Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg to stop recognizing Russian non-biometric passports

Source: European Commission

Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden will stop recognizing Russian non-biometric passports starting October 1, 2026, the European Commission announced.

Sweden will continue admitting Russians who hold non-biometric passports through the end of 2026, provided they already have a valid visa or residence permit from an E.U. or Schengen country. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands have set no such transition period.

With these four additions, 15 European states now refuse to recognize Russian non-biometric passports, including France, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Russia currently issues two types of foreign travel passports. Biometric passports, valid for ten years, and non-biometric ones, valid for five. Non-biometric passports take less time to get and cost less than biometric ones.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

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Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg to stop recognizing Russian non-biometric passports

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