nationality section of the passport

[Shannon Donnally Spasova]

I am trying to put together the recent history of the nationality
section of the Russian passport. I think that in 1997, it was proposed
that the nationality section be taken out of the passport.  However,
some people objected to this, and so it was not taken out, but people
had the option of leaving it blank. Is this still the case up until
now? I know that some Russians have said that their passports no
longer have that nationality section in them.  Is the nationality
section no longer in the new passports that Russians were required to
exchange their old passports for?  When was the deadline for people to
exchange the old passports for new ones?

Thank you in advance for any information or ideas about where I might
find the information.

Shannon Spasova
sdspasova at wisc.edu

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------