--- title: "Your First 30 Days in Russia: The 2026 Arrival Checklist" description: "Migration registration, a SIM card under the biometrics rule, a bank card, SNILS and Gosuslugi — what to do in which week after landing, so nothing expires." url: https://relocaterussia.com/en/blog/first-30-days-in-russia-2026/ lang: en date: 2026-07-05 modified: 2026-07-05 author: "Aleksandr Sharnin" --- # Your First 30 Days in Russia: The 2026 Arrival Checklist The first month in a new country is won or lost on logistics. This checklist is the exact sequence our clients follow after landing in Russia in 2026 — the deadlines that actually apply, the order that avoids repeat visits, and the small things nobody tells you until you are standing in the wrong queue. ## Key takeaways - Keep your migration card and sort migration registration first — for most nationalities the general deadline is 7 working days (longer for some citizenships). - Since 2025, foreigners need SNILS, a Gosuslugi account and registered biometrics to buy a Russian SIM — plan roaming or an eSIM for the first days. - Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards do not work in Russia — bring cash to exchange and open a local Mir card in your first two weeks. - The right order saves weeks: registration → SNILS → Gosuslugi → biometrics → SIM and bank. Do it backwards and you will queue twice. ![A 30-day arrival checklist for Russia: migration registration, SIM card and internet, bank card and SNILS, a Gosuslugi account and health insurance.](https://relocaterussia.com/images/first-30-days-russia-2026.svg) It assumes you have already arrived on a long-term basis — a work visa, the Shared Values Visa (Decree 702), a family route or similar. If you are still choosing your visa route, start with our step-by-step guides and come back to this one a week before your flight. Four things to know before you land 1. The migration card you receive at the border is a primary document — photograph it and keep it with your passport for your entire stay. 2. Migration registration is filed by your host (hotel, landlord, employer, family). The general deadline is 7 working days; several citizenships have longer windows — check yours. 3. A Russian SIM now requires SNILS, a verified Gosuslugi account and biometrics (a rule in force since 2025) — so a local number is a week-two task, not a day-one one. 4. Cards issued abroad by Visa/Mastercard do not work; budget cash for the first two weeks and plan a local Mir card early. ## Days 1–7: legalise your presence Week one is about two documents and basic liquidity. Everything else can wait. 1. Check your migration card for typos before leaving the border zone — a wrong purpose of entry (“work” vs “private”) creates real problems later. 2. Get migration registration: hotels file it automatically at check-in; in a rented flat the landlord (or your employer, for work statuses) submits it. Keep the tear-off slip. 3. Exchange cash at bank branches, not kiosks; rates inside major banks are fair and the transaction is documented. 4. Stay connected on international roaming or a travel eSIM for now, and get a transport card (Troika in Moscow, Podorozhnik in St Petersburg) — the metro does not take foreign cards. ## Days 8–14: build your digital identity Russia runs on three identifiers — SNILS (social insurance number), INN (tax number) and a Gosuslugi account. Get them in this order, because each unlocks the next: 1. SNILS — apply at any MFC (public services centre) or via your employer; it is free and usually takes from a day to a week. 2. Gosuslugi — create the account, then confirm your identity at an MFC or a partner bank; the confirmed level is what everything else checks against. 3. Biometrics — register your face and voice in the unified biometric system (EBS) at a major bank branch (Sber is the usual choice); bring your passport with a notarised translation. 4. Now the payoff: buy your Russian SIM at an operator's own store, and open a bank account with a Mir card the same week (passport, notarised translation, migration documents). The sequence matters: for foreigners a SIM contract legally requires the SNILS + Gosuslugi + biometrics combination, and most banks are far friendlier once you show a local number. ## Days 15–30: set up real life With the paperwork core done, the second half of the month is quality of life and forward planning: 1. Health cover: check what your status includes (RVP/VNZh holders are inside the state OMS system; on work statuses, clarify when OMS starts for you) and price a private DMS policy for faster access — from roughly 30,000–60,000 ₽ a year. 2. INN — the tax number is issued by the tax office at your registration address; your employer or bank may have already triggered it, but verify you have the certificate. 3. Kids: file school or kindergarten applications (passports, birth certificates with notarised translations, vaccination records) — mid-year placements are normal, but the paperwork takes a couple of weeks. 4. Longer term: check your driving-licence situation (foreign licences have exchange rules tied to residency) and set reminders for your status milestones — extensions, annual notifications, VNZh eligibility. ## The folder you carry everywhere For the first months, a slim paper folder beats a phone photo. Russian offices still love paper: - Passport + notarised Russian translation (order two or three copies — offices keep them). - Migration card (the original) and the registration tear-off slip. - Your status documents: visa, RVP mark or decision, work permit — whatever applies to you. - A stack of matte 35×45 mm photos — nearly every application wants one or two. ## Apps that replace the ones you left behind - Yandex Go and Yandex Maps — taxis, navigation and public transport times; the ecosystem that Uber and Google Maps used to be. - Your bank's app (Sber, T-Bank, VTB…) — payments by QR code and by phone number are the default everywhere. - Telegram — not just messaging: city expat communities, official channels and half of daily life run on it. Ours included. - 2GIS — offline city maps with building entrances, floors and office numbers; weirdly indispensable. The mistake that costs the most Never buy “registration” from street intermediaries. A registration at an address where you do not live is a violation that surfaces at the worst moment — at a status renewal or at border control, with annulment and entry bans on the table. Registration must reflect where you actually live: fixing an honest landlord's paperwork is easy; fixing a fake one is not. Expat perspective > I budgeted a week for bureaucracy and it took twelve days — but only because I did SNILS and Gosuslugi before trying to buy a SIM, on my consultant's advice. My colleague did it in reverse and made three extra trips to the operator. The order really is the whole game. — Sofia, product designer from Riga, moved in 2026 ## Thirty days, once None of this is hard; it is just unforgiving of the wrong order. Print the checklist, put the three deadlines in your calendar, and the first month becomes a series of short errands instead of a crisis. And if you would rather land with every appointment booked and every form pre-filled — that is exactly what our arrival support does. Read next: - [Banking in Russia for Expats: Cross-Border Capital Allocation and Compliance in 2026](https://relocaterussia.com/en/blog/banking-in-russia-2026/) - [Cost of Living & Taxes in Russia 2026: What Expats Need to Know](https://relocaterussia.com/en/blog/cost-of-living-russia-2026/) - [RVP in Russia: Temporary Residence Permit Step by Step (2026)](https://relocaterussia.com/en/blog/rvp-russia-step-by-step-2026/)