Baltic timeline and the wider EU trend
Riga’s move lines up with similar measures across the Baltic region. Estonia will bar non-chip Russian passports from , while Lithuania’s matching policy starts on . Denmark and the Czech Republic have already adopted comparable cut-offs, and other member states are studying the idea. These national rules precede the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System, tentatively scheduled for October 2025. The EES will require biometric checks for every non-EU traveller entering or leaving the Schengen Area, though Brussels has not yet published a firm launch date.
Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, is also tightening travel by officials. A law passed on restricts MPs and most civil servants from visiting Russia or Belarus except for official diplomatic or humanitarian purposes. The incoming passport rule extends that security posture to the broader border regime, ensuring that all arriving Russian citizens carry modern documents with encrypted facial and fingerprint templates that are harder to tamper with.
Transition rules, exemptions and practical impact
Under the new policy Russian nationals with an existing Latvian D-visa or residence permit can keep using a non-biometric passport until mid-January 2026, provided the document remains valid. Travellers transiting through Latvia without entering the Schengen Area are covered by separate air-side rules that remain unchanged. Children under 15 are not exempt, meaning families must secure chip passports for minors as well.
Non-biometric Russian passports were introduced in 2010 and are still issued by some regional passport offices, even though Moscow began rolling out chip versions the same year. The Baltic bans are intended to remove what officials describe as a weak link in border security, particularly during heightened tensions with Russia over Ukraine and regional air-space incursions. Latvian authorities stress that the requirement does not affect humanitarian travel, which can be authorised on a case-by-case basis under existing EU visa codes.
With three Baltic countries now committed to identical timelines, and the EU preparing its own biometric gateway, travellers using Russian non-chip passports face shrinking options within Europe. Replacing the document with a compliant e-passport is increasingly the only practical route for continued cross-border mobility.
Sources: Travel + Leisure Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
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By Cass Kennedy
