According to my information, in order to save administrative and material costs, Ukrainian law allows the extension of a foreign passport after the 10-year period expires. In this regard, Ukrainian citizens with extended passports are interested in whether they can enter Germany with such a document.
The German Federal Ministry of the Interior explains: 'The aforementioned three-month minimum validity period for a foreign passport does not apply to foreigners who are not EU citizens with stable, long-term residence permits issued by German authorities. This decision is based on the secure and long-term residence status of these third-country nationals in Germany.
Furthermore, the Schengen Borders Code Article 5, Paragraph 4, Letter a allows the transit of third-country nationals through the territory of a Schengen country for transit purposes on the basis of a residence permit issued by another Schengen state. As a precaution, I would like to note that transit must be the sole purpose of the foreigner; stopping in the transit country for other purposes is not permitted. As a result, Ukrainian citizens with secure residence in Germany are exempt from the requirement of a 'ten-year passport'. The passport must be valid and not expired.'
The transit rule states that one cannot obtain a Dutch visa, stop in Germany on the way to the Netherlands, and get married there. This means that citizens and residents of Ukraine, for travel to the Schengen area, must present a passport that has at least three months of remaining validity at the time of planned departure from the country and was issued no later than 10 years from the moment of crossing the Schengen border.
Ukrainian citizens with a secure residence permit in Germany may be exempt from the obligation to have a passport that complies with the rules. The Federal Police (Bundespolizei), responsible for border protection, stated that it is aware of the problem of extended Ukrainian passports. For understandable reasons, the German authorities cannot influence the competent Ukrainian authorities. The border guard is obliged to comply with the regulations of the European Border Code. This means that Ukrainian citizens with passports issued 10 or more years ago may face problems entering the EU at the border.
The information service employee did not specify the nature of the expected problems. The decision will be made by the local border guard unit based on the circumstances. At the same time, it is impossible to specify these 'circumstances' in detail.
T. Pue,
German lawyer.