The Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that this is due to "technical reasons beyond the control of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs."
If it is necessary to urgently leave Russia at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, persons who have already applied for a biometric passport will be issued an old-style international passport valid for 5 years "as soon as possible" (old-style passports are still issued, and applications are accepted for their issuance). If you cancel the service, the fee paid will be refunded.
However, please take into account that we are aware of cases when, in practice, the automatic issuance of an old-style international passport to those who applied for a new-style international passport did not occur, the application was returned without offering any other options. How, in this case, to request its execution, the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not explain (it can be assumed that in this case the citizen must submit a new application, already for an old-style passport, having withdrawn the old one).
According to all submitted applications, passports will be issued as soon as they are ready, about which citizens will be notified.
There have already been such suspensions of the issuance of passports - in August 2022, the issuance of passports was suspended "due to the reformatting of the electronic media." There is no official confirmation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the exact reasons for the current suspension, but there are reports in the media that this may be due to a shortage of electronic chips and problems in their procurement.
Source: Official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia
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