Belarus is a very promising destination for tourists. Although this country does not have a sea, the entertainment industry offers a variety of options beach holiday. But before you relax, you need to enter the country with the correct registration form. necessary documents and right the first time. Let's talk about how to get visas to Belarus and avoid difficulties at border control

About Belarusian visas

Entry into the territory of another state is strictly regulated by the laws of the host country. You should check whether an international agreement has been concluded between your country and Belarus, which provides for a special procedure for crossing the border. If the answer is negative, a visa to Belarus is required for foreigners on a general basis. There are three types of visas:

• entry;
• away;
• entry-exit;

To obtain a Belarusian visa, you must come to the consulate or diplomatic mission with a package of documents, which includes:

Consular officials of a given republic may also ask you to provide additional documents as needed. At the Embassy, ​​entry and exit visas are designated in Latin letters:

• C or short term visa– allows you to enter, leave and stay in the country for no more than 90 days.
• D or long term– allows you to stay in the country for 90 days, but the period is longer, up to 1 year.

If you need to visit Belarus several times, the visa can be issued as a double or multiple entry visa. Accordingly, you can cross the border two or more times, and the time spent in the republic will be added up at customs.

It is better to apply for a multiple-entry visa, because from January 1, 2017, the cost of obtaining any visa, regardless of the type, duration and stay, is 60 euros.

If your visa application is completed correctly and the consulate has accepted it, its employees have 5 working days to make a decision on your case. It takes 2 business days to obtain an urgent visa, and the cost will be twice as high.

Belarus is an open, rapidly developing state that is gradually establishing international cooperation with other countries, and these are not only its neighbors. Currently, residents of the following countries have preferences in crossing the border and staying on the territory of the republic for three months:

1. Azerbaijan.
2. Armenia.
3. Venezuela.

The same rules of migration control as Russians are observed by citizens of 9 other countries:

Representatives of the following can absolutely legally stay in Belarus for 30 days without a visa:

1. Kyrgyzstan.
2. Ukraine.
3. Macedonia.
4. Uzbekistan.
5. Montenegro.

Do Russians need a visa?

Everyone still remembers from school that in Soviet period Belarus was part of the union of friendly republics. Therefore, residents of Russia are often concerned about the question: do we need a visa to Belarus or whether Belarusians will need a visa when entering Russia. These countries still cooperate closely today, so Russians do not need a visa to Belarus as tourists. According to migration legislation they have the following advantages:

It is worth noting that the option of a short-term stay in Belarus was discussed above. It is not particularly expensive, easily accessible and ideal for those who are going on a visit or going to see the sights. If you are going to stay in Belarus for a year or more, then you definitely need a visa. A long term assumes that you are going to work, study or resolve private matters.

The scheme is identical: you contact the Embassy of Belarus in Russia, but it is worth preparing another package of documents, which includes:

In Russia, it is still more popular to vacation in countries Western Europe. Since our countries land border, travelers often decide to get to a third country by train, bus or private car, crossing the borders of Belarus twice - at the entrance and at the exit. In this case, you go through border control only formally. A visa to Belarus is not required, not even a transit one. Pay attention only to the visa of the destination country. If it is not there, you will not be allowed to leave Russia.

If you are a foreigner - transit visa is coded with the Latin letter B. The procedure for issuing it is the same as for visas D and C, their multiplicity is also the same. You can choose the period at your discretion, but not more than a year. It is better to make photocopies of all documents, since usually only these are filed. However, photocopies of a passport or birth certificate are accepted only after presentation of the original.

Entering the country by transit visa, a foreigner is given only two days to leave Belarus.

Belarus has strong socio-political ties with many countries. It is impossible to mention everyone. For example, this republic has concluded a migration agreement with the Baltic states on different terms. Before contacting the consulate and preparing documents urgently, you should thoroughly study the issue. Perhaps yours Belarusian visa will be prepared in a different order.

A visa to Belarus for foreigners is issued in accordance with international standards and the law of the republic “On legal status foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Republic of Belarus." In fact, everyone who does not have the citizenship of a given state should be considered foreigners. However visa-free regime up to 3 months is valid for residents of former Soviet countries and other friendly states (Cuba, Venezuela, Qatar, etc.).

Types of visas in the Republic of Belarus

To arrive in Belarus you need entry visa. They have several categories:

1. category B – transit, valid for 2 days and issued if a traveler travels through Belarus to another state;
2. category C – valid for no more than 90 days, and therefore called short-term;
3. category D – designed for long term(up to 1 year) with the right to stay up to 3 months a year, unless additional agreements between countries provide for other periods.

Each species also has its own subspecies:

• single entry – allows you to cross the border of the republic once, live in it for some time and then leave without hindrance;
• double entry – provides for entry and exit into the territory of Belarus with a stay of no more than 90 days twice;
• multiple – with its help you can freely cross the country’s border more than 2 times, but there is also a limitation of up to 3 months a year.

In any case, before applying for a visa, it is better to familiarize yourself with the international agreements between Belarus and other countries in order to find out about some benefits or, on the contrary, restrictions.

You can also check whether you need a visa on the Visa.by website. It is enough to enter data about your citizenship, and the electronic resource will provide all the recommendations for the particular case of a foreign person.

What documents are required to obtain a visa?

To obtain an entry document, you need to contact the consular center or embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the country from which you intend to depart. If there are no such government structures, then permission to stay within Belarus can be obtained at Minsk Airport, which has national status.

To obtain a visa, you must submit the following documents to diplomatic staff:

1. Completed official visa application form. It contains information about the applicant: full name, date of birth, details of a passport or other document proving identity and place of residence, and also describes the purpose of visiting the country and puts a check mark next to the type of visa that the foreigner hopes to receive. The form is signed by the person submitting it. If a visa is issued for children under 14 years of age, then their parents or legal guardians sign for them.
2. A recent photograph measuring 35 mm x 45 mm (taken no later than six months before submitting the application). The requirements for photography are determined by international standards: a light background, no bumps or dents, the person being photographed must be without a headdress and dark glasses (or better yet, without them at all), with open ears, not covered by hair.
3. A foreign passport valid at the time the visa is issued and the foreigner leaves his country. The document must contain blank sheets in which border stamps will be affixed. It is also worth noting that previously it was allowed to enter information with photographs about a foreigner’s children into foreign passport parents. Currently, separate passports are required for minors.
4. Special documents confirming visa support (required only for citizens of certain countries, not mandatory for most; it is better to clarify the need to provide them with local diplomatic missions).
5. An agreement indicating that a visitor has health insurance. You can apply for it both in local insurance companies and in Belarusian ones. In the latter case, you can contact Belgosstrakh or Eximgarant.
6. A receipt confirming payment of the visa application fee.
   The decision to issue a visa is made by diplomatic staff within 5 days after submitting the documents. The procedure can be accelerated for an additional fee: then the visa will be issued within 2 days.

However, attaches have the right to refuse to issue an entry document without explaining the reasons. A cash fees paid for reviewing submitted papers are not refundable.

More information about the entry permit

In some cases, for citizens of states where there is no Belarusian representation, it is possible to obtain entry permission at Minsk Airport, which has national status. The procedure for obtaining such a permit differs little from the procedure for obtaining a visa: you also fill out a form, attach a photo, and pay a fee.

You can find consular officers at the airport at any time, as they work 24 hours a day to monitor the arrival of foreign citizens. If the traveler is only passing through the territory of Belarus, the consulate staff will ask to show a visa to the state where he is going. If there is a visa-free regime between the destination country and the state from which the foreigner arrived, they may be asked to provide information about the foreigner’s route in which stay within Belarus would be justified.

Cost of entry documents

When answering the question of how much a visa to Belarus costs, several factors must be taken into account:

• What country did the foreign citizen come from?
• What category of entry document did he apply for?
• How many times does a foreigner’s visa allow him to cross the borders of the republic?
• Did you receive permission at the embassy or at Minsk airport?

Depending on the answers to these questions, the price of a visa varies.

For residents of the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia), Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Malta, tariffs may differ from the generally accepted ones. The price of a visa must be clarified with the staff of diplomatic missions. The cost of an entry document to Belarus is considered one of the most inexpensive among European countries.

Attention! Due to recent changes in legislation, the legal information in this article may be out of date!

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