Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg to stop recognizing Russian non-biometric passports
Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden will stop recognizing Russian non-biometric passports starting October 1, 2026, the European Commission announced.
Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden announced they will stop recognizing Russian non-biometric passports starting October 1, 2026. Sweden will continue admitting Russians with non-biometric passports through the end of 2026, as long as they possess a valid visa or residence permit from an EU or Schengen country. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands have not set a transition period.
As a result, 15 European states now refuse to acknowledge Russian non-biometric passports. France, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Republic are among them. Russia issues two types of foreign travel passports: biometric ones, valid for ten years, and non-biometric ones, valid for five. Non-biometric passports are cheaper and quicker to obtain.
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