Foreign citizens living in Belarus would be put into separate databank

A new law “On legal status of foreign citizens and stateless persons in Belarus” and related documents come into effect today.

A centralized database of foreign citizens and stateless persons arriving to the country would be created, Belta was informed by the public relations department of the Interior Ministry. According to the resolution #994 of the Council of Ministers issued on July 1, 2010, this database is to include passport details (gender, age, surname, name and so on), a place of registration or temporary stay and other details.

Foreigners must be registered at the place of their stay in the country within 5 days, except holidays and days off. The exception is made for citizens of Russia, Lithuania and Latvia: they are freed from the procedure of registration (for the first 30 days).

Another novelty is that tourists are registered at the place of their initial temporary stay for the whole period of their trip to Belarus. Changes have been also made to the list of organizations that have a right to register foreigners who temporarily arrive to the country. For instance, sanatorium-resort and recuperation organizations are added to the list.

The resolution clearly specifies activities of the police in this sphere, and also an evidence gathering procedure and carrying out of different check-out activities. Now there are grounds in the law for policemen or public prosecution officers to initiate a judicial examination on recognizing a marriage as a sham marriage. In case the court passes a decision on that, the permanent residence permit for a foreigner is annulled. However actions of law-enforcers won’t be aimed at destruction of a family in any way, noted the information and PR department of the Interior Ministry.