The Russian Federation and Belarus are members of the Union State, have developed economic and political ties, similar legislation and quite a lot of international agreements, including those on entry into the countries.
Russia will also enforce the entry ban imposed in Belarus because the states have such an agreement. That is why a foreigner may not enter Russia due to a ban on entry into Belarus.
The law firm “Delo Chesti”(in English means Honour) has been studying and working with the topic of imposing a ban on entry into the Russian Federation and Belarus for 10 years, our experience allows us to competently work with executive authorities and obtain the necessary legal solution.
Our lawyers can help you:
- Analyze your situation and received documents;
- Assess the possibility of lifting your ban;
- Develop a legal position and a way to appeal the decision of the authority;
- Make a statement to the authority;
- Send an application, receive a response, appeal and transfer the response to the client.
Often, foreigners find out that they have an entry ban already at the border. Many do not understand why they received such a sanction, since a notification with a reason is not always issued to a foreign citizen. In the article we will tell you about the reasons for entry bans, the consequences and the possibility of withdrawing. At the end of the article we will give instructions on how to work with the ban.
The reason for the ban on entry to Belarus and the Russian Federation
Russia and Belarus have long been economic partners and political allies. Enough agreements have been concluded between countries. We are interested in an international treaty on mutual recognition and enforcement of decisions to refuse entry into the territory of states.
An entry ban should not be confused with deportation. Both actions are an administrative measure on the part of the authority. An entry ban is not a punishment, but a measure that is applied in response to some misconduct by a foreign citizen.
Quite often, a situation occurs when a foreigner wants to get to Russia through Belarus, commits some kind of illegal act in this country or violates migration laws and receives a ban in Russia.
There are enough grounds for a ban on entry into the Republic of Belarus, they are in many ways similar to Russian bans. With all the reasons for the ban, you can law in Art. 30 of the Law of Belarus on the legal status of foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Republic. This law also applies to obtaining a visa. In the article we will talk about the most common cases.
So, a ban on entry into the Republic of Belarus can be imposed on the following grounds:
- The foreigner has violated migration legislation, visa regime, terms and conditions of stay in the country. Access control may also be violated;
- Unpaid fines or debts to the state;
- A foreign citizen is included in the list of persons who are denied entry. The sanctions list is not publicly available;
- The presence of an expunged or outstanding criminal record;
- Unwillingness to stay due to illness. The legislation of Belarus has a list of diseases that cannot be entered. Some are curable, and some are not, if a foreigner is cured, then you must provide a certificate and the authority will allow you to enter;
- Lack of insurance policy, upon receipt the ban will be lifted;
- Failure to provide the required documents;
- A foreigner cannot confirm the availability of funds necessary to cover the costs of his stay in the Republic of Belarus and departure from the Republic of Belarus;
- There is information that a foreigner is a person carrying out extremist, including terrorist, activities, is related to smuggling or activities aimed at causing damage to the national security of the Republic of Belarus.
As we discussed in a separate article about the ban on entry into Russia, an important document is the ban notice. Usually it is issued at the border with the country. The document contains information about which authority issued it, who imposed the ban, the basis for the ban, that is, what law and the term of the ban.
Let’s take a look at the clear situation. A Turkish citizen went to Russia through Belarus and received a ban notice at the border. He may get banned for several reasons.
⇒ The first reason is the unpaid fine. We are talking about the fact that a foreigner committed an offense on the territory of Belarus, for which he received a fine. It can be, for example, for violation of traffic rules. The fine is considered registered in Belarus. The statute of limitations does not affect the lifting of the ban.
As we discussed in the entry ban article, you can usually solve the problem of a ban due to a fine by paying the fine. However, the ban itself will be lifted in 2 weeks. That is why it is better to know about these points in advance before entering Russia.
In this case, in our example, a Turkish citizen will need the help of a migration lawyer. The foreigner received a notification and now it is necessary to find out why the ban was imposed, since the document may not contain a rule of law. To do this, the lawyer draws up a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. The request must be understandable and reflect all the facts. It is important to mention that the foreigner is not in danger for the state and is ready to pay or has paid a fine. To do this, you must attach a document that confirms the payment of the fine.
⇒ After that, the Ministry must respond that the period of the ban has been reduced. A problematic question on this basis is how to find out to which authority the debt arose, often there can be a territorial subdivision. The second question will be the preparation of the application, the description of the main facts, the correct statement of the requirements. It will be difficult and for a long time for a foreigner to understand the system of international and Belarusian law and the legal Russian language, which is why it is worth contacting migration lawyers.
⇒ The second reason may be a violation of the migration legislation in the Republic of Belarus. A foreigner may violate the terms or conditions of stay in the country.
Briefly, we can describe the main reasons for violation of migration legislation as follows:
- Violation of the rules of transit through the Republic of Belarus. There is a limit of 48 hours, if a foreigner violates it, he will receive a ban;
- There is no visa regime with the Russian Federation, however, traveling through another country in violation may result in a ban;
- You can stay in Belarus for up to 90 days, this period is established by law and violation of it can lead to a ban on entry.
Let’s take an example from our legal practice. A Turkish citizen was heading to Russia through Belarus. The foreigner did not know who made the decision to ban and for what reason. To resolve this issue, our lawyers made a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus. In our situation, a foreigner arrived in Belarus on June 17, 2021 without registering this event. The client left the country across the border of the Union State, where there are no border checkpoints, thereby violating the Agreement between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, for which he received an entry ban.
We assessed the opportunity to lift the ban and decided to file a statement with the Belarusian authorities, where we set out our legal position. As we mentioned earlier, it is important to correctly describe the main facts, to provide evidence that the client did not violate the law. In a statement, the lawyer indicated that the Turkish citizen did not violate migration laws and was in the country only for the purpose of transit. Evidence will help employees understand our legal position. Here we have attached air tickets from Minsk to Rostov-on-Don and marks in the foreigner’s passport. These facts confirm that it was in transit in Belarus. In addition, the Turkish citizen had a visa to Russia, which we also indicated.
In our statement, we also mentioned legal acts, including the UN International Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms, the agreement between Russia and Belarus, and Presidential Decree No. 880.
In this case, we helped a Turkish citizen lift the ban on entry into Russia due to the ban on Belarus. As you can see, this requires knowledge of international and national legislation, the ability to work with authorities and draw up a legal position.
In another case, we were approached by a citizen of Ukraine who was carrying cargo from Kazakhstan to Hungary. At the border with Belarus, a foreigner received a notification that he was denied entry. We started working on the same strategy, you need to contact the authority – the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request about the reason and timing of the ban.
The ministry reported that the citizen of Ukraine did not pay the fine and the ban period was three years. This is a fairly long period, so it is necessary to close all debts to the state and write an appeal to the authorities.
In the application, we wrote all the main facts that a citizen of Ukraine paid a fine, provided certain information, a description of the ban. After some time, the Ministry of the Internal Affairs replied to us that the period of the ban was reduced, since the foreigner paid the fine.
An interesting case in our practice was with a citizen of Spain, who was also informed about the ban on entry. The client did not know the reason for the ban, so we again wrote a request to clarify the reasons to the Belarusian authorities. As it turned out, the foreigner violated the visa regime and received a ban for three years. The ministry offered to apply to the Department with a request to reduce the period, for this it is necessary to indicate the need to stay in Belarus. The Ministry indicated that entry and exit to the republic in the regime of 30 days without a visa takes place through the National Airport of Minsk.
It is also worth talking about some changes in 2023. In February, Russia ratified an international agreement with Belarus on the recognition of visas. As it used to be, this will mean that foreigners who have a ban on entry into one of the countries of the Union State will not be able to enter another. Let’s remember that the visa regime is a special regime that is established between countries, in which it is necessary to issue a visa document to enter the country.
There are several changes to the situation in the agreement. One of them is that now a foreigner will be able to cross the border of Belarus and Russia not only at certain checkpoints and there will be no marks on crossing the border. After the entry into force of the agreement, foreign tourists will be able to travel along international rail and air routes, as well as on certain roads. However, this will only apply to countries with which Russia and Belarus have a visa regime. You can see the list of Russian countries on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Also, if Russia or Belarus has a visa-free regime, they will be able to move around the territory of the Union State. The period of stay in the country is determined by the law of Russia or Belarus or an international agreement. However, for this situation it is necessary that both states have a visa-free regime with a third country.
These changes will take place in 2023. Our lawyers always study the current legislation and will help you deal with your migration problem.
Instructions for lifting the ban
We note right away that not all bans can be lifted or reduced. The state always worries about national security, collective health and defence capability of the country. If a foreigner is dangerous for the country, then most likely it will not be possible to lift the ban.
However, in most cases the ban can be reduced or lifted. So, in order not to get into a difficult situation, while in Belarus, you can check whether you have a ban on the official website of the authority. On the portal of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, in the Services and Online Services section, you can check the presence of a ban on entry. However, the site only works in Russia and Belarus, foreigners can use VPN.
⇒ If there is no information on the site or you cannot access the site, then it is better to contact lawyers to make a request to the authority. After some time, the authority will give an answer and say the reason for the ban.
⇒ Next, you need to make an application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. In the application, we indicate the authority where we send the document. After that, it is worth describing the main facts that happened to you. Remember that the ban can be for various reasons and we must eliminate these reasons – pay a fine, issue the necessary documents, send a certificate.
⇒ For example, I, a citizen of Spain, arrived in Belarus on 05/01/2023. The Ministry of Internal Affairs decided to ban entry due to unpaid fines. All the fines were paid by the Spanish citizen, as evidenced by the receipt. As a result, it has no unfulfilled obligations to the state. A foreign citizen does not pose a danger to the defense capability, collective health, public security of the Republic, and is characterized from a positive side.
It is worth describing your legal position. This is extremely difficult for a person without legal knowledge, as international law and the law of the Republic of Belarus are required.
We must understand the Ministry of the Internal Affairs what happened and that we have corrected the situation. Then we write the request part. For example, in connection with the above facts, we ask you to cancel the decision to ban the entry of a foreign citizen.
⇒ At the end, we indicate which documents we are attaching to our application. It can be a passport, visa, government response, receipts. All migration cases are individual and documents may differ.
After sending the application, we are waiting for a response from the authorities. Any decision of a state body can be appealed in court, and if the legal position of a foreign citizen is convincing, then the court can cancel the decision to ban entry.
As we can see, the legislation is changing, and a foreigner may find himself in a difficult situation and receive a ban on entry to Belarus and Russia. The procedure for lifting the ban is also not easy and requires the creation of a high-quality legal position. With these questions, it is best to contact an immigration lawyer.