TOURIST VISAS TO BELARUS
There are many visa types and this article only refers to Tourists staying for short periods in the country.
1. THIRTY DAY VISA FREE TRAVEL – If landing at Minsk Airport
Foreign nationals may visit any place in Belarus within 30 days of their visa-free stay. However, they must arrive and leave the country only through Minsk National Airport. The visa-free entry rules do not extend to any other international border checkpoints or airports of the country.
Belarus’ visa-free travel rules for foreign visitors do not apply to people flying to Belarus from or to Russia (these flights are considered internal and are not subject to border control).
Visa-free entry does not apply to foreigners coming to Belarus to work, do business, or study, or if the period of activity exceeds 30 days.
To enter Belarus for 30 days visa-free foreign nationals must have the following documents:
• a valid passport or another substituting document for traveling abroad
• passport sized photo
• financial means of at least €25 per day.
• medical travel insurance valid across Belarus with a minimum medical coverage of €10,000. The insurance policy must state it’s global or it covers specifically Belarus.
Citizens of Vietnam, Haiti, Gambia, India, Lebanon, Namibia, Samoa must also have a valid multi-visa to the EU states or the Schengen Area with a stamp confirming the entry to their territory and plane tickets confirming the departure from Minsk National Airport within 30 days after the date of the entry.
30-day visa-free stay in Belarus starts on the date the passport is stamped. If you arrive late in the evening and go through customs clearance before 24.00, this will be considered your first day of the visa-free stay.
Foreign citizens who plan to spend more than five business days in Belarus must register with the police indicating the address they are staying. If foreign visitors stay in a hotel, hostel, health resort or another facility of collective accommodation, the management of the above-mentioned facilities shall be responsible for the registration with the police.
Getting a visa. Rush to the second floor of your arrival sector to be one of the first applicants in the queue. Once you’ve reached the Minsk Airport Consulate office window holding all the papers in a neat heap (filled-in visa application, a passport-size photo stapled to it, the passport, migration card and the consular fee in cash) you will submit them and get the visa. The cost of the visa is €60.
The visa application must be printed out and not be stored on your mobile phone, flash disk, etc. The Minsk Airport Consulate officers are not excellent English-speakers. The consular fee is to be paid in cash in brand new bank notes without any smudges or damages – euro or dollars – that you have to bring in advance. There is an ATM before the customs control and getting cash is in theory possible.
Don’t copy-paste your passport size photo into the visa application, even if you have a color printer – might be rejected.
Migration card. These forms are distributed on board but if you didn’t get one or destroyed it, you’ll have a hard time.
You must hand your passport, filled-in migration card and the insurance policy to the border guard and the package must not contain any foreign currency (it can be treated as a bribe). Don’t use your mobile telephone at the passports control. Keep your part of the migration card till you are out of the country (border guards will collect it) – the registration stamp will be put on it by your hotel or the local OGIM if you are staying with a friend.
Transportation. The Minsk Airport lies about 40 kilometers away from M9 Minsk Ring Road (48 km away from Victory Square, or about one hour to get to Minsk Central Railway station). So there are three ways to get to Minsk: a shuttle bus (there can be different vehicles ranging from minibuses to coaches), a taxi and a private Minsk airport transfer to your Minsk hotel or apartment.
Taxi prices can often be negotiated – the drivers very often know the numerals in English and do not mind payments done in hard currency. Sometimes late at night there might be nothing at all once you’ve stepped out of the airport building and therefore it will make sense to book an English-speaking driver in advance to get to town.
2. IF NOT ARRIVING AT MINSK NATIONAL AIRPORT
To obtain an entry visa, a foreigner submits the following documents to the Belarus Embassy you are using:
• one copy of the visa application form. It is preferable to fill this form out online and then print it to bring to the embassy.
• one photo (size 35 x 45 mm, full face, on a flat light background, high-definition clarity, without wrinkles and ink, 70–80 percent of the vertical size of the image should occupy the face, the duration of the image should not exceed 6 months.
• a passport valid for 6 months
• financial means of at least €25 per day.
• medical travel insurance valid across Belarus with a minimum medical coverage of €10,000. The insurance policy must state it’s global or it covers specifically Belarus.
• Fees: €60 for 5-day processing. €120 for rush 2-day processing. Payable only in cash. Not all embassies offer rush 2-day processing (e.g. Kyiv, Ukraine)
• Travel Support documents. This can be either:
a. A letter from your accommodation confirming your reservation. If using this method, stays are limited to 10 days. The booking confirmation may be for only one night but you must provide where you will be on each of the following 9 days. or
b. Letter of Invitation from a tour company. The letter of invitation to Belarus is provided to a customer but is addressed to the Consulate of Belarus – hence it is in Russian. It contains a formal request of a travel agency to grant a visa to its tourist or tourists whose passport details are indicated in the invitation and who booked travel services listed in it. The invitation ends with a statement to undertake full responsibility for the actions of the invited person or persons while on a temporary stay in the Republic of Belarus. If using a LOI from a tour company, stays up to 30 days are allowed and there is no need to supply a list of where you will be.
To obtain an entry visa, a foreigner submits the following documents to the Embassy you are using.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not assist in the consideration and further shipment of visa support documents abroad.
The decision on the alien’s application for an entry visa is taken by the consular officer on the basis of the submitted documents, the results of the inspection and interviews within 5 working days from the date of the application (urgently, within 2 working days) and is final.
A consular officer has the right to reduce the multiplicity and duration of a visa, to continue the period of consideration of the application.
A consular officer is not required to indicate the reasons for refusing a visa.
In case of refusal to issue a visa, the consular fee for consideration of the visa request is not refundable.
To extend the stay of a foreigner in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, it is necessary to contact the citizenship and migration unit at the place of registration of a foreign citizen to obtain: