No Registration Needed in OVB for Eclipse Watchers
 

I just posted this over at the Community Buzz forum as well. I'll dupe it here:

I never thought I'd live to see this day in Novosibirsk but the football championship success of a few weeks back in Moscow has apparently encouraged the local officials to loosen registration requirements for those visiting Novosibirsk during the eclipse. Loosen, in this case, means ignore. From the registration agent at Olympia Risen Agency this morning: "there are too many foreigners in the city for too short a time to be able to register them all. Everyone here before the eclipse and leaving by the 5th of August will not have to register. You must have a visa though."

Some FTers I met this a.m. are staying at a hotel not licensed to register foreigners. The hotels that are (River Park, Novosibirsk, Sibir among others) will probably go ahead and do it but be at peace that those not at those hotels should not have to worry about it. Home stays, sanitoriums and forest dwellers are also included in this so be at peace everyone about the much feared registration process.

Let's just hope (as headsinclouds said this a.m.) that the nice folks at OVB and SVO2 feel the same way when you try to leave the country. I believe this is true what she said. There's no way they could process this many people in such a short amount of time.

So, look upward with peace and joy knowing that a reality of living and working here has been lifted especially for you!

Can the folks at the airport really tell whether you've registered? I think not. There is no longer any registration data written on migration cards. Registrations (or, more accurately, I believe, notification) performed via the post office will be delayed while the paperwork is delivered to the appropriate government agency. So, even then it will quite often not be in the computer when you leave the country.

True indeed but we do get asked every time we leave OVB (save during eclipses) where our registration docs are. We show them Xeroxed copies of it (our sponsor holds the originals) and they let us through. I think (assume) that a little shake down is what they are after when they ask you for them. If one does not have them then I don't there is anything stopping them from not letting you advance through security and on to ticketing. Of course...YMMV!

Well, when I left OVB, the traveller in front of me gave the guard a sheet of paper that appeared to me to be an original form. I said no, and eclipse and was waved thru. Dave was behind me and the staff snickered at my worried expression. Not even asked at SVO-2.

At OVB they didn't ask for a registration form (which should have been already been turned in elsewhere) or my migration form. At SVO they (as expected) kept my migration form. At other places in Russia, when passing through airports on domestic trips, they didn't ask for the migration form. They used to, when stamps were required on them. They don't any more. They do seem to check every time for a valid visa