Citizens who have left Russia for long periods may be allowed to receive both foreign and general passports at consular offices. As Kommersant writes, earlier such an initiative was put forward by the Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova. According to her, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation agreed with this proposal. The newspaper recalls that for the first time, the Ombudsman came up with the idea of issuing general passports to Russians in foreign consular offices in November 2022.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the publication that they had received an appeal from the Ombudsman. At the same time, the department clarified that so far they are only “working through” the issue.
Alena Shnypko, a lawyer at Tomashevskaya & Partners, explained that under the law, a general passport is issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the territory of the Russian Federation, and the functions of consular institutions only include issuing foreign passports.
To change the procedure, it will be necessary to amend the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 828 and Federal Law No. 154 on the consular charter of the Russian Federation. According to the lawyer, the possibility of obtaining internal passports abroad “will resonate” with citizens permanently residing abroad and continuing to do business in Russia. However, Shnypko pointed out, the procedure for issuing these documents is the responsibility of citizens and “it will no longer be possible to avoid it with reference to physical absence in the country.”
Source: Rosbalt
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