Turkmenistan has amended Articles 370, 371, and 372 of the Code of Administrative Offenses regarding liability for violations related to the handling of Turkmen citizen passports. The corresponding law was signed by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov on April 11, 2026, and comes into force on May 1, 2026.

Article 370 has been amended and given a more precise title: "Damage or Loss of a Passport." The document distinguishes between two offenses. Damage or loss of a passport due to careless storage now carries a fine of one to three basic units. Intentional damage to a passport carries a fine of three to five basic units. Previously, both offenses were combined into one provision and punishable by a warning or a fine of up to one basic unit.

In Article 371, the amounts of sanctions have been adjusted: in Part One, the fine has been increased from “two to five” to “three to six” basic units, and in Part Two, from “five to eight” to “six to ten” basic units.

Article 372, which regulates penalties for the illegal confiscation of a passport, has also been amended. In addition to confiscating a passport without legal grounds, the provision now explicitly prohibits accepting a passport as collateral. The fine for individuals will be one to two basic units, for officials five basic units, and for legal entities six basic units. The previous version of the article provided for only a warning or a fine of up to 0.5 basic units.