You have arrived in Belarus. What’s next?

Registration in Belarus — is an important legal procedure. But first, let’s define the terms. Foreigners can temporary stay, temporary and permanently reside in the Republic of Belarus. What does it mean:

Temporary stay is a basic status of a foreigner that allows him/her to stay in Belarus within the term of his/her visa or no longer than for 90 days in a calendar year from the day of his/her arrival.
Thus, if you arrive in Belarus on 1 March, you may stay in Belarus until 30 May without leaving Belarusian territory. If you do leave Belarusian territory, the count of 90 days does not start anew. It means that if on 1 April you leave for a month and come back, your further stay will be counted starting from 31st, 32nd or 33d… day. If you hold a visa to enter Belarus, the permitted term of stay and number of entries must be indicated therein.

Temporary residence is a “simplified” residence permit that is issued for no longer than a year and may be extended. It is usually given to those studying, owning property, working, applying for a refugee status/citizenship/protection in Belarus or those whose relatives or spouses are Belarusian or hold permanent residence permits in Belarus. As a rule, people who do not have grounds to obtain permanent residence permit apply for temporary residence.

Permanent residence is the status of a foreigner holding a permanent residence permit in Belarus.

If you come for less than five days – enjoy Belarus and do not think about anything!

Those who plan to stay here longer, after arriving in the Republic of Belarus, need in five days, (excluding Sundays, state holidays and public holidays officially established as such) register with the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Internal Affairs Authorities at their place of residence (schedule and addresses of the CaMD) or with the hotel they are staying at.

! Citizens of Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan may register with the respective authorities within 30, not 5 days and Russian citizens may do so within 90 days.

Violating the aforementioned terms is punishable by a fee up to 50 basic amounts or by a deportation. As of 1 February, one basic amount equals 24 Belarusian rubles ~10 EUR.

Illustrative photo, Unsplash, Nicole Harrington

How to get a registration in Belarus?

In order to get registered you must file an application in the CaMD. The application must indicate the address and owner of the place of foreigners’ de facto stay (the owner must not object to such stay). Besides the application foreigners must also provide:

• the registering body with a migration card, if filled in upon arrival;
• insurance (not required for citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States member-states);
• receipt confirming the payment of a state fee (as of 2018 the state fee equals 12, 25 Belarusian rubles).

Sometimes the authorities may also request to present the tenancy agreement for rented premises if a foreigner rents housing. Or a document confirming the fact of having relatives in Belarus (if a foreigner is staying with relatives). Yet situations differ from time to time and chances are that no such documents will be requested.

Also, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that starting from 2018 foreigners will be able to complete the procedure of temporary registration online at portal.gov.by.

If you want to stay in Belarus for a long period of time, thus planning to stay here for more than 90 days (three months) in a calendar year, but you do not have any grounds for obtaining a residence permit, then you can apply for a temporary residence permit. How to do that in our next article.

If you have any legal questions or questions on the rights of foreign citizens in Belarus, write to us to the mail: [email protected] or call to our consultation +375 44 562 38 42