
asked Jun 28, 2016 in Russian Visa by travelingamy (120 points)

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