On August 9, Minsk / BELTA correspondent /. The age for mandatory passport issuance in Belarus has been lowered to 14 years, the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus informed BELTA correspondent. Today, amendments and additions made by Decree No. 197 of April 19, 2012, to the list of administrative procedures came into force, according to which passports will be issued to citizens of Belarus from the age of 14. The procedure for obtaining passports itself will not change. 14-year-old citizens will need a standard set of documents - the same as was required before. In the city of Minsk, for this purpose, it is necessary to contact the passport officer of the settlement and reference center at the place of residence. The department also noted that Article 23.53 of the Code of Administrative Offences provides for liability for untimely passport issuance. For now, minors will not be held liable, of course. However, they need to remember that it is better not to postpone the issue of obtaining such an important document for a long time, the department explained. "Minors who have already received a passport before this date do not need to change it for a new one; their passport will be valid until the date indicated in it," the Department of Citizenship and Migration noted. Under the new rules, the validity period of passports for minors will change: if previously they were issued for 5 years, then passports issued from August 9 will be valid for 10 years. As previously reported, Decree No. 197 was signed by the President of Belarus on April 19, included in the National Register of Legal Acts of the Republic of Belarus on May 8, and comes into force on August 9. This decree introduces amendments and additions to the list of administrative procedures carried out by state bodies and other organizations upon applications from citizens (the list was approved by Decree No. 200 of April 26, 2010). Among other things, it lowers the age threshold for mandatory passport issuance for citizens of Belarus from 16 to 14 years. This is mainly due to the fact that, in accordance with the civil legislation of Belarus, young people aged 14 to 18 have the right to dispose of their salaries, scholarships, and benefits, as well as the right to conduct certain banking operations, etc. They need passports to perform these functions. The introduced changes do not affect issues related to marriage, criminal liability, and other similar matters in any way.

BELTA