Foreigners who come to work in Belarus quite often ask themselves what mode their family will be in, whether they need to draw up any documents for themselves, or they, being members of the family of a migrant working in the Republic of Belarus, are in a special legal regime. The answer to this question will be considered in this article.
The legislation of the Republic of Belarus regulating migration activities clearly divides foreign citizens into 2 types: citizens belonging to the EAEU member countries and all other foreign persons.
When a citizen belongs to the countries that are members of the EAEU, namely Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan or Russia, he is not required to receive any special documents for carrying out labor activities, with the exception of the labor contract. Such a citizen will work without special permission by virtue of the agreement on the creation of the EAEU. Members of the family of such an employee, by law, do not need to draw up additional documents for their stay. Registration for migration records of the family members of such an employee is tied to his employee's employment contract.
As for other citizens whose citizenship does not belong to the countries that are members of the EAEU, their family members are on common legal grounds. The legislator has not defined features or special grounds for the legal status of such citizens.
Regarding the issue of the person working officially in Belarus, he has an obligation to obtain a residence permit, but such a permit will be relevant only to him personally and will not apply to other members of his family. If his family wants to live on the territory of the Republic of Belarus with the employee as much as he does, then each of them will be required to obtain an appropriate permit, for example, to issue a temporary residence permit. This will allow you to stay on the territory of the Republic of Belarus for more than 5 or 90 days, respectively.
Thus, family members of a foreign worker who is not a citizen of the EAEU country are required to draw up all the same documents for their stay as the migrant worker himself.
A person who has a temporary residence permit in the Republic of Belarus can legally stay in the country for up to 1 year. The basis for obtaining such permission may be an invitation to work and the availability of a special permit. Without registration, a foreign entity can stay in the country within 5 business days from the moment of entry into the country, with the exception of some countries with which the Republic of Belarus has agreements (EAEU countries, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine). From July 2020, new legislation comes into force, by which this period will be increased to 10 days. For a stay of up to 90 days, a temporary residence permit is issued in Belarus.
If a foreign worker has received or is receiving a temporary residence permit in the Republic of Belarus, then his family members will have a basis for obtaining such a permit, if there is a legal source of income, providing him and his family members a living wage established in the Republic of Belarus for the period of temporary residence in the Republic of Belarus. To do this, you must provide a certain package of documents to the department on citizenship and migration of the internal affairs body at the place of poor residence in Belarus. The necessary documents are:
• a document confirming the basis for the issue (for example, a document confirming marriage; birth certificate for children)
• passport;
• medical insurance - for foreign citizens of certain countries provided for by law;
• a document confirming the receipt of income, with the help of which the subject will be able to provide a living wage for himself and his family members;
• a document confirming the real opportunity to live at the place of future registration (for example, an apartment rental contract, hotel room rental);
• a document on the payment of state duty.
The decision to issue a permit and directly the possibility of obtaining it shall be made within 15 working days.
In order to issue a temporary residence permit to a minor, it is necessary to submit his documents through a representative (usually a parent), as well as obtain such permission from the representative.
If, 15 days before the expiry of the temporary residence permit, the alien has not lost the grounds on which he received such a permit, then he has the right to renew this permit.
The internal affairs bodies are given a day after a decision is made to issue a temporary residence permit in order to notify the corresponding citizen about the receipt of this permission.
Citizens temporarily residing in the Republic of Belarus are obliged to live only at the declared place of registration, and for which they issued a temporary residence permit. This fact can be checked by the local policeman, and in the absence of a foreigner at the place of registration, the decision on residence can be canceled.
The permit is issued in a document, which, as a rule, is pasted into the passport of a citizen. Citizens of Russia are issued a permit in their hands, as they cannot be glued into this type of passport. The permit shall indicate the last name, first name, patronymic of the alien, his date of birth, installation data and the address at which he must reside.
In the event of a change in the place of registration, the subject is obliged, no later than 5 working days, to submit documents to the internal affairs body at the new place of temporary residence confirming the possibility of living at the place of the proposed temporary residence in order to amend the temporary residence permit.
There are alternative and unconditional grounds for refusing to issue a temporary residence permit in the Republic of Belarus.
Alternative reasons will be: a foreigner has administrative offenses, a criminal record, lack of grounds for obtaining permission, for example, if a family member no longer works in the territory of the Republic of Belarus and so on.
Unconditional reasons will be: the submission of false documents if the subject is included in the lists of undesirable or prohibited for living in the Republic of Belarus and the like.
Permission can be canceled in case of loss of grounds, the commission of administrative offenses, in violation of other laws of the country.
Foreigners who legally live in Belarus are granted the same rights and obligations as citizens of the country. With the exception of employment in those organizations in which it is necessary to provide identification documents issued by the competent authorities of the Republic of Belarus. For example, some positions, such as serving in government agencies, can only be granted to citizens of the Republic of Belarus. Foreigners temporarily residing in the country also lack the right to take part in various state votes.
Nevertheless, foreigners enjoy all the basic rights that citizens of Belarus have, for example, health care, education, expression of their will, social rights and so on. Another question is that prices for such services will most likely be at higher tariffs than for citizens of our country.
Allford Group Law Office, TAX № 805090430 All advocates of Allford Group Law Office carry out their activity within the Law Office which is a part of Minsk regional bar association.
