MOSCOW: Indians who have been banned from traveling abroad will have to surrender their passports to authorities within five days of the notification, according to a government order coming into effect on Monday.
According to Russian law, authorities can impose travel bans on conscripts, Federal Security Service (FSB) employees, convicts, or people who have access to state secrets or “information of special importance”.
The returned passport will be stored by the authorities that issued it, such as officials from the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As per the government order, once the travel restrictions are lifted, the passport can be returned upon completing the application.
The proposal stated that people whose right to travel was temporarily limited on the basis of conscription for military or alternative civilian service would have to additionally provide a military ID proving that they completed the service Is.
In March, the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources close to the matter, reported that Russia’s security services were confiscating the passports of senior officials and state company executives to prevent travel abroad.
