My partner needs to send her passport from Lugansk, Ukraine to The Australian Embassy in Moscow.
The problem is -- FEDEX (whom I trust) tells us that Ukrainian and Russian law forbids the export and import of original ID documents by mail/courier, including passports. FEDEX won't take them.
So what do we do? We can find a company that does offer a courier service, but would my partner run the risk of losing her passport if either the Ukrainian or Russian police wanted to check the contents -- in either direction of travel?
As for fronting up herself, she is reluctant to take another long, long trip to Moscow.
Has anyone experience with this issue?
Surely many Ukrainians have successfully sent their passports to Moscow (for Australians, there is no visa processing in Kiev).
I have had this problem. Both with myself and with wife. I washed my passport and needed a new one. I couldnt get a courier to do it. Eventually I sorted it out as I got a document of identity through the Brittish Embassy who the Australian Government use for some official transactions.
My wife had to send her passport to Moscow for Visa. There is a courier in Kiev that will do it. I will try and find out and get back to you.
I asked the wife and she said she just put it in an envelope between stiff cardboard an when asked whether it was a passport said it was only documents.