Russia may be forced to stop issuing biometric passports - paper

Russia could soon stop issuing biometric passports due to technical problems, a newspaper reported on Tuesday citing the head of the Federal Migration Service.

Russia could soon stop issuing biometric passports due to technical problems, a newspaper reported on Tuesday citing the head of the Federal Migration Service.

A letter from Konstantin Romodanovsky to Communications Minister Igor Shchegolev obtained by the respected Kommersant daily, warns that the system for issuing the passports is overloaded, with computers storing the data already 90% full, and an inter-agency data center not yet up and running.

Federal Migration Service figures show 1.3 million biometric passports have been issued this year, against 700,000 old-style documents, but the letter states half of the new passports have problems with the digital facial image.

As of the fourth quarter, more than 4 million applications had been received for the new passports, which cost 1,000 rubles ($35). The non-biometric passports cost 500 rubles.

Romodanovsky also warned that a bill going through the lower house of parliament that would extend the duration of Russian passports from five to 10 years could further complicate the process.

The bill, which has been passed on first reading by the State Duma, envisions introducing the changes on January 5. It would also increase the cost of the biometric passports to 2,000 rubles.

A migration service spokesman told Kommersant the problem was a lack of money to test the system, while a Communications Ministry spokeswoman said budget funding for development of the new system was a fraction of what was required.

Biometric passports have been introduced around the world, with governments saying they improve security by making forgeries almost impossible, although privacy advocates and some security experts oppose their use.

MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)