US-Belarus relations

Hi All -- I am considering a trip to Belarus this summer and just found this while doing some research

minsk.usembassy.gov/consular_section.html

Any thoughts from those living there or Americans who have visited recently?

|||

pay less attention to politic! you are tourist-not a spy! so be like a tourist and you will experience beautiful Minsk with its own culture and life. try to stay in city limits because the infrastructure outside is not at the desirable level but city itself is too much modern! i want you to be sure that you will feel safe in Minsk. let me know if you have any other questions.

i%26#39;m sure you will have a wonderful trip!

|||

Don%26#39;t worry about problems of government international policy. Visit Minsk, maybe come to other interesting places here and you will see my country and belarussian people are not hostile to foreigners.

|||

Getting a tourist visa to Belarus

All you need is to book and prepay a hotel through a licensed travel agency in Belarus (you have to order two of any services they offer). The agency then sends faximile copy of the invitation to the US embassy. According to the new amendment you don%26#39;t have to present the voucher in any form to the embassy, as you are the US citizen. The voucher is issued here and you get it on check-in from the travel agent. The number of the voucher is put in the invitation.

Don%26#39;t deal with on-line operators if they do not have a Tour operator%26#39;s licence, issued by the local tourism authorities.

Regarding politics - if you see some meeting - go in the opposite direction.

|||

That is right! the best way to stay from troubles is to stay away from troubles!!!!

have fun in Belarus!!!!!

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 9:19 pm, September 24, 2009