Foreigners will be fingerprinted to get Russian visa since December

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. Foreigners from a number of countries applying for Russian visa will have to provide personal biometrical data, in line with a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, published on the official legal information portal on Tuesday. The decree envisions that since December 10, fingerprinting procedures will be launched at Russian embassies and consulates in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Myanmar and Namibia, and also at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Federal Security Service have been ordered “to ensure the process of collecting biometric personal data/ scanning of papillary pictures of all fingers/ of foreign citizens or stateless persons in processing their visas.” The foreign states are due to be informed of the newly launched procedures by December 5. The project expenses will be covered by the federal budget allocated to the Foreign Ministry, the document says. Read more