From September 20, 2022, the Russian Consulate in Mexico will resume issuing 10-year biometric passports. An announcement about this was posted on the consulate’s website and on social networks. The relevant materials are also posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; it applies to all consular missions of the country.
Let us remind you that Russia suspended the issuance of biometric passports through consulates on August 26. However, the issuance of non-biometric 5-year passports continued. Then the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement linking the suspension of the issuance of biometric foreign passports abroad with the need to reformat the electronic media. Journalists cited a shortage of chips for the production of such passports as the reason for the suspension of issuance.
At the moment, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the issue of production of electronic chips for biometric passports has been resolved. “Other measures have been taken to ensure stable work on the registration and issuance of passports with electronic storage media to citizens of the Russian Federation living abroad,” the department reported.
The difference between a biometric and a non-biometric passport is not only the presence of a chip with the owner’s biometric data and the validity period. A 10-year passport can be a second passport, but you cannot have two 5-year ones. A second passport may be necessary if the first one runs out of pages and there is nowhere to put new visas and stamps, although it is still valid. It is also useful to have it as a backup when submitting documentation for a visa, when the issuance of a visa may be delayed. You can also use different passports to travel to conflicting countries.