The Belarusian Passport Center has issued 600 New Belarus passports and is preparing for remote biometric data collection. However, official recognition of the document at a state level is unlikely, said Franak Viačorka, senior advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to Belsat.
Work is currently underway to ensure that foreign institutions accept the "New Belarus passport" as additional proof of identity for legalization abroad.
Who applies for "New Belarus passports"
The "Belarusian Passport Center" has transformed over the past year, undergoing optimization, said Franak Viačorka, chief advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Its presence in Lithuania has changed, and overall operations have become more decentralized: new biometric data collection points have appeared in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and the USA, along with mobile sessions in other EU countries.
As of September 2026, 600 documents have been issued, with over 60 applications in process.
Applications for the New Belarus passport started in late January 2025, and the passports themselves began to be issued a few months later.
"Passports are typically obtained by people who have difficulties with documents: their traditional Belarusian passports have already expired, and this seems to be the only solution for them," Viačorka explained the demand for the document.
According to Tsikhanouskaya's advisor, the "New Belarus passport" may be particularly in demand in countries where there is no solution or practice for issuing foreigner passports or travel documents.
Viačorka stated that there are cases where the "New Belarus passport" has helped with everyday matters, and state authorities in various countries have been accommodating, accepting it as an identity document. The politician emphasized: the most important thing when making such appeals is to state that it is not a state passport and does not have official recognition. Crossing the border with such a document is not allowed.
Passport Center passed several security checks
According to Viačorka, the Belarusian Passport Center underwent several checks which showed no leaks or security risks.
He noted: after a person has been verified and submitted biometrics, the data is stored in encrypted form. "Without codes and the document itself, there is no way to access them – neither for us nor for the regime. Only the person who received the document will have access to their electronic card," Viačorka affirmed.
Neither employees of the passport center nor representatives of the United Transitional Cabinet or Tsikhanouskaya's Office have access to the database of passport recipients, he added.
The Office seeks official recognition of the document, but not as a passport
The process of recognizing the "New Belarus passport" is indeed complex, as there have been no such precedents, said Viačorka.
According to him, the priority of Tsikhanouskaya's Office's negotiations in various countries is the recognition of expired state Belarusian passports and the issuance of so-called "foreigner passports" or "travel documents." Only in third place is the promotion of the "New Belarus passport," which could be a universal and long-term solution.
"We will still strive for international recognition," Viačorka emphasized.
Thus, with the participation of experts in identification documents, an analysis of prospects was conducted, and a draft roadmap for international recognition of the document was prepared.
But Viačorka acknowledged that it is unlikely for the document to go through the procedure as a state passport:
"There is an established UN system where only states can issue passports. We are working on recognizing the 'New Belarus passport' as an additional document. For this, each country has different procedures; it is not centralized at the European level. Somewhere it can be an additional document to a residence permit. Somewhere we would like it to be an additional document when renewing a residence permit if people have expired passports."
Tsikhanouskaya's Office also conducted negotiations on this in Ukraine. The document could "be a solution for those who are left without valid passports or have lost them; there are such cases," Viačorka noted.
"Issuance has begun in the United States, and people can potentially add it, indicating the document's status: unrecognized, but one that verifies their identity," the politician added.
Will quantity turn into quality?
The process of recognizing the document can be very long, but "if there is no other, better solution at the level of the European Union or the UN, perhaps this option will be the only way out of the situation," Viačorka believes.
"Unfortunately, current international law does not provide a clear mechanism. We are in a gray area: the document has an unclear status, and a lot depends on the institution to which people apply. Using and possessing the document is not a crime if you are not deceiving people by saying that it is a genuine passport. Whether to accept it or not is the decision of the institution to which the person applied with this document. It is not a copy of the passport of the Republic of Belarus," the politician noted.
Viačorka does not rule out that the more people receive passports, the more motivation international institutions and countries will have to consider its recognition.
Electronic biometric data collection and reaching self-sufficiency
Among the immediate plans of the passport center is the organization of electronic biometric data collection, which will not require the physical presence of a person. "Current technologies allow this to be done. If successful, many more people will be able to apply for and receive documents," Viačorka believes.
Tsikhanouskaya's Office also plans to further optimize costs and make the "New Belarus passport project self-sufficient."
"The project was created and launched with private, targeted funds. This was not support for democratic or civil society; it was specific assistance. Now the most important thing is to reach self-sufficiency so that there are no additional expenses," Viačorka emphasized.
According to him, today the fees people pay for receiving the document go towards passport servicing, maintaining the digital infrastructure, and the verification system. Viačorka calls the current cost of 97 euros minimal and acknowledges that it is unlikely to be reduced, except perhaps through electronic biometric data collection.
In addition, among the tasks are the appearance of new biometric submission points and the involvement of new international experts in promoting the document. Currently, there is already a pool of professionals who help with this for free, says Tsikhanouskaya's advisor.
"This passport strengthens the subjectivity of the Belarusian community, reduces the regime's monopoly over Belarusians. Belarusians are not Lukashenka's slaves, not his subordinates. The second task is to strengthen the subjectivity of Belarus's democratic community. The third is to raise the very issue of documents," Viačorka emphasized.
The politician noted that against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the problem of transnational repression, where Belarusians cannot obtain documents, often recedes into the background and is not resolved, while the "New Belarus passport" brings this issue to the forefront and indirectly contributes to the legalization of Belarusians in other countries.
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