Fifteen-day visa-free access to Grodno-Brest tourist zone
Citizens of a number of countries can visit the Grodno-Brest tourist zone visa-free for 15 days. Foreign visitors can enter this zone through two regional airports and crossing points on the land border (with Lithuania and Poland). This tourism and recreation zone includes popular attractions and biggest cities in the western part of the country, including:
- in Brest Region – the city of Brest, Brest District, Zhabinka District, Kamenets District and Pruzhany District;
- in Grodno Region – the city of Grodno, Grodno District, Berestovitsa District, Volkovysk District, Voronovo District, Lida District, Svisloch District and Shchuchin District.
In line with the president’s decree, the 15-day visa-free option is available to citizens of more than 70 countries, including Latvia’s non-citizens and Estonia’s stateless persons.
The rules of entry as part of the 15-day visa-free program are different from the 30-day visa-free option available to travelers arriving in Minsk by air.
To be able to visit the visa-free zone, a foreign national must present the following documents:
- Valid passport or an equivalent identity document;
- Travel medical insurance with the minimum coverage of €10,000. The travel insurance must be valid in Belarus;
- Migration card (issued upon arrival);
- Document allowing foreign nationals (individuals or groups of tourists) to visit the Tourism and Recreation Zone Brest-Grodno. It can be obtained while purchasing a tour from a certified tour operator that has the right to organize visa-free travels to Belarus. This means that a tourist needs to approach an official travel agency beforehand (not later than 48 hours before the trip), make a travel plan, pay for the chosen services (be it an individual plan or an all-inclusive tour), and pick up the document that will be subsequently presented at a checkpoint.
To learn more about the visa-free program and travel agencies, please click the links below:
- grodnovisafree.by
- bezvizbrest.by
Tourists can enter the visa-free zone in Belarus via 14 international border checkpoints.
- automobile checkpoints Brest (Terespol), Bruzgi (Kuznica Bialostocka), Domachevo (Slawatycze), Benyakoni (Salcininkai), Peschatka (Polowce), Privalka (Raigardas);
- small border trafic checkpoint Pererov (Bialowieza), Lesnaya (Rudawka), Privalka (Szandubra);
- railway border checkpoint Brest (Terespol), Grodno (Kuznica Bialostocka);
- Brest Airport border checkpoint, Grodno Airport border checkpoint.
NOTE! Foreign visitors who enter the visa-free travel zone must register with the local police department within five days. As a rule, hotels, farm tourism estates, and health resorts where tourists stay take care of that. Self-employed businessmen who rent apartments to foreigners do that, too.
Foreign visitors are required to have funds equivalent to at least two base amounts* per day of stay.
► The base amount stands at Br29 as of 1 January 2021.
There are no checkpoints or any fences at the border of the visa-free travel zone inside Belarus, just signboards
Visitors are forbidden to break the rules of stay as part of the 15-day visa-free travel program and go outside the visa-free zone. Otherwise, violators will be punished in line with Belarusian laws (a warning, a fine, deportation).
Note! When visiting Belarus as part of an organized group, tourists can go beyond the visa-free zone and visit other areas of Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast, but only if it is part of the planned tour route.
COVID-19: Belarus Travel Advice
According to Council of Ministers’ Resolution No.705 of 7 December 2020, starting from 21 December 2020 foreigners over six years old arriving in Belarus must have an original or a copy of a medical document either in hard copy or an electronic form, confirming a negative COVID-19 test result. The PCR test must be done no later than three days before the border crossing date (this period includes the date of border crossing). The requirement does not apply to citizens with temporary or permanent residency permits.
Foreign nationals and Belarusian citizens arriving from the countries included by the Healthcare Ministry of Belarus in the list of COVID-19 high-risk countries are required to self-isolate for 10 days from the date of arrival. They cannot cross the state border of the Republic of Belarus until the expiration of the self-isolation period.
At the same time, the self-isolation requirement does not extend to foreign nationals returning home in transit via Belarus. Exemptions are also made for people who need to travel a lot for work.
