Over 3 million biometric passports issued to Ukrainians this year

"About 725,000 ID cards and more than 3 million biometric passports for traveling abroad have been issued since the beginning of 2018," the State Migration Service of Ukraine reports.

Over 440,000 passports for traveling abroad and about 100,000 identity cards were issued in July.

As reported, more than a million Ukrainian citizens have traveled to the European Union taking advantage of the visa-free deal of Ukraine with the EU since June 2017.

On June 11, 2017, the decision of the Council of the European Union to introduce a visa-free regime for short trips of Ukrainian citizens to 30 countries of the European Union and the Schengen zone came into force.

Ukrainians, who have biometric passports, can enter the EU member states without visas for business, tourism purposes or visiting relatives for no more than 90 days during any 180-day period. To enter the Schengen Area, apart from biometric passports, Ukrainian citizens must also have documents confirming the purpose of the trip, the place of residence, the availability of sufficient financial means for this period of stay, the intention to return to the place of permanent residence, and health insurance.

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