How easy is it to get in and out of Russia by illegally crossing its border?
I'm unsure whether my question is on-topic here, but it's about travel and border crossing, so I've decided to try.
I'm writing an article about Russian borders, focusing on illegal crossings in both directions. The aim of the article is not to give specific hints to potential illegal border crossers, but to give an objective picture of how well Russia's vast land borders are guarded by Russian border guards and their counterparts on the other side of the border and what are the implications for illegal migration, smuggling, drug trafficking, etc. As a student learning the Russian language, I've been able to find and read various Russian posts and articles about the matter, but almost all information I found dates back to a decade ago or so, so I'm unsure about the current situation. But back then, there were many "holes" in the Russian border. In particular, a large part of the Russian border with Latvia, an EU member, goes through wild swampy forests and was barely marked, let alone guarded, back then. A more or less recent article shows a part of the Russian border with another EU member, Estonia:
The border control officer interviewed in that article says that a very large part of the Russian-Estonian border is like that, and compares that forest to a jungle. The article makes it very clear that illegal crossings do occur, although some border crossers get caught.
My question: How easy is it to illegally cross the Russian border nowadays? Am I right in understanding that you still can easily cross the Russian border illegally in any direction if you do your homework, take a compass, and avoid silly mistakes like using electronic devices in the border region?
I emphasize that I'm not looking for border-crossing advice and merely want to read the information that sheds light on the overall picture and might help me write my article - e.g., statistics, personal accounts written by refugees, etc. My impression is that there's a big problem that is largely ignored and swept under the rug, and I'd like to know whether my impression is correct and how I can back it up with facts in my article.
Best Answer
I think you are asking the wrong question.
How likely is it that someone, who has illegaly entered Russia, be caught while remaining there?
That question is easier to answer, assuming you don't speak Russian fluently and don't have a Russian internal passport and have not used any form of public transport between the border region and the first major city (where irregular checks are made).
Very high, since you will probably be found out once you attempt to stay somewhere overnight and cannot supply the needed immigration card togeather with a stamped visa in your passport.
Registration in Russia: What it is and how it is done
Who must be registered?
Registration must be done by the host:
- Hotel. If you stay in a hotel, then the hotel management is responsible for the registration upon your check-in.
- Apartment. The host of the apartment must make the registration, be it an individual or a company that manages the apartment.
- Private homes. If you are staying in a private home of a friend or relative, then your friend or family must make your registration at their home address.
...
Registration procedure in Russia
...
For the registration, the hotel will request at your arrival:
- Your passport, from which they will make a photocopy of all pages (including the page where your photo and personal data are and the page that has your visa stamped).
- Your immigration card, from which the hotel will make a photocopy.
With this documentation, the hotel will fill out a special foreign citizen arrival notification form.
The hotel administration will also be in charge of the registration process, by filling up the form and presenting it along with the rest of documentation before the Russian immigration authorities. You will be registered in 1-2 business days.
The main part of the form is the one sent to the authorities, while the bottom part (from the dotted line), or a copy, is the one that the hotel can give you as proof and in which the address and the registration deadline is indicated. Once you leave, the hotel will also inform the authorities.
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How easy is it to cross the Russian border?
The border crossing at Luhamaa (or Shumilkino at the Russian side) is easy to cross with a little preparation. It will take you some time to get through (2-3h minimum) so plan carefully and set time aside.To cut the waiting time you can book a time slot at www.estonianborder.eu through a system called GoSwift.Can you cross the Russian border?
Land border crossings between Russia and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia are closed. Border crossings between Russia and other destinations are open, but may have restrictions in place. See the destination specific information below for details.Can you cross the border from Norway to Russia?
There is one legal border crossing point, with stations on both sides, at Storskog in Norway and Borisoglebsky in Russia, located on the E105 highway some 15 km east of Kirkenes. Crossing time at both stations is unpredictable and depends on the amount of traffic.Can you cross into Russia from Finland?
There are temporary border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia in Inari (Lieksa) and Parikkala. The international border crossing points for recreational watercraft are the coast guard stations of Haapasaari, Helsinki, Hanko and \xc5land, Santio and the port of Nuijamaa.More answers regarding how easy is it to get in and out of Russia by illegally crossing its border?
Answer 2
This is a bit old, but according to wikipedia
According to an article published in 2005, the main problems at the Russian-Mongolian border, specifically in its Republic of Tuva section, were cross-border livestock theft (in both directions) and smuggling of meat.[5]
If true, this would imply that the border is not hard to cross at all as long as you can blend in well with the locals.
Of course it is somewhat convenient for the police to blame people outside their jurisdiction for cattle theft, so the real scale of cross-border cattle thievery might be somewhat smaller.
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Images: Artem Beliaikin, Alexander Kovalev, Blue Bird, Mikhail Nilov