Moldovan passport

The Moldovan passports are issued to citizens of Moldova for the purpose of international travel. The passport is issued by the State Enterprise and Information Resources Centre "Registru" and by Moldovan foreign representations abroad. The validity of the passport is 5 years for persons under age of 16 and for 10 years for the age of 16 and older. Since January 1, 2006 Moldovan citizens have the possibility to hold two passports with the same identification code simultaneously.
The Moldovan biometric passport is available from January 1, 2008. The new Moldovan biometric passport costs approximately 1250 MDL (€99) [1] and is not obligatory, as it remains valid along with the existing passports. The passport of the Republic of Moldova with biometric data contains a chip in which, additionally to the traditional information, the digital information, as well as the holder's signature are stocked. In March 2010 Ministry of Informational Technologies and Communication announced that starting from January 1st, 2011 new type of biometric passports will substitute the current passports and will be obligatory for all moldovan citizens. Current Non-Biometric and Biometric passports will remain valid until expiration date and will be valid for travel to CIS member states only.