Travel to Belarus Without a Visa in 2026: Requirements and How to Enter

Yes, you can travel to Belarus without a visa. If you hold a British, Irish or other European passport from a list of 38 countries, you can enter visa-free and stay up to 30 days, and since July 2024 you no longer have to arrive by plane: any international border crossing works, road, rail or airport. The scheme is renewed by presidential decree and is currently extended until 31 December 2026.

That said, three things catch people out: medical insurance is compulsory and border guards can ask for it, you have to register if you stay more than ten days, and — this is the big one — entering Belarus visa-free does not let you continue into Russia. Here is how it all works, step by step.

What has changed (and it is a lot)

When I first wrote this article, the only way in without a visa was to fly into Minsk and fly back out of the same airport. That scheme still exists, but today it is only one of four possible routes. Here is what has changed:

• July 2024: Belarus extends visa-free entry to 35 more European countries through any land border, not just by air. Together with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, which already had it since 2022, that makes 38 countries.
• March 2025: the Belarusian e-visa goes live for citizens of 67 countries, the United States among them.
• January 2025: the mutual visa recognition agreement between Russia and Belarus enters into force, finally opening the land border between the two countries to foreigners.
• December 2025: a new presidential decree extends the European visa waiver until 31 December 2026.

So the paperwork has become a lot simpler. What has become harder is everything else: getting there. There are no direct flights from the EU or the UK, and the land borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia close and reopen every few months. That is now the tricky part of planning a trip, and I devote a whole section to it below.

Route 1: visa waiver for 38 European countries

This is the one that applies if you hold a British or Irish passport, or one from most of the EU. You can enter Belarus with no visa, no invitation and no paperwork in advance, showing only your passport, at any international border crossing in the country: road, rail or airport.

• Length of stay: up to 30 days from the date of entry. For citizens of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia (and Latvian non-citizens), up to 90 days.
• Number of trips: unlimited, but the total number of visa-free days cannot exceed 90 per calendar year.
• Day one is the day your passport is stamped, whatever the hour: arrive at 23:59 on the 1st and your stay ends on the 30th at midnight.
• Valid until 31 December 2026. It has been rolled over every year since 2024, but it is a unilateral decision renewed by decree, so do not assume it will still be there in 2027.
• Transit: you may travel through Belarus to third countries, airports included… except to Russia.
• It does not cover work, study or applying for a residence permit — those still require a visa. It also does not apply to diplomatic or service passports.

One caveat worth taking seriously: the waiver is not a guarantee of entry. The Belarusian authorities reserve the right to refuse admission, they use it regularly at the border, and they are under no obligation to explain why.

The 38 countries on the list

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Vatican City.

You can check the current list on the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. Note that the United States is not on it — American travellers should skip to route 4 below.

Route 2: 30 days visa-free arriving by air (76 countries)

This is the original scheme, in force since 2017 and extended to 30 days in 2018. It still works and it is the main route for many passports that are not on the European list: Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, and also Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Panama, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

The binding condition is this: you must enter and leave through a Belarusian airport (Minsk, Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev or Vitebsk). If you fly in but then want to leave overland, this scheme does not cover you.

And there is a detail that trips a lot of people up: it does not apply to flights arriving from Russia or departing to Russia, because flights between the two countries count as domestic and go through no border control. If you fly Moscow-Minsk, this scheme is of no use to you.

A note on passports: for this route Belarus requires at least 90 days of validity beyond your intended date of departure from the country. The full list of 76 countries is in this official PDF — check yours is on it rather than assuming.

Route 3: bilateral agreements (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia…)

Some countries have signed a bilateral visa-abolition agreement with Belarus, which is the most comfortable arrangement of all: it works at any border and for longer periods. Useful if you hold dual nationality or are travelling with someone who has one of these passports.

• Argentina: up to 90 consecutive days from the first entry within the current year.
• Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela: up to 90 days.
• Cuba: up to 30 days.
• Ecuador: visa exemption in force.

You can verify this in the official visa-free travel table published by the Belarusian ministry.

Route 4: the e-visa (and what US citizens need)

Since 20 March 2025 Belarus has issued an electronic visa to citizens of 67 countries, including the United States, Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. It is a single-entry visa for up to 30 days, usable at any international border crossing.

• Where to apply: on the official E-Pasluga portal, creating an account (service code 3.04.01). Nothing to upload: no passport scan, no photo, no invitation letter.
• Timing: apply at least 7 calendar days before your intended entry; a decision comes within 7 calendar days.
• Cost: €60 for most nationalities, including US citizens, plus a €6 processing fee — the figure the US State Department quotes as €66 in total. It is €35 plus €6 for most EU nationals.
• Passport: at least 90 days of validity beyond the expiry of the e-visa and at least one blank page. Carry the visa on paper or on your phone throughout the trip.

If you are American, this is your route. The United States is not on the 38-country European list, and it does not appear on the current official list of 76 countries for the airport scheme either, so the e-visa (or a regular consular visa) is what the US State Department itself points American travellers to. It also spells out a condition worth remembering: with an e-visa you must arrive from and depart to a country other than Russia.

If you are British, Irish or from another of the 38 countries, paying for an e-visa usually makes no sense: the waiver gives you the same thing for free. It is only worth it if you have already used up your 90 visa-free days for the year.

What they will ask for at the border

Whichever route you use, there is a minimum set of documents a border guard can demand. In practice they do not always check everything, but if something is missing they can turn you away.

Passport (and they are fussy)

National ID cards are not accepted. Bring a passport with two blank contiguous pages and in good physical condition — covers attached, no torn pages, no damage. Belarusian officials are strict about this and a battered passport can end in a fine or a refusal at the border. For the airport scheme you need at least 90 days of validity beyond your departure date; six months is the safe margin.

Compulsory medical insurance

Belarus requires every foreign visitor to hold medical insurance with a minimum of €10,000 of cover valid in the country. This is not a recommendation, it is a legal requirement, and without it you can be stopped at the border. Two options:

• Take out a Belarusian policy, the simplest and cheapest solution. The two authorised state insurers sell online: Belgosstrakh and Beleximgarant. You can also buy one on the spot, at the counter at Minsk airport or at the land crossing.
• Bring your own international policy, as long as it explicitly covers Belarus. This is where it gets awkward: many Western insurers exclude Belarus because of sanctions, even when the cover is advertised as worldwide. Read the small print instead of assuming, and carry a printed certificate, ideally in English or Russian.

Proof of funds

You must be able to show the equivalent of 2 base units per day of stay. Since 1 January 2026 the base unit is 45 Belarusian roubles, so that is 90 roubles a day (roughly €27 at current rates). For a full 30-day stay it is 50 base units: 2,250 roubles, around €680. Cash, card or traveller’s cheques all count, in Belarusian roubles or foreign currency.

If you drive in

You will also need vehicle third-party liability insurance (Green Card) and the receipt for the disinfection service, which is paid at the crossing itself.

Cash and customs

There is no limit on bringing currency in or out, but anything above US$10,000 (cash, traveller’s cheques and other instruments combined) must be declared in writing. Make sure the declaration form is stamped by a customs officer on entry: that is what lets you account for the money on the way out. Prescription medicines containing controlled substances need a prescription translated into Russian, and note that Belarus treats drug offences extremely harshly — that includes cannabis for personal use and even CBD.

Registration: the step almost everyone forgets

Foreign visitors have to register with the authorities, stating where they are staying, within ten days. The good news: if you sleep in a hotel, hostel or sanatorium, the establishment does it for you at check-in, free and with no effort on your part. That covers most travellers.

Registration only really concerns you if you stay on your own arrangements: a rented flat, friends, family. Then you have to do it yourself at the local immigration office, together with your host, or online through the Belarusian portal. It is free.

Two things worth knowing. If you are travelling independently by car, campervan or bike and moving from place to place, you must re-register at each new stop within three working days. And skipping it is not trivial: the fine can reach 50 base units, roughly €600, with possible expulsion.

How to get to Belarus

This is where the trip actually gets complicated. The visa has stopped being the obstacle; transport has not.

By air

There have been no direct flights between the European Union, the UK or Switzerland and Minsk since 2021. You will have to connect. The usual gateways to Minsk airport (MSQ) are:

• Istanbul: the most practical option from Western Europe, with several Belavia flights a week.
• Dubai: Belavia and flydubai.
• The Caucasus and Central Asia: Tbilisi, Batumi, Yerevan, Baku and Tashkent all have regular services.
• China and India: Beijing, Xi’an, Urumqi and New Delhi.

There are also plenty of flights between Minsk and Russian cities, but remember the point above: if you are relying on the airport visa-free scheme, those flights are no help, because they count as domestic. With the 38-country European waiver it is different, since you can enter overland, but you still will not be able to cross into Russia without a Russian visa.

Overland from the EU: the real bottleneck

Since 2021 Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have progressively closed crossings with Belarus over security concerns, migration pressure or military exercises. Some have reopened, others have not. And closures are sometimes announced 24 to 48 hours in advance. This is the picture at the time of updating this article:

Poland

• Terespol – Brest: open to passengers, coaches included. This is the reference crossing if you are coming from Warsaw.
• Bobrowniki – Berestovitsa: reopened in November 2025 to passengers, coaches included.
• Kuźnica Białostocka – Bruzgi: reopened in November 2025, but private vehicles only. No coaches.
• Kukuryki – Kozlovichi: freight only.
• Połowce and Sławatycze: closed since 2020.

Lithuania

Of the six crossings that used to exist, only two are still running: Medininkai – Kamenny Log and Šalčininkai – Benyakoni. Both were shut for almost a month in autumn 2025 over the smuggling-balloon dispute and reopened on 20 November. This is the natural route if you are coming from Vilnius.

Latvia

Only Pāternieki – Grigorovshchina remains open, and you must book a slot in the Latvian electronic queue system (lvrobeza.lv) — turning up and queueing is no longer possible. It is a low-capacity and fragile crossing: at the end of July 2026 it was suspended for several days for technical reasons and all traffic was diverted to Lithuania.

You cannot get there by train (this surprises a lot of people)

Passenger trains between Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have been suspended since the pandemic and have never been restored. The rail crossings that remain open handle freight only. In other words: the visa waiver lets you enter “by rail”, but in practice no passenger train arrives from the EU.

So the real overland options are coach or car. There are daily coaches Warsaw-Brest, Warsaw-Minsk and Vilnius-Minsk. Expect several hours of waiting at the border, and in bad spells coaches leaving Belarus have queued for more than a day.

Always check before you set off

I keep repeating this because it is what ruins most trips: check the state of the border 24 to 48 hours beforehand. The reliable sources are the Belarusian State Border Committee (live queues and cameras), the Polish Border Guard and the Latvian electronic queue. My article on the best Telegram groups with real-time border queues may also help: several channels cover these crossings.

What if I also want to go to Russia? The single visa

This is the question I get most, so let’s get to the point. On 11 January 2025 the mutual visa recognition agreement between Russia and Belarus entered into force. It sounds as though everything is now solved, but there is important small print.

What the agreement says is that the two countries recognise each other’s visas: with a regular Russian visa you can also enter and move around Belarus, and vice versa. It also opened the land border between the two countries to foreigners — previously only Russians and Belarusians could cross it — through six designated crossings (the busiest is Redki – Krasnaya Gorka, on the Minsk-Moscow motorway).

Now, what does not work, and this is where people come unstuck:

• The European visa waiver does not let you cross into Russia. The decree says it plainly: transit to third countries “except Russia”.
• Nor does the 30-day airport scheme, since it obliges you to leave through a Belarusian airport.
• E-visas are excluded from the agreement for technical reasons still unresolved, in both directions: neither a Belarusian nor a Russian e-visa will get you across that border.

The only combination that works is a regular visa — the kind you apply for at a consulate or visa centre — from either country. With a regular Russian visa you can enter Belarus, travel around it and then cross into Russia by road, rail or air.

One detail that can cost you dearly: the Russian authorities do not issue migration cards to travellers arriving from Belarus. You have to ask the Belarusian border guards for one when you first enter Belarus. I cover all of this — the six authorised crossings and the migration card — in how to travel to Russia via Belarus.

The Brest-Grodno visa-free zone (15 days)

There has been a special scheme for years allowing 15 visa-free days in the Brest and Grodno tourist zone (Brest, Grodno, Lida and their districts). It is still in force, but it makes little sense for a European traveller now: the 30-day waiver is better in every respect.

It is only relevant if your nationality does not fit any of the four routes above. It requires a document issued by an authorised tour operator (arranged at least 72 hours ahead), medical insurance, and you cannot leave the zone: doing so means a fine or deportation.

Four practical things before you go

1. Bring cash

The Belarusian rouble is a closed currency: you cannot buy it before you leave home. And Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Belarus work erratically — sometimes yes, sometimes no, depending on the issuing bank and the terminal. It is not as absolute as Russia, where they simply do not work, but you cannot rely on them either.

My advice: bring euros or US dollars in cash, in clean notes, and change them locally at a bank or licensed exchange office — they are everywhere and charge no commission. Keep the card as a backup, not as the plan.

2. Carry your passport at all times

It is a legal requirement in Belarus and the police check frequently. Do not leave your passport at the hotel.

3. Mind the camera, the phone and politics

Avoid photographing official buildings, courts, military installations and uniformed officers. Stay away from any political gathering: unauthorised protests are illegal and for a foreigner the consequences can run from a fine to detention and deportation. Be aware, too, that body searches and phone searches at the border are common, foreigners included.

4. What your government says — and this one is serious

This needs saying plainly, because the English-speaking advisories are much blunter than the continental European ones. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advises against all travel to Belarus, citing a significant risk of arrest. The US State Department has Belarus at Level 4, Do Not Travel. Australia’s Smartraveller says the same.

The consular reality matters just as much. The US Embassy in Minsk suspended operations on 28 February 2022 and all consular services, routine and emergency, remain suspended: American citizens who need consular help are told to leave the country. And both London and Washington warn that Belarus does not recognise dual nationality: if you hold a Belarusian passport or have a claim to Belarusian citizenship, the authorities will treat you as Belarusian regardless of which passport you entered on, and consular access has repeatedly been refused in those cases.

None of this is a ban, and people do travel to Belarus legally and without incident. But it does change the calculation, and it matters practically too: many insurance policies will not cover a trip made against official advice. Check gov.uk or travel.state.gov before booking anything.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Visa-free entry for citizens of European countries — Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Visa-free travel via Belarusian airports — Belarus MFA
• E-visa to Belarus — Belarus MFA
• Belarus-Russia agreement on mutual recognition of visas — Belarus MFA
• Situation at the border in real time — State Border Committee of Belarus
• Belarus travel advice — UK FCDO, and the US State Department advisory

If you still have a question or want to compare notes with other travellers, you can ask on the Russiable forum.

Article updated in August 2026. Visa rules and, above all, the situation at the borders change frequently: always check the official sources before you travel.