Travel Alert: Russian Passports to Drop Children's Details by 2027

Russia is overhauling its foreign passport system. Starting January 2027, passports will no longer include information about children. The migration service also announced the removal of two outdated fields—"Personal Code" and "Account"—from the document. The changes aim to align with international standards and simplify processing.

The new passport format adopts machine-readable codes updated by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Diplomatic, service, and regular passports will now carry the letters PD, PO, and PP respectively, replacing the single-letter codes D, S, and P. The decision follows an April 2026 law that eliminated state fees for adding children to passports, paving the way for this shift.

Officials say removing children's data protects the right to free movement. Recently, some European countries denied entry to Russian minors who lacked their own passport but were listed in a parent’s document. The new policy lets parents apply for separate passports for their children instead. Importantly, older passports with children’s entries remain valid until their expiration date.