20 ALPEYEVA AND DZHALAGONIYA v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT Russia and effectively rendered them stateless persons (cf. K2, cited above, § 62). 113. Furthermore, not only were the applicants deemed not to have acquired Russian citizenship, but they were left without any valid identity documents. The Court reiterates that, in Smirnova, cited above, § 97, it found it established that Russian citizens had to prove their identity unusually often in their everyday life, even when performing such mundane tasks as exchanging currency or buying train tickets, and that the internal passport was also required for more crucial needs, such as finding employment or receiving medical care. The Court therefore found that the deprivation of a passport in that case had constituted a continuing interference with the applicant’s private life. 114. In the cases at hand, the FMS seized the first applicant’s passport and refused to exchange the second applicant’s passport upon his turning 45, an exchange which is compulsory under domestic law (see paragraph 60 above). A failure to have the passport exchanged invalidates it, which not only prevents it from serving as an identity document, but is considered to be an administrative offence (see paragraph 70 above). Accordingly, for the purposes of Article 8, the effects of the refusal to exchange the second applicant’s passport in the present case are similar to those of the seizure of the passport in the case of Smirnova, cited above. 115. The Court therefore finds that the decision to the effect that the applicants had not properly acquired Russian citizenship, which left them with no valid identity documents, entailed considerable consequences for their everyday life and amounted to an interference with their right to respect for private life under Article 8. (b) Whether the measure was arbitrary 116. The Court must further examine whether the decisions to seize the first applicant’s passport and not exchange the second applicant’s passport on the grounds that they had never properly acquired Russian citizenship were arbitrary. (i) Was the measure in accordance with the law? 117. The Court observes that the FMS is competent to determine whether individuals residing in Russia have Russian citizenship, and is responsible for the issue and exchange of identity documents (see paragraph 69 above). It also notes that, under the 2002 Regulation on the Examination of Issues Related to Citizenship of the Russian Federation, in the event of doubt as to the authenticity or validity of a document attesting to citizenship or as to whether a person has Russian citizenship, the competent agency has to carry out a check as to whether the documents were issued lawfully (see paragraph 67 above). The Court is therefore