Belarus now visa-free for 5 day stays

[etops1]

According to the following, Australians and 79 other nationalities will no longer require a visa to enter Belarus at MSQ.
This should make the journey from Milan to Minsk a lot easier.

Belarus introduces five-day visa-free regime for citizens of 80 states | Events | The Official Internet Portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus

Country list:
BREAKING: Belarus Cancels Visas For Citizens Of 80 States – BelarusFeed

 

[samh004]

Country list:
BREAKING: Belarus Cancels Visas For Citizens Of 80 States – BelarusFeed

I love how that headline makes it seem like a bad thing. Clickbait at its finest!

 

[Virgin Bart]

I know the article doesn't say so, but I do wonder whether this applies for train from Warsaw? On that, does anyone have experience if they even check it?

 

[trooper]

WTF does that paragraph at then mean? Russian airports????

 

[Mattg]

I visited Belarus over the weekend and found it a really interesting experience. The whole country doesn't feel that far removed from the old USSR days - I even saw a lady proudly waving a Soviet Union flag on the metro - but there are some fairly obvious signs that capitalism is slowly making an entrance, such as the McDonalds and Burger King stores all over Minsk.

I stayed in Minsk for 3 days but believe it's now even possible to stay for up to 30 days without a visa as an Australian. If you stay for more than 5 days, though, your hotel is required to register you. I flew in from Poland; when boarding the flight in Warsaw the gate agents took my passport and spent a while checking the requirements for Australians, but all was fine. On arrival at MSQ I did not even need to fill in an arrival card. They just wanted to see my return ticket and evidence of health insurance. My travel insurance was sufficient, but if for some reason you don't already have adequate insurance, you'll be required to purchase health insurance (at a very reasonable cost) from the booth in the arrivals hall.

Worth a visit, I would say, and the process was pretty straightforward. But do note that it's only visa-free if you fly in and out of MSQ and are not in transit to/from Russia.

 

[kileskus]

Belavia has also recently started doing free stopovers in Minsk. It requires a round trip-ticket and, for the time being, booking via a ticket agent, but since the prices can be more favourable than other routings and there's no need for visas, it might be worth a go.