Biometric passports pave way for visa-freedom
The introduction of biometric passports will facilitate the abolishment of the visa regime between Russia and the EU, a leading representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry says.
Talking at a press conference on Tuesday, leader of the ministry’s consular department Andrei Karpov said that the biometric passports will be of major importance for the travelling facilitation between Russia and the EU.
He does not exclude that the visa-free travelling eventually will only include the people who possess the new more technologically advanced passport. Also the EU countries have signaled that the new passports will facilitate the process on visa-free travelling, Karpov told RIA Novosti.
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A total of 14 Russian consular units all around the world today issue biometric passports, and another 80 units will get the necessary equipment in the course of 2011, the ministry representative said.
According to the Russian Migration Service, a total of three million biometric passports were issued in 2010.
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While the regular Russian passports are valid for five years, the biometric ones have a validity of ten years
