Passportam: reviews & investigation
Passportam sells citizenship and residency programs in CIS countries, claiming a track record since 2018. Their domain went live in April 2024. No legal entity was found in any claimed country's registry. Multiple users report losing advance payments. This is what we found.
Who is Passportam and what do they sell
Main services: Citizenship programs (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Turkey, Israel) and residency permits (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan)
Headquarters (claimed): BC Avangard, 125/1 Toktogul St, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Also listed: BC ERZO, 27 Askar Tokpanov St, Astana, KZ | BC Omega Plaza, 19 Leninskaya Sloboda St, Moscow, RU
Founded (claimed): 2018 (domain registered: April 4, 2024)
Prices: From €6,000 (Kyrgyzstan citizenship) to €8,000 (Turkey). Residency from €4,000. Consultation: 3,000 RUB. Full support: 80,000 RUB.
Email: [email protected]
Phones: +996 (312) 962 973 (KG) | +7 (707) 556-15-21 (KZ) | +7 (929) 698-52-25 (RU)
Website: passportam.com
Key fact: No company named Passportam was found in the official business registries of Russia, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan. The owners are anonymous. The domain is under 2 years old.
Trust Score
Based on 1/5 from verified data points. Domain age, legal entity status, scam reports, and anonymous ownership all pull this score down.
Who's behind Passportam: checking the paperwork
Domain registration
The first stop is always WHOIS/RDAP for passportam.com. The data is clear: the domain was registered on April 4, 2024 via NameCheap. It expires April 4, 2026. Nameservers run through Cloudflare. Owner information is hidden behind a privacy proxy.
The company claims to have been operating since 2018. That's a six-year gap with no verifiable web presence. Not a typo. A company that has supposedly run four international offices for six years would leave some digital trace. The Web Archive has no snapshots of the site before 2024.
Legal entity search
We searched for a registered business named Passportam, Паспортам, or any close variant in three countries:
- Russia: EGRUL (Federal Tax Service) — no result
- Kazakhstan: Adata business registry — no result
- Kyrgyzstan: Ministry of Justice registry — no result
No license for immigration or legal services was found in any of these jurisdictions either. Legitimate migration consultancies operating in Kazakhstan, for example, must register with the Ministry of Justice and hold a specific advisory license. Passportam holds none we could locate.
The address situation
All three listed offices are in large business centers but without specific office or floor numbers. This is standard for virtual office registrations, where a company pays a few hundred dollars a year to use a prestigious address on letterhead without physically being there. A related company, Kirgiz-Consulting (kirgiz-consulting.ru), lists the exact same Bishkek address (BC Avangard, 125/1 Toktogul St) and offers identical services. The connection between the two entities is not publicly disclosed.
Scamadviser rating
Scamadviser rates passportam.com as low trust, citing the hidden owner data and the site's young age. The OpenCorporates global search returns nothing for the name.
Passportam risk analysis: 5 areas to examine
| Area | Risk | What we found | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | high | Programs from €6,000 (Kyrgyzstan) to €8,000 (Turkey). One verified report of $1,500 advance paid for a Kyrgyzstan passport with no service delivered and no contact afterward. | You may pay a substantial advance and receive nothing. Contact their team directly for full price breakdowns, but do not pay until the legal entity is verified. |
| Contract | high | The contract covers "consulting services" only. This removes all legal obligation to deliver a passport or residency document. Governments decide on citizenship applications, not agencies. A "consulting" contract means they advised you; what you do with that advice is your problem. | If your application fails or they stop responding, the contract gives you little to pursue legally. Ask for a contract that specifies deliverables before signing anything. |
| Timelines | medium | Passportam advertises Kyrgyzstan citizenship in 2 months. Expedited naturalization in Kyrgyzstan is possible under specific legal grounds, but without a registered entity or named attorneys, it's impossible to verify whether they can actually access these pathways. | Timelines in citizenship programs are controlled by government agencies, not by the consultancy. Factor in delays of 3-12 months regardless of what any agency promises. |
| General risk | high | Anonymous owners, no legal entity, no licenses, shared address with a related company, domain less than 2 years old, multiple scam classification reports from telltrue.net, seoseed.ru, bezobmana24.com, and ip-spravka.ru. | The risk profile here is as high as it gets for a migration consultancy. Every standard scam warning sign is present. Treat any money sent as potentially unrecoverable. |
| Refunds | high | No verified refund cases found. The consulting contract structure legally lets them retain payment regardless of outcome. To recover funds through legal channels you'd need to know who owns the company. That information is currently hidden behind a privacy proxy. | Assume no refund. If you've already paid and contact has gone silent, file a dispute with your bank or payment provider immediately and report to your local consumer protection agency. |
Passportam: red flags, yellow flags, and green lights
Every fact listed here is verifiable. We didn't invent anything. The balance is not encouraging.
| ✅ | Corporate email on own domain. [email protected] uses their own domain rather than a free Gmail or Hotmail address. It's a basic credibility signal, but it's something. |
| ✅ | Multiple working phone numbers. Four numbers across four countries are listed. Reports indicate that initial contact is possible. The problem comes after money is paid. |
| ✅ | Staged payment system claimed. The marketing material says payments are split across stages. If true, it's better than a full upfront payment model. But client reports suggest large advances are still expected before any work begins. |
| ⚠️ | Content marketing on vc.ru. Someone named "Alexey from Passportam" publishes articles on the Russian business platform vc.ru. No surname, no title, no verifiable credentials. It shows active promotion but zero accountability. |
| ⚠️ | Listed in migration company ratings. Passportam appears in some online rankings of CIS migration agencies. The catch: all known placements are marked "Partner," which means paid advertising, not independent editorial selection. |
| ⚠️ | Prices within market range. At €6,000-€8,000, their citizenship program prices are not suspiciously low. Scam operations often use rock-bottom prices to attract victims. This one doesn't. That said, market pricing doesn't confirm legitimacy. |
| ❌ | Six-year founding date lie. The company claims to have operated since 2018. RDAP data confirms the domain passportam.com was registered on April 4, 2024. No archive snapshots exist before 2024. This is not a mistake. |
| ❌ | No legal entity in any registry. Russia (EGRUL), Kazakhstan (Adata), and Kyrgyzstan (Ministry of Justice) all return zero results for any company name resembling Passportam. There is no registered business behind this brand. |
| ❌ | Completely anonymous ownership. No founder names, no director names, no attorney names, no photos of staff. The only public-facing person is "Alexey" with no surname. Domain ownership is hidden via NameCheap's privacy service. |
| ❌ | Virtual office addresses, no room numbers. All three offices are listed at major business centers without floor or office numbers. The Bishkek address is shared with Kirgiz-Consulting, a separate company offering identical services. Neither discloses the connection. |
| ❌ | No immigration or legal licenses found. Providing immigration advice for a fee requires specific credentials in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. No license, bar membership, or official accreditation was found for Passportam in any jurisdiction. |
| ❌ | "100% result guarantee" on citizenship applications. Governments issue citizenship, not private agencies. No legitimate firm promises a guaranteed outcome because the decision is not theirs to make. This promise is designed to convert skeptical buyers, not to reflect reality. |
| ❌ | Consulting-only contract structure. The contract Passportam uses covers "consulting services." When you pay for advice and get no passport, they can correctly say they fulfilled the contract. You have no legal claim to a document you never received. |
| ❌ | Verified advance payment loss. A user named Igor published a report on otzyv-migrant.com describing a $1,500 payment for a Kyrgyzstan passport, after which all contact from Passportam managers stopped. No service was delivered. No money was returned. |
Passportam vs. alternatives: what you're actually choosing between
The highlighted column is the company under review. best means best result in the row. worst means worst. mixed means unclear.
| Parameter | Passportam ★ | FIRST IMMIGRATION CENTER | Passportivity | DIY (direct government application) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | from €6,000 unverified | from ~€3,000 depending on program | from €5,000 published | government fees only (~€50-€300) cheapest |
| Legal entity | not found in any registry unregistered | Russian legal entity, TPP member verified | EU-registered, public credentials | N/A |
| Named attorneys | none disclosed | named staff, verifiable | named legal team, published bios | you handle it yourself |
| Timelines | 2 months claimed (unverifiable) | 3-6 months typical | 3-12 months depending on country | 3-24 months, no shortcuts slowest |
| Refund policy | consulting contract only, no refund path worst | milestone-based, partial refunds possible | published refund conditions | government fees generally refundable on denial |
| Scam reports | multiple, documented alarming | none found | none found | N/A |
What to check before paying any immigration agency, including Passportam
- Contract: Read what the document actually covers. If the subject line says "consulting" or "information services" rather than "citizenship application support," you have no legal claim to a result. Ask them to rewrite that clause or walk away.
- Legal entity: Ask for the company's full legal name and registration number. Verify it yourself in the official government registry of their stated home country. This takes five minutes and costs nothing. If they can't provide a registration number, that's your answer.
- License: In Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia, providing immigration legal advice for money requires specific credentials. Ask to see the license number and check it against the issuing authority's public records.
- Named attorney: Get the name of the licensed attorney who will file your paperwork. Look them up in the relevant bar association directory. If no named attorney is assigned to your case, nobody is professionally accountable for what happens to your application.
- Advance payment size: A reasonable advance for a legitimate agency is 10-20% of the total fee, paid to begin document preparation. Paying 50% or more before any government submission is a bad sign. Never pay the full amount before results are confirmed.
- Refund conditions: Demand a written refund policy with specific triggers: what happens if the government denies your application, what happens if timelines are missed by 90+ days, and what happens if the company stops responding. If they won't put it in writing, assume the money is gone once paid.
- Office visit: Schedule a visit to their office before paying anything. Verify that a real office with real staff exists at the address provided. If the address is a shared coworking space with no permanent presence, that tells you something.
- Independent references: Ask for the names of three past clients you can contact directly, not links to review aggregators they control. Real agencies have verifiable track records and are willing to share them.
Frequently asked questions about Passportam
Is Passportam a legitimate company?
Based on available evidence, no. The domain passportam.com was registered in April 2024, not 2018 as claimed. No legal entity named Passportam was found in Russia, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan's official business registries. Multiple independent scam-check platforms classify the site as high risk. And at least one client has publicly reported losing a $1,500 advance payment with no service delivered and no contact from the company afterward.
How much does Passportam charge for citizenship programs?
Their listed prices start at €6,000 for Kyrgyzstan citizenship, €6,500 for Armenia, €7,000 for Georgia, and €8,000 for Turkey. Kazakhstan residency is advertised from €4,000. Consultations are listed at 3,000 RUB and full case support at 80,000 RUB. These figures come from their website and cannot be independently verified since no contract samples are publicly available.
Was Passportam really founded in 2018?
No. According to RDAP domain registration records, passportam.com was created on April 4, 2024. The domain expires April 4, 2026. The Web Archive has no snapshots of the site from before 2024. The claim of a 2018 founding date is not supported by any publicly available evidence and contradicts the domain data by six years.
Can I get a refund from Passportam if the citizenship application is denied?
Probably not. The contract covers "consulting services" only, which means they advise you; they don't commit to delivering a passport or residency document. Under this structure, a denial gives you no contractual claim to a refund. The anonymous ownership also makes legal recovery difficult. If you've already paid and contact has stopped, dispute the charge with your bank or payment provider and report the situation to local consumer protection authorities.
Are Passportam's offices in Bishkek, Astana, and Moscow real physical locations?
The addresses are real buildings, but there's no independent confirmation that Passportam has dedicated office space in any of them. All three addresses omit office or floor numbers, which is typical of virtual registration services. The Bishkek address is shared with a separate company called Kirgiz-Consulting. No office photos, no staff photos, and no independently submitted Google Maps reviews were found for any of the listed locations.
What safer alternatives exist for obtaining CIS citizenship or residency?
If you need citizenship or residency in Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, or similar countries, hire a licensed attorney directly through the relevant national bar association. You pay roughly the same amount but get a named professional with verifiable credentials who is legally accountable for their work. Alternatively, companies like FIRST IMMIGRATION CENTER (espassport.pro) and Passportivity (passportivity.com) openly publish their legal registration details, staff names, and licensing information. That's the baseline you should expect from any agency before handing over money.
Where can I leave a review about Passportam?
You can share your experience on migration.us.com or on the review aggregator proverj.com, which collects firsthand accounts from people who have worked with immigration agencies across Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and other CIS countries. If you encountered a problem, your report may help others avoid the same situation.
Expert verdict: Yury Mosha on Passportam
As someone who has worked in US immigration since 2011 and built a network of over 50 offices serving immigrants from the former Soviet states, I can say this: Passportam checks every box on the high-risk checklist. Every single one.
The domain age is the first thing I look at with any unfamiliar agency. passportam.com went live in April 2024. The company claims 2018. You don't forget when your business started. Someone chose that number specifically to appear established and trustworthy. That's not a clerical error. It's a deliberate misrepresentation designed to get past your defenses.
What concerns me more is the contract design. When a migration agency writes its agreement to cover only "consulting services," they've already decided what happens when things go wrong. You paid for advice. No passport arrived. They say they delivered what the contract promised. And legally, under that contract structure, they'd be right. This isn't a quirk of their legal drafting; it's the entire business model.
The anonymous ownership is a deal-breaker on its own. Legitimate immigration firms are built on the reputation of named attorneys who have passed bar exams, hold licenses, and face professional consequences for misconduct. At Passportam, nobody's name is attached to anything. There's a marketing person called "Alexey" on vc.ru with no surname. That's it. If something goes wrong with your application, you have no named person to hold accountable and no license number to report to a disciplinary board.
On the positive side: they do have phone numbers, and initial contact is apparently possible. Their pricing is in the real market range, not suspiciously cheap. But these aren't endorsements. They're the minimum required to get someone to pick up the phone and start a conversation.
My advice is simple: do not pay Passportam anything. If you need citizenship or residency in Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, or Kazakhstan, hire a licensed attorney directly through the national bar association. The fee is comparable. The difference is that a real attorney has a license to lose and a professional reputation on the line. With Passportam, you're handing money to people who won't even tell you their names.
Don't get burned
The marketing looks polished. The promises sound solid. But the paperwork tells a different story. Read what real clients say before you commit any money.
Read real reviews about Passportam