Russians' passports may be cancelled due to mistakes. What you need to know

Errors and typos in the passport are grounds for revoking the document. This can happen during a border control check. A typographical defect may also be a problem if the text with the data is poorly printed. In which cases the document can be withdrawn, and in which cases there is no reason for this, see the Izvestia article.

What are the mistakes in a foreign passport?

• In October, information appeared that Russian passports began to be massively invalidated, allegedly due to a typographical defect. The text with information about gender, nationality and date of birth was printed not under the appropriate boxes, but directly on them. At the border posts, this creeping of the text was recognized as a defect, which led to the passports becoming invalid. The problem mainly affected holders of five-year old passports, which were issued in September 2025.

• The Russian Interior Ministry denied this information. According to the official representative of the department Irina Volk, there have been no complaints about the cancellation of passports due to technical defects, and the specifics of filling in the fields cannot lead to the withdrawal of the document.

• Nevertheless, the passport will still be declared invalid if false information about its holder is found in it. Such a conclusion will be made if the border control checks reveal inconsistencies with the data of the state migration and registration accounting system.

• Incorrect personal data may be recognized as an error, both for the citizen himself and his children, as well as the discrepancy between the photos. If there is a typo in the passport or in the system and it is noticed at border control, this will also be considered an error. It is also not allowed to replace the letter "e" with "e" if it is already used in any document. An invalid passport will be withdrawn at the border, and it will no longer be possible to travel using it.

What else should I pay attention to

• When checking a foreign passport, there are several possible situations when the data in it may be considered unreliable. For example, if the city or region that was renamed is specified as the place of birth. However, officially this should not be a reason to withdraw the passport. At the same time, the regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs provide that if the passport holder was born before February 6, 1992, then in English his country of birth should be indicated as USSR, and for those born after — RUSSIA. If a discrepancy is found here, it will already be treated as an error.

• Sometimes the reason for the cancellation of a passport is a misspelling of the surname, first name and patronymic. If there is a difference in how one of the three words is written in Russian, then it will be a mistake. If there is an obvious typo in the Latin spelling of the first or last name (the patronymic is not written in Latin), then this will also be a reason to withdraw the passport. At the same time, border guards should be lenient with the issues of transliteration of names, since the rules for translating Russian words into Latin letters have changed in recent years.

• In case of a change of surname, first name, date or place of birth, the passport remains valid for six months. During this period, when using it, you should show documents confirming the change of any data. After six months, the passport will become invalid, so you will need to issue a new one in advance.

• Minor changes in appearance should also not be considered a reason for recognizing a passport as defective. Too serious changes, for whatever reason, may become grounds for revocation of the document.

How to fix errors

• Correcting errors in the passport depends on how the inaccuracy crept into the document. If a citizen has provided the correct data, but already at the stage of creating a passport they were distorted, then he should contact the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which issued the certificate. It will have to be redone within 10 days. The applicant is not required to re-submit documents and pay the state fee, only for an old-style passport you will need another color photo.

• If the reason for the cancellation or withdrawal of the passport was the incorrect data of its holder, then the new document must be issued anew. You will have to reapply and pay the state fee, after which the new passport will be ready in due time.