Ministry of Justice: Ukrainians may refuse ID-cards for religious reasons

The passport of a citizen of Ukraine, new and old samples. Photo: Obozrevatel

Religious beliefs are the only reason why Ukrainians can refuse an ID card and get an old passport of a citizen of Ukraine. This is stated in a message on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
The passport must be changed when the last name or first name is changed, the document is lost or if it has become unusable, the Ministry of Justice reminds. Now Ukrainians are issued passports of a new type – ID-cards, and they can refuse it "only for religious reasons".
If the Migration Service refuses to issue a passport book, then the citizen has the right to go to court with a claim to be issued such a document.
“In Ukraine, the first precedent for obtaining a passport of the 1994 sample was in the Zhytomyr region. On September 19, 2018, judges of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court defended the rights of Ukrainian citizens who, because of their religious beliefs, refused to be issued an ID  passport card and ordered the Migration Service to issue an old-style document.
Thus, amendments were made to the orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and it was indicated that if there is a corresponding court decision, the Migration Service authorities issue a passport of a passport book of the 1994 sample, and for this it is necessary to apply directly with the court decision to the State Migration Service authorities,” says the message of the Ministry of Justice.
There is no need to change your passport if you just need to paste a photo into it (at the age of 25 or 45). However, the Ministry of Justice emphasized, “if you missed the 30-day period that is given to you for pasting a photo, in this case the passport is considered expired, and you need to receive an ID-card”.
As reported earlier, Ukrainians were allowed to be photographed for documents in a headdress, but only for religious or medical reasons.

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