«According to Interior Ministry data, during the passport reform several hundred thousand citizens did not manage to receive new Russian passports. However, we must and will take into account the interests of this category of our citizens who did not exchange their passports for valid reasons: for example, being on a long business trip, undergoing treatment, living in hard-to-reach areas,» Chekalin explained. «This decision should not be confused with the earlier adopted decree on extending the validity of Soviet passports until January 1, 2006.»
The deputy minister noted that in that case it concerned foreign citizens who had USSR citizenship and arrived in the Russian Federation from states that were part of the USSR, and were registered at their place of residence in Russia before July 1, 2002. In addition, until 2006 Soviet passports remain valid for «stateless persons who had USSR citizenship and arrived in the Russian Federation from states that were part of the USSR, registered at their place of stay or residence in the Russian Federation before November 1, 2002, or who received permission for temporary residence in Russia.»