Opinions & Interviews
Belarusian-Russian visa recognition agreement expected to come into force by 20 May 2019
MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) – The Belarusian side expects the Belarusian-Russian agreement on the mutual recognition of visas to come into force by 20 May 2019, BelTA learned from Aleksei Begun, Chief of the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Belarusian Internal Affairs Ministry.
The official said: “The Belarusian side insists that the mutual visa recognition agreement should come into force by 20 May 2019 taking into account the fact that on that day Belarus will enable visa-free travel for foreign citizens, who have accreditation for the 2nd European Games Minsk 2019.”
In his words, once the agreement comes into force, foreigners will not need two visas in order to stay in Belarus and Russia. In line with the agreement people, who have the visa of one country, will be able to enter, leave, and stay in the other country as long as the visa is valid. People, who enter Belarus and Russia as part of the visa-free travel program, will be able to cross the domestic border as part of the visa-free travel regulations and stay during the timeframe specified by international agreements and national laws.
Aleksei Begun added that the agreement also provides for integrating information resources of the two countries. “We are going to share data about people crossing the border, about issued visas and revoked ones, about temporary or permanent residence permits,” he specified.
BelTA reported earlier that Belarus and Russia have come to terms on every point in the course of preparing the mutual visa recognition agreement. The agreement is supposed to be signed in December.
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