Starting From July 1, Belarusians Will Pay Only 35 per Schengen Visa Application

Head of the Information and Digital Diplomacy Office and Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anatoly Glaz, has stressed that Belarus and the European Union (EU) have completed all procedures for the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission, thus both agreements will enter into force on July 1.

Glaz has revealed that on May 29, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received an official notification from the European Union which informs that all necessary procedures have been completed, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“Belarus finished these procedures in April. Thus, all the procedures have been performed. The agreements will come into force on July 1,” Anatoly Glaz pointed out.

As mentioned before, through the agreement on visa facilitation the cost of a Schengen visa for applicants of Belarus will drop to €35, from €80, while the decision regarding the visa will be made within ten days. Through the agreement, Belarusian citizens will be eligible to issue a visa on an urgent basis, and certain categories of applicants could be exempted from the visa fees.

From February this year, Belarusian citizens have been subject to the new Schengen Visa Code, which increased the Schengen visa fees, from €60 to €80.

In 2014, Belarus and the European Union embarked on talks on the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission.

In March this year, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for International Affairs, Andrey Savinykh, stressed that the visa facilitation and readmission agreements between Belarus and the European Union would be ratified at the opening of the spring session of the house of Representatives, while on April 2, the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus ratified the visa facilitation agreement with the EU.

Belarus Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Kravchenko, presented the agreement in the Oval Hall, pointing out that the visa facilitation agreement aims to ease visa procedures for Belarusian nationals travelling to the Schengen Zone.

A week later, on April 6, Belarus Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko asserted that the country might soon start discussing a visa-liberalization agreement with the EU.

In mid-April, Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko announced that the whole process for the ratification of the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission with the European Union had been completed.

On April 24, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament backed two agreements with Belarus on the readmission of Belarussians without the right to stay in the EU and the facilitation of procedures for a Schengen Visa.

Last month, on May 29, the Council of the European Union informed through a statement that the European Union’s member states had approved visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Belarus.