30.08.2006 - Source: Civil Georgia

According to authorities process of issuing South Ossetian passports will be over in 2 months; they will be used as internal documents ("Kokoity Says People Queuing Up to Obtain S.Ossetian Passports") [ID 17245]

"South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said that the process of issuing the unrecognized republic’s passports will be over in two months, RIA Novosti news agency reported on August 30. [...] He said that the South Ossetian passport will be “an internal document” for the breakaway region’s residents, but talks are underway with Russian officials to make the passport valid on the Russian Federation’s territory as well. He also said that the passports are being issued among Ossetian refugees currently living in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic."

Document(s): Open document

21.12.2005 - Source: Civil Georgia

Georgia has roughly 300,000 internally displaced persons both from Abkhazia and South Ossetia ("UN Envoy for IDPs Rights Visits Georgia") [#41813],  [ID 5899]

Document(s): Open document

01.12.2000 - Source: Danish Immigration Service

Danish Immigration Service: ID documents; travelling ("Report on roving attaché mission to Georgia") [#6081],  [ID 5900]

"The Foreign Minister explained that South Ossetia had adopted a citizenship law in 1995, under which double nationality was allowed. However, South Ossetian citizenship was not recognised outside South Ossetia, which is why South Ossetian passports would not be recognised. As the Georgians took their passport issuing facilities with them to Georgia in 1991, it has not been possible to issue Georgian passports since then. Instead old Soviet passports are used, but these are no longer valid abroad. However, according to the Foreign Minister, they are still valid for journeys into the Russian Federation.

The Minister told us that a few South Ossetians had Russian national passports, but in general Russia did not issue national passports to South Ossetians. However, for meetings abroad in connection with the peace negotiations, for example a meeting of a group of experts in Vienna, Russia had issued temporary travel documents to the South Ossetian participants. Those South Ossetians who do not have Russian citizenship and who do not want to accept Georgian citizenship have no documents, and are in fact unable to travel abroad. The Foreign Minister said that Russia's annulment of the Bishkek agreement's section on freedom from a visa requirement for the CIS countries, and its intention to introduce a visa requirement for Georgian citizens including South Ossetians, would be particularly problematic for South Ossetia. In the ongoing negotiations on a peace agreement, South Ossetia was negotiating with Russia on freedom from the visa requirement for areas and regions directly bordering the Russian Federation, such as South Ossetia. The South Ossetian argument is that many South Ossetians have relatives in North Ossetia and that South Ossetians generally have Russian roots.

On identity documents, the Foreign Minister explained that the Russian "form No 9" was issued (which is incidentally no longer valid in Russia) to young people, as the old Soviet passports could no longer be issued.

According to the IOM, there are no Georgian checks at the border between Georgia and South Ossetia for political reasons, although there are police posts. On the other hand, the South Ossetians do carry out checks . The Norwegian Refugee Council said that there were checks on the border with Russia and that on entering Russia fees could be charged several times. Recently, in connection with the conflict in Chechnya, controls had been reinforced."

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