| South Ossetian passport | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Passport |
| Issued by |  South Ossetia |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility | South Ossetian citizenship |
South Ossetian passports are issued to inhabitants ofSouth Ossetia (adisputed territory in the SouthCaucasus) for the purpose of international travel and for the purpose of legal identification within South Ossetia. They were first issued on August 15, 2006.[1] Since South Ossetia is only recognised byRussia,Venezuela,Nicaragua,Nauru, andSyria, many South Ossetians also haveRussian passports, which are more practical for international travel.[citation needed]
The first proposals to introduce a national passport were voiced back in the1990s, but at that time the country's leadership did not attach much importance to this, so the passport was introduced only on 16 August 2006. The first person to receive a passport as a citizen of South Ossetia was its president,Eduard Kokoity. Before this and currently, residents ofSouth Ossetia usedRussian andSoviet passports. Some South Ossetian citizens ofGeorgian nationality also preferred to receive South Ossetian passports. Among other famous people, the passport was received by the chief state sanitary doctor of RussiaGennady Onishchenko,[2] as well as a number of famous Russian politicians, journalists and cultural and artistic figures.
On February 1, 2010, an agreement on a visa-free regime was signed between Russia and South Ossetia, which officially regulates the validity of South Ossetian passports on the territory of the Russian Federation.[3] The visa-free regime came into force on March 4, 2010.[4]
On August 1, 2014, applications began to be accepted for a passport of a citizen of the Republic of South Ossetia, identifying the identity of a citizen of the Republic of South Ossetia outside the Republic (foreign passport).[5]
In South Ossetia,multiple citizenship is selectively allowed - in particular, by 2019, 95% of the population of South Ossetia had dual citizenship (Russian and South Ossetian).[6] At the same time, it was reported that Georgian citizenship was illegal as a second one.[7]
At the same time, the EU will not recognize Russian passports issued in South Ossetia since 2022.[8] According to a report by the international non-governmental organization "Crisis Group", as of 2010, only those South Ossetians who have an internal Russian passport with registration can receive free medical care in Russia.[9]
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