Interior Ministry: over 3% of Belarusians received biometric documents

More than 3 percent of Belarusians have received biometric documents – as noted by Pavel Khrishchenovich, the Deputy Head of the Citizenship and Migration Department at Belarus’ Interior Ministry

This is the third year that biometric documents have been issued in Belarus. These include a citizen identification card (ID card) and a biometric passport. ID cards are intended to verify the owner’s identity only inside Belarus, while biometric passports are required to travel abroad.

“The line of biometric documents has not changed and includes three ID cards: of a citizen of Belarus, a foreign citizen permanently residing in the country, and a stateless person permanently residing in Belarus. Five paper documents with a chip are also issued: a biometric passport of a citizen of Belarus, two travel documents for refugees and foreign citizens, alongside service and diplomatic passports – issued by the Foreign Ministry,” said an Interior Ministry representative.

According to him, foreign citizens applying for a residence permit are allowed to receive only biometric documents. Citizens of Belarus have the right to choose and can receive either a biometric document or an old-style passport from 1996.

“Today, more than 3 percent of the country’s population have received biometric documents. In particular, about 270 thousand ID-cards, about 95 thousand residence permits and over 220 thousand biometric passports have been issued. Meanwhile, 20 thousand citizens chose to receive two biometric documents for one person at once. Belarus is not new to this, with many countries around the world using this option. First of all, it is provided so that a citizen can use one passport to travel outside the country’s borders, and hand over the second passport to the embassy for a visa, e.g., since the passport can often be taken away for a fairly long period of time,” explained Pavel Khrishchenovich.

The practice of issuing ID cards and biometric passports is common throughout the country, but the Gomel Region and Minsk take the lead in these indicators.