Say goodbye to book passports: Ukrainians will have to exchange their documents.

Ukrainians can replace their book passports because they must remove the Russian language from them. This change will lead to the exclusive use of the Ukrainian language for all entries in book-format passports.

New Requirements for Passports

Recently proposed changes in legislation envisage a transition to the Ukrainian language for both domestic and foreign passports. The updates concern the language standards of the documents, which will be brought in line with the current legislation.

In particular, it is proposed to abolish the provisions regarding foreign passports that were introduced in 1992, as they no longer comply with modern legislation.

Reasons for the Changes

• The previous language law became invalid in 2018, so new rules for citizens' documents are needed.
• The current language law establishes the necessity of the state language in all civil documents.
• The ID card issuance system has forced the cessation of making book passports.
• Domestic passports in ID card format have been issued since 2016, and book passports ceased to be manufactured back in 2014.

Changes in Passport Issuance

Now book passports can only be issued by court decision and with remaining old forms. However, in the future, all entries must be made exclusively in the Ukrainian language.

Updates on Foreign Passports

• The system for issuing foreign passports has been based on new rules since 2015, and the old system is planned to be abolished.

System Updates

• Holders of book passports can continue using them, but no new ones are being made.
• A court decision regarding the passport requires all entries to be recorded in the Ukrainian language.
• For traveling abroad, biometric passports will be issued according to the existing rules since 2015.
• The changes are aimed at aligning document circulation with current legislation and eliminating outdated norms.

Recently, Ukrainians have been allowed to have dual citizenship.

The government has made changes to the legislation concerning passports, which envisage a transition to the exclusive use of the Ukrainian language in all documents, including book passports. This update is aimed at streamlining document circulation and bringing it in line with current legislation, as well as eliminating outdated norms. There is also the possibility of traveling abroad with biometric passports.