European Parliament Agreed Simplifying Visa Regime with Belarus

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MEPs supported agreements on visa facilitation and readmission with Belarus. For Belarusians short-term visas will become cheaper and applications will be considered faster. The European Parliament recommended that the EU conclude two agreements with Belarus: on visas issuance simplifying and on persons staying without permission readmission. During the plenary meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, May 13, 634 European deputies voted for the first document, 48 were MPs against and 4 abstained. The readmission agreement was supported by 560 European MPs, 117 voted against and 13 abstained. DW correspondent reported. How will issuing visas rules change? The visa agreement applies to short-term travel permits, that is, up to 90 days in any 180-day period. According to the document, visas will cost 35 euros for citizens of Belarus and the EU. In particular, children under 12 years of age, people with disabilities, pupils, students, representatives of civil society organizations will be exempted from paying the fee. All visa applications must be considered within 10 calendar days. If the application requires additional verification, this period may be increased to 30 days. On the other hand, it can be reduced to two business days "in urgent cases." But then the visa fee will be 70 euros. As nowadays, travelers will have to justify their trip purpose. But for a number of persons categories the list of necessary documents will be reduced. This will affect, for example, businessmen, transport drivers in international transport, journalists, people traveling for scientific or creative purposes. It is also possible to issue multiple-entry visas valid for one year or five years. It should be noted that EU citizens can visit Belarus without a visa for up to 30 days. The condition is entry through the Minsk airport. Belarus has ratified both documents earlier. The final step in approving the agreements will be the EU Council vote. In the event of a successful vote, they will enter into force on the first day of the second month after that. The European Parliament reminded Minsk that either side could at any time break the agreement on visa facilitation "for any reason," including "for reasons of human rights and democracy." Readmission between the EU and Belarus The agreement on persons without permission readmission was one of the conditions for simplifying the visa regime. According to it, Belarus agrees to receive its citizens if they do not have permission to stay in the EU or if they have lost such a right. The same applies to minor children and spouses of such persons if they do not have a separate permit to stay in the EU. In addition, Belarus will also accept third-country nationals or stateless persons who do not have the right to stay in the EU if they had a visa or residence permit at the time of entry into the European Union. The same applies to persons illegally entering the EU from the territory of Belarus. EU states have exactly the same obligations to Minsk. Negotiations on these two agreements began in 2014. They were completed only six years later when the documents got signed in January 2020.