Moscow: In a significant development, the Russian government has allowed women the right to wear a headscarf or hijab in their passport photographs, the Russian Interior Ministry said.
This law will be effective from Sunday, May 5, and aims to uphold religious beliefs while maintaining national security.
The new law allows photos of individuals wearing head coverings as long as they don’t cover their face too much, but excludes photos with chin coverage, Russia Today reported.
The change pertains to various documents such as passport applications, driver’s licenses, work permits, and patents.
Biysultan Khamzaev, a member of the State Duma Security and Anti-Corruption Committee, told the Russian Parliamentary Gazette, that the move’s aim to uphold religious traditions and ensure state security.
During the Soviet Union, headscarves were prohibited in passport photos, but after 1991, Muslim women began wearing them until banned in 1997 but later deemed illegal by the Russian Supreme Court in 2003.
