K-in-Motion

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How to Get a Visa for Belarus in Minsk

7th March, 2023
11:49 pm

If you’ve read about places to visit in Belarus, like Grodno and Brest, you’re probably thinking about planning a trip to Belarus.

This guide has been compiled to show you, step by step, how to get a visa for Belarus in Minsk. It will also answer some of the questions you might have about the requirements for entering Belarus, including –

⭐ Do I need a visa for Belarus?
⭐ Can you go to Belarus without a visa?
⭐ Is Belarus visa free?
⭐ How do I get a visa for Belarus?
⭐ How much does a Belarus visa cost?

The answers to most of these queries depend on the circumstances, so read on to find out why you would need to get a Belarus visa and how to get a visa for Belarus in Minsk.

Do I Need a Visa for Belarus?

Perhaps the most important questions you need to ask when planning a trip to Belarus are –

Do I need a visa for Belarus?

and

Can you go to Belarus without a visa?

Unfortunately, the answer to these questions is not as straight forward as you would think.

Who Can Travel to Belarus Visa Free?

To put it simply, if you’re on this list of 74 countries that can enter Belarus visa free, you can travel to Belarus without a visa. But only if you fly into Minsk Airport.

HOWEVER..

Belarus has a very unique visa policy. If you want to exit the country by land, you will need to apply for a visa. Even if you’ve already flown into Belarus visa free.

Why Get a Visa in Minsk After Entering Belarus Visa Free?

There are several reasons to get a visa for Belarus in the country. The main one being that if you plan to travel to other European countries, it’s impossible to fly to them at the moment.

Therefore, the only way to travel to another European country from Belarus is by land.

Or perhaps, like me, you live in a city that doesn’t have a Belarus embassy or consulate in it. Also, the visa processing time is up to 5 days and requires more documentation when you’re outside of the country.

Processing time at a migration office in Minsk can be as little as one hour. If you can fly into Belarus visa free, then getting the visa in Minsk definitely saves time.

Preparation – How to Get a Visa for Belarus in Minsk

I enlisted the services of local tour guide named Andrei to help me get the visa in Minsk.

I contacted him when I got to Minsk. He asked for the address of where I was staying, so he could direct me to the closest migration office.

The address was also used for my tourist registration, which needed to be done before I could get the visa.

If you are staying with a local and register at their home address, they become responsible, in the eyes of the migration department, for ensuring that you exit before your visa expires.

Once Andrei sent me the information for the migration office (Migracii Uvd Administracii Moskovskogo Raiona Minska) near me, we planned a time and date to meet there.

Why Use a Guide to Help With the Visa Process?

Firstly, it’s a weirdly complicated process that requires knowledge of Russian. Officers at the migration office do not speak English at all.

Andrei even had to write my name in cyrillic on one of the forms.

If you know Russian and cyrillic, I guess it’s possible that you could do the application on your own, but the processing time could be longer.

Secondly, it’s just easier. Guides know the process. Also, tour guides in Belarus haven’t had much business since the start of the war. Using their services will help them out.

As a budget traveller, I have always applied for visas myself and would normally say that getting help is a waste of money. Belarus is definitely an exception.

At the Migration Office

I got to the migration office around 10 minutes before our prearranged meeting time, but Andrei had gotten there earlier to get tickets in the line.

There was no logical sequence to the order in which the numbers were being called up. I guess that’s why Andrei had collected a few non-sequential tickets. He knew the routine.

Stern Migration Officers

My host in Minsk, Arseniy, had already told me that the government officers in Belarus always acted like they were angry at the beginning of any exchange.

Perhaps they did it as some kind of test of the person they were interacting with.

Then they would gradually get less and less angry the longer the exchange went on.

I got to see this in action.

Weird and Uncomfortable Interview for the Belarus Visa

Just after our number was called, we entered an office with three desks where people were getting processed.

When we sat down, it seemed like the immigration officer was scolding Andrei and he was kind of begging. Then after two minutes, the officer told us to go back out to the waiting area.

When we were back in the waiting area, Andrei said, “At least that was a yes.”

I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting to get the approval after a weird two minute exchange that followed on from a 40 minute wait.

More Waiting

We had to wait in the crowded area outside the office while the officer organised the visa for my passport and got sidetracked by other people.

The wait lasted less than five minutes, then she called us back in and asked for my passport.

Once the visa was in my passport, Andrei gave away the extra tickets that he had, to other people waiting.

Paying for the Visa

To make the process even quicker, Andrei had already pre-filled the two forms required for the tourist registration and the visa application before I had arrived at the migration office.

He had also paid my visa fees online while we were waiting.

That meant that I could just pay him the whole amount, for the visa fee, the state fee and his fee, in one go.

So, you probably want to know how much this is all going to cost, right?

How Much Does a Belarus Visa Cost?

I ended up paying
– 32 BYN for the state fee
– 64 BYN for the visa
– 120 BYN for guide’s fee
Total = 196 BYN

The whole process was over in less than an hour. Most of that was waiting time, with about two minutes of face time with the officer.

That makes the process of getting a visa for Belarus one of the quickest I’ve experienced.

How to Get a Visa for Belarus in Minsk – Step by Step

The surprisingly easy process for getting a Belarus visa in Minsk involved just 4 steps –

→→ Step 1: Go to the nearest migration office
→→ Step 2: Get a ticket and wait
→→ Step 3: Fill in the forms and pay the fee online
→→ Step 4: Have an interview with migration officer and wait some more.

How to Fly into Belarus

Now that we’ve gone through how to get a visa for Belarus, let’s talk about how to fly into Belarus.

I have to say straight up that as easy as it is to get a visa for Belarus, the country is not the easiest place to fly in or out of.

There are only a limited number of viable options for flying into Minsk at the moment.

Currently, there are no flights from Europe. It seems the easiest and cheapest place to fly in from is Tbilisi Georgia. Then there are flights in from several Russian cities, Baku, Azerbaijan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Istanbul, Turkiye.

Which Borders Can I Cross After I Get a Belarus Visa?

Belarus shares borders with 5 countries. When times are normal, people can pass through the Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian borders relatively easily, if they have a Belarusian visa.

Unfortunately, ease of movement through the borders with 2 of those countries, Poland and Ukraine, has changed. Since the beginning of the war, the Belarus/Ukraine border has been closed.

⭐ It’s impossible to cross into Ukraine at the moment, for any passport holder ⭐

The Belarus/Poland border is open, but they are only allowing EU residents to pass through to Poland. The official line is because of covid, but Poland has open borders with the EU, so it seems more likely the policy is about turning away Belarusians and third country national seeking asylum.

So the two borders left, Latvia and Lithuania are the only ones that seem relatively easy to pass through.

Crossing the Belarusian Border into Russia

In January 2023, the Russian government ratified an agreement with Belarus that means a Belarusian visa is valid for entry into Russia.

This is a unilateral agreement, so a Russian visa is also valid for entry into Belarus.

To cross the Belarusian/Russian border, visitors must be on transport that passes through one of only six border regions. So obviously, you can’t just rock up and expect to cross. Some pre-planning is required.

Now to Answer Your Questions on How to Get a Visa for Belarus

Here’s a quick summary of all the answers provided in this guide for you –

⭐ Do I need a visa for Belarus?
It depends on your passport and if you want to exit by land.
⭐ Can you go to Belarus without a visa?
Yes, if you are on the list of countries that can enter Belarus visa free.
⭐ Is Belarus visa free?
Yes, if you’re on the list and you intend to fly in and out of Minsk.
⭐ How do I get a visa for Belarus?
Attend a migration office. It may be prudent to get help from a local guide for this.
⭐ How much does a Belarus visa cost?
64 BYN for the visa and 32 BYN for the state fee. 96 BYN in total.

Now that you know when you need it and how to get a visa for Belarus in Minsk, you might want to check out our posts on Borisov and Minsk, as well as Grodno and Brest.

MORE TO EXPLORE!

2 Replies to “How to Get a Visa for Belarus in Minsk”

Baki Munkaila says:

11th March 2023 at 15:38

Helo my how can I get Belarus visa please i need ur help working permit visa please

Reply
1. K-in-Motion says:
  
  12th March 2023 at 23:43
  
  I don’t know about the process for getting a working permit in Belarus, but you could probably find the information you need on the Belarusian government website.
  
  Reply