Those wishing to make themselves a 10-year-old passport of the Russian Federation faced another difficulty – they receive refusals, in which it is reported that the applicant did not come to take biometric data. According to SOTA, in reality, this refusal comes even before a person receives a letter with an appointment date. Later, the publication added that a similar bug was first noticed back in March last year, after the start of the war.
Earlier it became known that "Gosuslugi" suspended the acceptance of applications for the issuance of a passport with an electronic carrier from February 2. Goznak explained the suspension by an "increased volume of applications." Demand was so high that Russian businesses couldn't keep up with making chips for passports, authorities said. Goznak noted that the Mikron enterprise is already "reconfiguring equipment" to cope with the load.
In turn, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov commented on the situation. He recommended that the Russians "be simpler" and order ordinary passports (valid for five years).