The State Border Committee of Belarus has revealed that almost 370,000 foreigners have visited the country as part of the visa-waiver travel program.
According to the source, Belarus has hosted 369,703 arrivals since this program has been launched, with 6.9 percent or 25,786 of new arrivals coming from third countries, while EU citizens represented 93 percent of all arrivals, VisaGuide.World reports.
Breaking those numbers down, the majority of arrivals to Belarus are recorded from Lithuania (239,591) or 64.8 percent of all arrivals, followed by Latvia (83,999) and Poland (20,327).
During the past week, Belarus received 3,752 visa waiver arrivals with the majority coming from Lithuania (2,379) followed by Latvia (745), Poland (396) and non-citizens (232).
Citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland are only a few citizens from 76 countries that Belarus permits on its territory. Those countries are as follows:
Australia, Austria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Vanuatu, Vatican, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Dominica, Indonesia, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico and Micronesia.
In addition, citizens from Monaco, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Uruguay, Finland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden, El Salvador and Japan can visit Belarus.
However, for some other countries like Vietnam, Haiti, Gambia, Egypt, India, Jordan, Iran, Latvia, Lebanon, Namibia, Pakistan, Samoa, Estonia, Samoa and South Africa, a traveler must have a valid document for travelling abroad with a valid multiple-entry visa of one of the European Union Member States of the Schengen Area member states bearing a European Union or Schengen Area entry stamp, and also tickets with a return data from Minsk National Airport, airports of Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev.
In addition, the same rule applies to people with the status of non-citizens of Latvia and stateless persons permanently residing in Estonia.
“On October 17, 2021, the visa-free entry/exit rules were amended. Foreign nationals eligible for the visa waiver (which allows a 30-day visa-free stay in Belarus) can now enter and leave the country not only through Minsk National Airport, but also Brest Airport, Vitebsk Airport, Gomel Airport, Grodno Airport, and Mogilev Airport,” the Official Website of the Republic of Belarus reads.
Regarding COVID-19, Belarus has lifted pandemic-related travel restrictions as of April 3, 2022. No restriction of this sort applies to citizens of Belarus, foreign nationals and stateless persons who are holders of visas or are eligible for a visa waiver.
Belarus has also lifted COVID testing and vaccination certificate requirements for foreign visitors as of May 28, 2022.
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