Old passports and identity cards as of Monday are no longer valid. Only new biometric identity documents are considered official.

According to MoI data, 1.377.312 biometric passports have been issued thus far. 1.445.663 identity cards have been issued and more than 400.000 driving licences.

"83% of the total population in Macedonia that are obliged to own an identity card has fulfilled the obligation, while most of the citizens have also obtained new biometric passports," Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska said Monday.

According to the authorities, several hundreds of thousands of citizens will be left with no valid papers, because they haven't replaced them with new biometric ones. Those who have failed to replace the old documents with new ones will still be able to do so, but in the meantime they could face problems while withdrawing money from banks or in other institutions where it is necessary to present an identification document.

Old driving licences will be valid until 1 October 2012.