Romodanovsky said at a news conference at Interfax in June 2011 that, "the introduction of passports with fingerprints will accelerate interaction with the European Union on the visa-free track."
The FMS currently issues two types of passports - the old five-year passports and the new ten-year e-passports, which are thicker and have more pages. Old passports are less expensive and the sum charged for making them is smaller. Currently, the photograph is the only biometric element in biometric passports in Russia.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Passports with fingerprints to undergo pre-launch trials in Russia in 2012
Two other experimental e-documents will be issued in 2012 (interfax.com)
