Most transit passengers cannot benefit from Belarusian visa-free regime
Euroradio
28 August 2018, 18:34
The Belarusian visa-free regime is not applied to transit passengers travelling to Russia. They could go sightseeing in the Belarusian capital but they have to wait for their flights in the transit zone of Minsk Airport.
Two people travelling to Moscow have faced this problem recently. They had scheduled a 6-hour transfer in order to visit the city. However, it turned out that they could not leave the transfer zone. Otherwise, they would not be able to return to their plane.
The reason for the situation was the fact that the foreigners where travelling to Moscow. Such transit passengers cannot benefit from the visa-free regime, the Border Committee explained to Euroradio:
"The visa-free regime is not applied to transit passengers travelling to the Russian Federation. Only those who want to visit Belarus can benefit from it. It is applied to people arriving at the National Airport Minsk and leaving for third states (except for the Union State) from the same airport. It is caused by the fact that there is no border control for Belarus-Russia flights. That is why transit passengers cannot make use of the visa-free regime and visit the city. They need at least a transit visa to do so.”
The 30-day visa-free regime came into force in Belarus on July 27. A lot of people are using Minsk to go to Moscow now because there are no flights from Ukraine to Russia. It has turned out that the Belarusian visa-free regime is not working for the majority of transit passengers. What could be better than tourists visiting the country for a few hours, making purchases, having meals and leaving for their destination afterwards?
Well, let them better wait at the airport!
28 August 2018, 18:34
Photo: travel.otzyv.by
Two people travelling to Moscow have faced this problem recently. They had scheduled a 6-hour transfer in order to visit the city. However, it turned out that they could not leave the transfer zone. Otherwise, they would not be able to return to their plane.
The reason for the situation was the fact that the foreigners where travelling to Moscow. Such transit passengers cannot benefit from the visa-free regime, the Border Committee explained to Euroradio:
"The visa-free regime is not applied to transit passengers travelling to the Russian Federation. Only those who want to visit Belarus can benefit from it. It is applied to people arriving at the National Airport Minsk and leaving for third states (except for the Union State) from the same airport. It is caused by the fact that there is no border control for Belarus-Russia flights. That is why transit passengers cannot make use of the visa-free regime and visit the city. They need at least a transit visa to do so.”
The 30-day visa-free regime came into force in Belarus on July 27. A lot of people are using Minsk to go to Moscow now because there are no flights from Ukraine to Russia. It has turned out that the Belarusian visa-free regime is not working for the majority of transit passengers. What could be better than tourists visiting the country for a few hours, making purchases, having meals and leaving for their destination afterwards?
Well, let them better wait at the airport!
