The Abkhazian passport (Abkhaz: Аҧсны атәылауаҩшәҟәы, romanized: Apsny ata̋ylauaòša̋k̄a̋y; Russian: Абха́зский па́спорт, romanized: Abkhazskiy pasport) is issued to citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia for the purpose of international travel and for the purpose of legal identification within Abkhazia.
[2] In May 2000, Justice Minister Batal Tabagua announced that an order for empty passport forms placed with the Perm Goznak Manufacture had been cancelled by Russia's Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
After Sergei Bagapsh was elected to the presidency he decided not to waste the invested money and to introduce the passports in January 2006 despite the errors.
[12] The Abkhazian government said in 2007 that once the distribution of passports was completed, it would be the only legal form of identification within Abkhazia.
[10] On 20 October 2009 it was announced that a new passport would be introduced with additional security features, so as to satisfy all international criteria.
[14] The issuing of passports in the Gali District was a priority for the government in order to better integrate its inhabitants into the rest of Abkhazia, but was controversial for various reasons.
On 18 May 2016, the first four copies of the new passport, produced by Goznak, were issued to war hero Garrik Adzinba, Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Ministers Zurab Marshan, Aslan Kapba and Alisa Inapshba.