Estonia to stop recognizing Russian non-biometric diplomatic passports starting from September

From September 1 this year, Estonia will stop recognizing Russian-issued non-biometric diplomatic and service passports for crossing EU borders and for visa processing.

ERR reported this in an article, according to Ukrinform.

As noted, this decision follows a step taken in March 2025, when Estonia stopped recognizing non-biometric foreign passports of Russian citizens.

The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that non-biometric passports, which do not contain an embedded chip with the holder's biometric data, create heightened risks of misuse.

In addition, the ministry said, such documents do not comply with recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on secure travel documents.

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As Ukrinform reported, since March 2025 Estonia has no longer recognized non-biometric foreign passports issued by the Russian Federation. Since July 2024, the Czech Republic has also not recognized Russian foreign passports without biometric data.