Putin signs bill on new rules of invalidating passports

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill on amendments into the Federal Law “On the order of entering and exiting the Russian Federation”, the corresponding document has been posted on a governmental website.

According to the bill, all citizens called upon to undergo military service or alternative civilian service will have five days to give up their passports for storage to passport-issuing state bodies upon the moment of being notified of needing to undergo such service.

The same amendments will apply to the employees of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), former FSB employees that have left their positions less than five years before, as well as citizens that have access to state secrets.

Refusal to give up one’s passport without a valid excuse will be considered grounds to invalidate the passport.

Furthermore, as the Military Lawyers association notes, the bill does not feature the clause according to which the citizens that have already received a draft notice are not allowed to leave Russia starting from the day the notice is considered received. Thus, according to the lawyers, people who have received a draft notice do not have to give up their passports.

The law will enter into force 180 days after being published. Thus, it will not apply to this year’s autumn conscription.

The bill was introduced to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, in 2021, however the deputies only approved it in May 2023.