Getting to Minsk

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Belarus is backwards. A friend of mine, whose parents emigrated from Belarus to the US when he was 8, looked into visiting. In order to receive a visa as a US citizen, he'd have to give up his Belarussian citizenship, which requires him to write a letter to Lukashenko, the dictator of the country, and then obtain a letter from his own parents stating that they are OK with him denouncing his citizenship. Also, he'd have to travel to the embassy I think either in NYC or DC and pay a fee on the order of $400. And THEN apply for a visa.

Russia is also backwards like that. I think we paid around $200 for the visa application in 2009. Of course, they also require sponsorship and upon arrival, if you are staying longer than 3 days, you have to get registered with the government (that was a pain and a source of many grievous stories for many of people I know on its own). Also, when we requested a multiple entry visa stating that we were going to travel to Ukraine, the consulate wanted to see our train tickets... which we could only buy in Russia using a passport... and before even knowing if we were to be granted a visa. Add to this echoes of the Soviet Union rudeness from the customs/border officials... meh. Now, in addition to all these hoops, Russia also wants to see where you were born, if not in the US. They want to know if you still have your Russian citizenship. I'm OK with not going back there.

Ukraine, on the other hand - crossed the border from Russia at a post that was an equivalent of a small village. Friendly border agent told us how to fill out the form correctly. No visa needed! Pleasant stay.

BTW, I'm 1/2 Russian, 1/2 Ukrainian, speak Russian.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.