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Last updated: 2-Sep-2026. Salamanca, Spain
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In 2023, Belarus introduced measures that fundamentally changed access to national identity and travel documents for Belarusian citizens residing abroad. Belarusian citizens were no longer able to obtain or renew passports through Belarusian diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad and were required to return to Belarus to obtain a new passport. At the same time, Belarusian authorities introduced restrictions affecting access to other civil-status and administrative documents through diplomatic missions abroad.
These measures created a structural documentation gap for Belarusian nationals living outside Belarus. Individuals could retain their Belarusian nationality and lawful residence in another State while becoming unable, in practice, to obtain or renew the national documents normally required to prove identity, maintain residence documentation or travel internationally.
The resulting situation has raised a distinct legal question: how should European States respond when the State of nationality continues to exist and nationality is formally retained, but access to the documents necessary to exercise that nationality is effectively restricted?
Belarusian nationals may formally retain their nationality while facing effective barriers to obtaining or renewing the national identity and travel documents through which that nationality is practically exercised abroad. Since measures adopted by the Belarusian authorities in 2023, this documentation gap has created problems concerning identity, residence, mobility and long-term legal security.
This situation is distinct from Temporary Protection and does not automatically amount to formal statelessness. The central comparative question is what legal status or protection mechanism should be available where a person remains a national of the State of nationality but can no longer effectively obtain or renew the documents issued by that State.
This research examines whether existing European practice is beginning to form a distinct legal space between ordinary immigration status, Temporary Protection and formal statelessness. It does not assume that a new legal category is required. Instead, it compares emerging mechanisms and asks whether existing tools are sufficient.
Research question:
What legal status or protection mechanism should be available to Belarusian nationals who retain their nationality but can no longer effectively obtain or renew national identity and travel documents?
2020, Minsk. Peaceful protesters against rigged presidential elections.
Nationality and possession of a valid national passport are legally distinct. The expiry of a Belarusian passport does not by itself terminate Belarusian nationality, nor does it automatically establish statelessness.
The legal problem examined here arises from the gap between continuing nationality and effective access to national documentation:
flowchart TD
A[Belarusian nationality] --> B[State-induced loss of effective access to national documents]
B --> C[Documentary vulnerability]
C --> D[Residence, identity and mobility problems]
D --> E[Need for an alternative legal protection or documentation mechanism]
The consequences extend beyond international travel. A valid national passport may be required, directly or indirectly, for residence procedures, identity verification, renewal of residence documentation and other administrative processes.
The relevant legal question is therefore not simply whether a passport is expired. It is whether the host State has an adequate mechanism to prevent the loss of effective legal identity, lawful residence or mobility when the State of nationality itself has made access to national documentation ineffective.
The comparative material points to three distinct legal routes. They should not be treated as interchangeable.