Belarus

Belarus is a country in Central Eastern Europe with Minsk as the capital.

Bureaucracy

Visa

Most foreigners need a visa to come to Belarus. The exact conditions are to be found on the websites of the Belarusian embassies in the countries you are a citizen of. Travellers from the European Community do not need an invitation to get a visa (usually only for one entrance, multi-visas are hard to obtain) for a maximum of 30 days. Usually one should get the visa within a week, if you pay more for a express visa it takes much less - in some cases only 5 minutes! One can't get the visa on the borders, neither can one on the airports!

Getting in

When entering Belarus the traveller has to fill in a migration card. Here it is important to know the name and exact address of the place she or he will be living at! This is important for the next step, the

Registration

Foreigners have to register on the OVIR of the rayon they live in within five working days after arrival. To get that registration one needs:

• Passport with visa.
• Health insurance from Belgosstrakh (no others are excepted!). Offices of this company are to be found at many places, even in supermarkets.
• A registration application (usually the is a "mashinopisnyj byuro" (typewriting office) near the OVIR where they type the application with your data for you).
• A document that proofs that one has paid the registration fee. The nearest bank will know everything what is necessary, including the sum (some 2 $).
• Your host with passport and registration (!!!).

The registration is stamped on the migration card, when leaving the country it is taken away from the traveller.

The registration process is much easier when the traveller lives in a hotel, because all the paperwork is done by the hotel in this case.