Fate Of Belarusian Passports Left At Consulates Revealed

The Belarusian MIA and MFA issued a joint resolution.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus adopted a joint resolution No. 13/238 of October 31, 2023, which introduces a storage period for undelivered passports and cancels the instruction on the exchange of these documents for Belarusians abroad.

The National Legal Internet Portal published the resolution.

According to the decree, ready-made “personalized, issued, but undelivered passports” for Belarusians living abroad will be stored in embassies and consulates for one year from the date of issue.

Then the ID documents will be sent for storage in the MIA Citizenship and Migration Departments - “at the place of registration of such citizens at their place of residence.”

The second paragraph of the resolution declares the instructions on exchanging passports of Belarusians living abroad, adopted back in 2012, to be no longer in force. Previously, this document stated that a passport can be changed in the following cases:

expiration of the passport;

wasting sheets intended for marks;

unsuitability for use;

gender changes;

changes of surname, first name, patronymic;

identifying inaccuracies in data or marks in the passport.

Let us remind you that on September 7, Aleksandr Lukashenka’s decree officially came into force, according to which diplomatic missions will no longer issue passports and some other documents for Belarusians abroad.