Robert Reilly and Aleta Kovensky at Minsk press conference: “We hope to issue in Minsk 18,000 visas per year.” November 1, 2017. Photos taken from Facebook of US Embassy in Belarus.
The US Embassy in the United States has announced the expansion of consular services.
Starting from November 1, 2017, the embassy will start processing B1/B2 tourist and business visas of Belarusian citizens of 50 years and older.
The former requirement was 70 years.
“The expansion of consular services is part of our efforts to strengthen the US-Belarusian relations by facilitating contacts between people,” said the embassy representative.
In August 2014, the US Embassy in Minsk resumed issuing visas to certain categories of citizens: students, participants of cultural exchange programs, persons over 70 years old and those who previously had an American visa.
On January 30, 2017, the first immigration decree of the US president Donald Trump came into force. It also affected Belarusians. Only citizens of Belarus, whose visa expired less than 12 months prior, could get another visa at the Minsk-based US Embassy. If more time had passed, they had to go for visas in the neighboring capitals.
The Embassy added that it plans to increase the number of visa services in the near future.
