Originally Posted by alanh
It also gives the police an excuse to shake you down for bribes if your registration isn't right (or they claim it isn't).
Compared to Eastern European countries that have been liberated from communist rules for more than a decade, Russia is still very much a tightly-controlled nation.
There are still places where foreign tourists are "forbidden" to visit. It is still possible for a foreign tourist to be questioned when straying too far from major cities into the countryside. If your papers/documents are not 100% in order(whether true or fabricated), the police are more than happy to let it go for financial considerations.
Back to the issue of getting a visa... it is advisable to get a visa service agency to do the work for you. Most of them have "$pecial ties" with the Russian consulate and it is very easy to get a visa through them.(at least this was true as of 18 months ago)