Gérard Depardieu, whose row with the French government over taxes on the wealthy led him to move to Russia, has received the registration papers for his new flat in Saransk.
Depardieu, an acquaintance of President Vladimir Putin, was awarded Russian citizenship by the Kremlin in January and plans to open a restaurant in his adopted city.
The flat is in a newly built apartment block in the centre of Saransk, the capital of the Republic of Mordovia and about 400 miles from Moscow.
"Glory to Russia; glory to Mordovia! This region doesn't have oil or gas but has rich people who make their wishes come true in life," the actor reportedly said after the ceremony on Saturday.
Russian law requires citizens to be registered at their home address or be denied access to key public services including schools and healthcare.
Depardieu arrived in Mordovia for the first time in January and is due to spend four days discovering the city. He will be shown local fashion collections, visit a monastery and tour a poultry farm, a milk-processing factory and a cheese factory, according to local officials.
But he is unlikely to see Mordovia's large network of prison colonies for which the region is notorious. The most famous inmate is Pussy Riot singer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was sent to the area last year to serve a two-year sentence.
Depardieu, who was given his flat by Russian actor Nikolai Borodachyov, plans to build a small house in the countryside and open a restaurant in the city.
The French actor has repeatedly denied his Russian citizenship is a stunt and says he plans to spend significant amounts of time in the country. On Friday he was accompanied by the culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, on a guided tour of the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow.
Putin personally handed Depardieu a Russian passport in a move that was widely perceived as a snub to Paris.
The French premier, François Hollande, is scheduled to visit Moscow this week.
