14 June, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. An information campaign to explain the conditions for obtaining passports by 14-year-old citizens has been launched in the Vitebsk region, Tatiana Romashova, Head of the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, told a BELTA correspondent. In connection with the entry into force from 9 August of this year of Decree No. 197, which, along with making additions and amendments to the list of administrative procedures carried out by state bodies and other organizations upon applications from citizens, provides for a reduction in the age threshold for mandatory passport issuance for Belarusian citizens from 16 to 14 years, the Citizenship and Migration Department has begun explanatory work among adolescents and their parents. It is currently difficult to name the number of young people who will receive passports for the first time, but Tatiana Romashova is confident that there will be no delays in issuing the main document, neither for first-time applicants nor for those who need to replace it. Despite the fact that Article 23.53 of the Code of Administrative Offences (residence without identity documents) provides for liability for late passport issuance, young citizens will not be punished at first. The explanatory work will enter its active phase with the start of the academic year. Tatiana Romashova recalled that from 9 August, Belarusian citizens will need to change their passport every 10 years – until they receive a passport at the age of 64. According to data for the first five months of the current year, 42,810 passports were issued to citizens in the region, while in the first five months of 2011, 37,306 were issued. According to Tatiana Romashova, this difference in volume is due to a sharp increase in the number of passports issued in March – on the eve of an increase in the basic amount. In accordance with the legislation, one month is allocated for passport processing. In the Vitebsk region, passport services generally cope with this task in two weeks. -0-

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