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I would like to renew my Belarusian passport in Canada since it expires in less than two months. There are some problems, though.

  1. Belarus recently claimed they are no longer renewing passports abroad
  2. I have Canadian PR, which I believe I will need to disclose if I travel to Belarus, at which point I will be put on some sort of watch list (not ideal).

Alternatives I’ve considered:

  1. Let the passport expire. Not ideal since I have family there and would like to visit using the passport in the future.
  2. Travel to Belarus and renew the visa. Not ideal because I’ll be put on a watchlist and it is cumbersome to travel to Belarus given current circumstances.
  3. If I let my passport expire, then maybe there are some temporary passport alternatives that I can obtain in Canada so I can continue to travel to the US and other countries.

Links I’ve based this question on:

https://www.rbc.ru/politics/05/09/2023/64f6fe349a79476ef594a2dd

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/belarus-bans-citizens-from-renewing-passports-abroad-spreading-fear-among-those-who-fled-repression-1.6548283

https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-lukashenka-embassies-stop-passports/32579703.html

Ckacmaster
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2 Answers2

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If the Belarus authorities genuinely won’t renew your passport you could approach the Canadian authorities and enquire about a Canadian Travel Document (like a stateless person’s travel document). You might need documentary evidence they won’t renew your Belarus passport. And the travel document will probably require you to get a visa for most countries, so it wouldn’t be ideal but would at least allow you to travel.

Elwyn Soutter
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The first and the most important: See exactly when the new passport renewal procedures get enforced.

I failed to find the exact text of the presidental decree in pravo.by (this seems to be the authoritative source in Belarus) - at least not in Russian - but my Russian is rusty and Belarusian is somewhat a challenge for me. But I am pretty confident that the exact enforcement of any administrative procedure will lag behind the official deadline. This happens in all administrative bodies and even more so in post-Soviet ones.

Chances are that you can still renew your passport without travelling to Belarus. Your first point would be calling the consulate in New York and asking about the matter (looks like the embassy of Belarus in Canada closed in 2021).

In regard to bein put on a watchlist:

I assume that you live in Canada and have no plans for relocating to Belarus any time soon. This means that you are already on the list of the people living abroad (whatever this means to the Belarussian government) and you don't lose much by being also on the list of the people who recently renewed their passport. Disclosing a Canadian permanent residence is probably neither required nor relevant.

I think it is not some watchlist you should worry about.

What could go wrong when you travel to Belarus is that you may fail to return back to Canada. From what I see in the news, the risk is not negligible and involves things like e.g. being drafted in the army.

Compared to this, being in Canada with an expired passport does not look so bad.

fraxinus
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