Lithuania to facilitate visa issuance for Belarusians next week

According to the ministry, as of September, 21 in Lithuania, Belarusians will be subject to the same national visa issuance conditions as citizens of Australia, Japan, the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.

Belarusian citizens will be able to get a national visa for six months, providing a minimum package of documents and proof of adequate financial resources for three months or a legal entity's commitment to provide such funding.

Foreign Minister Linas Linkeviciu says Lithuania's diplomatic service is capable of ensuring a smooth and swift visa issuance process without bureaucratic and administrative obstacles.

Interior Minister Rita Tamasuniene says that as the visa issuance process is being sped up, the Migration Department will start processing requests by highly-qualified specialists before they arrive in Lithuania.

"The most important thing right now is to ensure smooth implementation of procedures," Tamasuniene said.

The new facilitated visa issuance procedure should be in place until March 21, 2021.

Belarusian businesses started actively looking for possibilities to move abroad following the August 9 presidential election whose official results declaring President Alexander Lukashenko the winner sparked mass protests and a government crackdown on their participants.