PLEASE HELP

[Alex1986 0]

Hello everyone,

I need everyones help. I traveled to Belarus from United States on Sunday night, in the airport in Minsk, Belarus, i realized that my Belarussian passport was expired, they let me into the country and said that i have to go to the city i will be at, I go there and get a visa into the american passport.....i went there and they are denying it. I cannot get a visa in to my american passport, that means that i cannot leave the country without the belarussian visa in the U.S. passport. they are requiring me to make a new passport here, which takes 1 month, expedited. i have airline tickets to leave on Wednesday, this whole trip was to come here and bring medicine to a very sick relative. I have a job, 8month baby. I NEED HELP PLEASE.

Alex

[jkelly07 120]

go to the nearest u.s embassy ask for help, your a us citizen.

[Enigma11561 336]

Go to the US Embassy in Minsk. As a US citizen they should be able to give you a visa in your US passport, or at least some type of official paper so you can leave the country.

[jaycali 415]

Go to the US Embassy in Minsk. As a US citizen they should be able to give you a visa in your US passport, or at least some type of official paper so you can leave the country.

The US embassy can't issue Belarusian visas.

But they should be able to help you out.

I don't really get it.. They let you into the country with no visa, and an expired passport.. But they won' let you out of the country without it?

Edited April 30, 2012 by jaejayC

[eekee 182]

The US embassy can't really help you if you're a Belarusian citizen as well, since the citizenship of the country you are in will take precendence over your American one. This is why the United States does not encourage dual citizenship. You can also not get a visa for a country you are a citizen of, which is why they are denying you a Belarusian visa. You can TRY the US Consulate, but like I said, the US cannot really help someone who is also a citizen of Belarus, especially with less-than-warm relations between the US and Belarus. Honestly, I think you will just have to wait a month for the new passport and hope for the best. I will send the best of vibes for a different outcome for you, but I have a hard time imagining one.

The US embassy can't issue Belarusian visas.

But they should be able to help you out.

I don't really get it.. They let you into the country with no visa, and an expired passport.. But they won' let you out of the country without it?

It's Belarus.

[Enigma11561 336]

The US embassy can't really help you if you're a Belarusian citizen as well, since the citizenship of the country you are in will take precendence over your American one. This is why the United States does not encourage dual citizenship. You can also not get a visa for a country you are a citizen of, which is why they are denying you a Belarusian visa. You can TRY the US Consulate, but like I said, the US cannot really help someone who is also a citizen of Belarus, especially with less-than-warm relations between the US and Belarus. Honestly, I think you will just have to wait a month for the new passport and hope for the best. I will send the best of vibes for a different outcome for you, but I have a hard time imagining one.

It's Belarus.

Da. It's Belarus. You need a Belarussian visa in your US passport to enter and leave as a US citizen. You did not get one as you entered on your Belarussian passport, expecting no problems and would have exited the country with it, using your US passport to enter the US. It is possible that the US embassy in Minsk MAY be able to help short circuit the process by asking the Belarus government to issue you an expedited visa. I think it is worth a shot if you are not to far away from Minsk. However, your Belarus passport is now expired and I think you can only renew it in Belarus, although I may be wrong on this. If so, then the next time you go visit, it will be on your US passport and expect to spend some time in country to get a new one.

[SMR 368]

In general, the advice you have gotten here is correct. If you are a citizen of Belarus, the US embassy in Belarus probably won't be willing to help you (is there even an embassy in Belarus, I thought the Belarusians go to Poland for Visas). You probably won't be able to get a Belarusian visa in your American passport because the Belarusian government sees you as Belarusian.

I was going to suggest that you try to travel to a third country using an internal passport but I just did research and see that there is no Belarusian internal passport. All the same, that may be an avenue to investigate. If you make it to a third country (Ukraine, perhaps) you would be able to travel onward using your US passport. Of course, you would probably lose your money for the airplane tickets (if you can't refund them). Barring that, this really becomes an issue of Belarusian law, which I don't know.

A possible option would be to renounce your Belarusian citizenship (are you willing to do that) and then try to expedite a visa into your US passport. However, you should be very careful since the FSU countries scrutinize visas to former citizens closely. It would also make any future trips to Belarus difficult (perhaps impossible).

[eekee 182]

I really don't think it's possible to get a visa for a country you're a citizen for. I'd be interested to know if you've heard of any cases of this. In Belarus's eyes, s/he is a Belarusian citizen, full stop.

Re: SMR's advice, unlike the US, you are not allowed to LEAVE Russia if you overstay your visa without going through bureaucratic hell, and I'd imagine that Belarus would work similarly. So I don't think the OP would be able to cross the border, even to Russia or Ukraine.

Edited April 30, 2012 by eekee

[SMR 368]

Re: SMR's advice, unlike the US, you are not allowed to LEAVE Russia if you overstay your visa without going through bureaucratic hell, and I'd imagine that Belarus would work similarly. So I don't think the OP would be able to cross the border, even to Russia or Ukraine.

Probably not. If a Russian were stuck with an expired international passport, but a valid US passport, going to Ukraine with the internal passport and leaving Ukraine with the US passport might be an option. You would need to leave Russia with the internal passport and then enter Ukraine with the US passport so that the stamps line up. Since Belarus doesn't have an internal passport, it probably doesn't apply.

[sea-monkey 13]

Are you a USA citizen? Get yourself over to Poland and figure it out if you are.

http://poland.visahq.com/

Poland tourist visa is not required for citizens of United States for a stay up to 90 days.

[leith@Ievgeniia 8]

try the 100$ shuffle :whistle: works in the uah man that can cut time to few hours insets of a month :whistle:

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

In general, the advice you have gotten here is correct. If you are a citizen of Belarus, the US embassy in Belarus probably won't be willing to help you (is there even an embassy in Belarus, I thought the Belarusians go to Poland for Visas). You probably won't be able to get a Belarusian visa in your American passport because the Belarusian government sees you as Belarusian.

I was going to suggest that you try to travel to a third country using an internal passport but I just did research and see that there is no Belarusian internal passport. All the same, that may be an avenue to investigate. If you make it to a third country (Ukraine, perhaps) you would be able to travel onward using your US passport. Of course, you would probably lose your money for the airplane tickets (if you can't refund them). Barring that, this really becomes an issue of Belarusian law, which I don't know.

A possible option would be to renounce your Belarusian citizenship (are you willing to do that) and then try to expedite a visa into your US passport. However, you should be very careful since the FSU countries scrutinize visas to former citizens closely. It would also make any future trips to Belarus difficult (perhaps impossible).

THIS

Ukraine will allow you to enter as a US citizen with no visa. The only problem may be thatyou have to pass through passport control in Belarus first and they may not let you leave. If you can go to Ukraine, you could just fly out of Kiev with no problems

Otherwise what the others say is correct, it is unlikely the US consulate will help and you would have to get a new passport from Belarus

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Probably not. If a Russian were stuck with an expired international passport, but a valid US passport, going to Ukraine with the internal passport and leaving Ukraine with the US passport might be an option. You would need to leave Russia with the internal passport and then enter Ukraine with the US passport so that the stamps line up. Since Belarus doesn't have an internal passport, it probably doesn't apply.

That would be my concern with the otherwise good suggestion. Unlike the US you need to go through passport control when LEAVING as well as entering. A small bribe may smooth things over at a land border crossing.

Are you a USA citizen? Get yourself over to Poland and figure it out if you are.

http://poland.visahq.com/

Poland tourist visa is not required for citizens of United States for a stay up to 90 days.

Neither in Ukraine, but getting past Belarus passport control to leave is the problem