Temporary staying of foreigners in Belarus

Foreigners located in the Republic of Belarus are required to comply with the rules of stay.

According to Article 41 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated January 4, 2010 No. 105-Z «On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons in the Republic of Belarus», one of these rules is the obligation of a foreigner to register his stay within five days from the date of arrival in the Republic of Belarus. These five days don’t  include Sundays and holidays.

The authorities registering the temporary staying of foreigners are: 

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Internal Affairs Authority (Citizenship and Migration Unit);
• Hotel, sanatorium and health resort organization, subject of agroecotourism.

However, there is a list of countries for which citizens have a different time limit for registering a temporary staying permit. Thus, citizens of the Russian Federation are exempted from registration within 90 days from the date of entry, and citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Estonia, Ukraine and the Republic of Kazakhstan within 30 days from the date of entry in accordance with agreements concluded by the Republic of Belarus with these states.

The period of temporary staying of a foreigner in the Republic of Belarus is equal to the validity period of the visa issued to him and cannot exceed 90 days in a calendar year from the date of first entry into the Republic of Belarus.

Foreigners must only reside at the address provided upon registration of the temporary staying. It is also necessary to remember that a foreigner is required to re-register within five days when changing the address of residence in the registration authority at the new place of residence. 

In clause 12.14.1. the list of administrative procedures approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of April 26, 2010 No. 200 the following list of documents is required for the registration of foreigners temporarily residence in the Republic of Belarus:

• application (or application of the host organization);
• a document for traveling abroad (passport);
• health insurance policy for foreign citizens and stateless persons subject to mandatory health insurance in accordance with legislative acts;
• document on payment of state duty (1 base amount)

Since January 1, 2019, the administrative procedure for registration of foreigners temporarily staying in the Republic of Belarus is possible in electronic form on a unified portal of electronic services portal.gov.by.

Registration of foreigners in electronic form is free of charge.

This procedure is available to foreigners who entered Belarus at checkpoints across the state border of the Republic of Belarus. Foreigners who come to the Republic of Belarus through the border with the Russian Federation must apply in person to the department on citizenship and migration of the internal affairs at their place of residence in Belarus for registration. A foreigner is also required to personally apply to the Citizenship and Migration Unit to extend the period of temporary stay.

To register a foreigner on a portal of electronic services can his representative (i.e. any registered user) from his personal account, filling out an electronic form with the data of the foreigner.

The lawyers of our Law Office have extensive positive experience representing clients in matters of registering a temporary residence of a foreigner.

The help of our lawyers is as follows:

• Providing professional advice on registration of a temporary staying of a foreigner;
• Accompanying a foreigner to the citizenship and migration units to register a temporary staying of a foreigner;
• Appeal against the decision in an administrative case, the basis for which was a violation of the registration procedure of a foreign citizen.