On January 9, Belarus president Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed the decree ‘On the introduction of the visa-free entry and departure for foreign citizens’.
The document introduces the visa-free entry through the border checkpoint at the Minsk National Airport and the visa-free stay in Belarus for up to 5 days for the citizens of 80 states, including the entire European Union, Brazil, Indonesia, the USA, Japan, state-run news agency BelTA reports with reference to the presidential press service.
First of all, these are favorable countries in terms of migration, Belarus’ strategic partners which have introduced visa-free regimes for Belarusian citizens on a unilateral basis.
The document aims to raise the number of business trips, tourism and private visits of people with regular passports and will not apply to foreigners on official trips with diplomatic, service, special and similar passports.
A valid passport or other document permitting foreign travels, money (equivalent to at least two base amounts (appr. $23) for each day of stay in the foreign currency or Belarusian rubles), medical insurance in the amount of at least €10,000 operational in Belarus will be needed for the visa-free entry.
The citizens of Vietnam, Haiti, Gambia, Honduras, India, China, Lebanon, Namibia, Samoa should also have a valid multi-visa to the EU states or the Schengen Area with a mark confirming the entry to their territory, plane tickets with a confirmation of the departure from the Minsk National Airport within 5 days after the date of the entry.
The visa-free regime does not apply to people arriving to Belarus by plane from Russia and planning to go to the airports of Russia (these are internal flights with no border control).
