Obtaining a biometric passport in Tajikistan has become a private business, according to the data of the journalistic investigation Cabar.asia. Cases of corruption have been recorded in the passport offices of Tajikistan, and some employees overestimate the cost of foreign passports.

According to the procedures approved on the basis of a government decision, from February 1, 2010, the Passport Registration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs issues passports to ordinary citizens for a period of 10 years. The production time is 15 days.

According to the website of this service, citizens must pay the following amount of money to obtain a foreign passport:

– $75 per passport form (at the rate set by the National Bank of Tajikistan);

– 102 somoni (9.7 US dollars) of state duty;

– 40 somoni (3.6 US dollars) fee for the work of the passport office.

Total – about 88.3 US dollars.

In accordance with the procedure established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (archive), citizens pay the cost of a foreign passport in “Amonatbank” and provide the appropriate receipt to passport desks.

However, in practice, the system works differently – all fees are bypassed by the bank, payment for the production of a foreign passport is collected locally by the employees of the Passport Registration Service themselves.

200 meters from the passport office of the Fayzabad district there is a branch of “Amonatbank”, where, according to the rules, you need to pay money to get a passport. An employee of “Amonatbank” said that "no one has come to pay for a foreign passport for several months. Mostly schoolchildren apply to pay money to obtain an internal passport" (there is an audio recording of the words of a bank employee).

The same situation is observed in the city of Vakhdat. At a distance of 50 meters from the passport office there is a point of "Amonatbank". They reported that they do not accept payment for foreign passports, and if they do, there is "no guarantee" that a passport will be issued with this receipt. An employee of this point advised us to "hand over the money at the passport office itself."

"We do not take money for foreign passports, they collect it themselves. Money for foreign passports is not brought here at all. I don't know where they're taking them. We take money only for an internal passport," said an employee of “Amonatbank” (there is an audio recording of the words of a bank employee in the editorial office).

The journalist recalled that according to the rules, “Amonatbank” accepts payment for a passport.

"I don't care. I'll accept and give you a receipt. But when you go to the passport office with it, they usually find some reason not to accept it. In this case, I will not be able to take back the receipt and return the money," the bank employee said in response.

Our observation in the passport offices of the city of Bokhtar, Vakhsh and Kushoniyen districts also showed that the payment for the registration of a passport from citizens is accepted by the employees of the passport office themselves.

In particular, a citizen who submitted documents to the passport office in Bokhtar on April 24 says that he was charged 1,120 somoni, about 102 US dollars, for making a passport within 15 working days. However, according to the information of the “Amonatbank” branch in Bokhtar, the cost of a foreign passport on April 24 was 970 somoni or about 88 US dollars (there is an audio recording of the words of a citizen and a bank employee in the editorial office)

The State Bank "Amonatbank" also wrote us in its official response that, on the basis of the general agreement of January 3, 2017, funds for the services of the Passport and Registration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are accepted in the branches of this bank.

Acceptance of payment for a foreign passport is a work of this Service and on the basis of the law "On State Duty" and the General Agreement must be paid in the bank.

According to lawyers, taking into account these provisions, employees of passport offices do not have the right to charge a passport fee or additional funds from a citizen.