Belarus transit visa question
 

Hello,

I am planning a trip from Poland to Russia to Kazakhstan by rail, then fly to Minsk and return to Poland by rail again. As I found out from the visa center, I will only get a double entry visa to Russia if I have a visa to Kazakhstan and tickets and hotels booked to Kazakhstan. Problem is, I will be using a US passport to get into Kazakhstan to avoid the visa hassle, so no luck there.

I do not want to get a Russian visa into the US passport because it costs $160 more to do so (even though it is multiple entry and 3 years validity as opposed to the Polish one, but I've decided it is not worth it). So I figured that I'd like to fly directly from Kazakhstan to Minsk, spend a full day in Minsk and then travel by rail to Poland or Ukraine and then to Poland.

Does anybody know if the Belarussian transit visa will allow me this sort of transit? if it's a double entry, it is assumed that it will only be checked at the Polish-Belarussian border both ways, as there is no controls between Russia and Belarus. BUT my plan is to enter visa Brest by rail and then enter again at Minsk, only then proceed to exit either to Poland or Ukraine. Will this be a problem or is this scenario legal?

If you have a US Passport, you are entitled (with an invitation letter, you can easily buy it online) to a 3 years long multiple entrance visa, for just 160USD.
I helped a friend and he got it with no hazard. You also need a transit visa to Belarus, and they mostly will want you to buy the full visa if you want to leave the airport, and that's again 160USD. I'd avoid belarus if you can, and go via Latvia/Lithuania to Poland...
I'll try this week to get a transit visa for Belarus and will let you know what they say, and how are the rules.
You mentioned another passport, where is it from?

I have a Polish passport so the visa fee of €35 seems more appealing than $160 + mandatory ILS fee of €25. Of course the $190 visa would give me multiple entrance in US passport, but it is not that great of a deal for me - I was pondering the second entrance for the mere reason of flying out anyway, so I might as well skip Russia's second entrance. But I'll still think about this.

Belarussian visa for US citizens is actually a lot less now even for US citizens - transit visa costs $25 for single entry and $35 for double entry. This is because

"Effective January 13, 2015 new reduced visa fees apply for U.S. citizens. The visa fees are no longer calculated on the basis of reciprocity and now are determined by the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus"

With the polish passport seems easy. If you go to the Belarus embassy in Moscow they'll give you, 99% sure, the tourist visa which is pretty expensive (at least for US citizens). There is a second issue when you enter Russia with one passport and try to leave Belarus with another one. They'll sort of get mad. I have three valid passports, three from the same country, and the one with the Russian visa has run out of space. So when they stamp it, well, they are using now the covers, as they can't stamp any other passport. When I go to Russia just for a week or so I use another passport and enter as a tourist, without showing my visa. And thats because Russian's mostly take into account your Passport Number but not your name... And each passport has a different number...

So I'd apply for the Russian, Kazakh and Belarussian visa with the Polish passport if I could...
PL -> KZ https://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/t...subuser=KLMB2C
PL -> RU https://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/t...subuser=KLMB2C
PL -> BY https://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/t...subuser=KLMB2C

(PD, in the 2nd line, where it says visa&NA=PL just change PL for US and you'll find the requirements for US Citizens).

You can get a visa on arrival in KZ and BY if arriving by air. The best routing. BUT as you've said there is no border control between RU and KZ, nor between BY and RU. I'd think there is no control between BY and KZ as well. And a flight between ALA or TSE to MSQ can be considered domestic. You better visit one of the embassies, or give them a call, and ask exactly how to do so...

I am told that there IS border control between RU and KZ. Do you have any other experience about that? Their union is just a customs union, in the same way the EU is without Schengen. I saw videos of such and was told that so I'm not 100% sure I am planning on arriving to Kazakhstan by land so this probably doesn't apply...

I'll read more about all of these options too. Thanks for valuable information.

The OP can get Russian and Belorussian visas in the Polish passport and use his US passport for visa-free entrance to Kazakhstan. As Baricur mentioned above, there is indeed a border control between Russia and Kazakhstan, so a person can switch the passports when crossing the border between these two countries.

Enter Kazakhstan on the US Passport, then apply for the Russian visa on the Polish Passport, and get maybe a Belarus Transit Visa (as you can say you are returning home to Poland).
And switch passports in the KZ/RU border...

As i understand it, when departing Belarus, you'll be asked to account for your time in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, so you have to have appropriate visas covering all three countries. You'll need to show train tickets, hotel receipts, boarding passes, and migration cards on exit for the whole customs area, at exit from Belarus. You can get a transit visa for Russia for the time it takes you to get to Kazakhstan allowing for 500km/day of travel by the most direct route. Your time in Kazakhstan requires the appropriate visa there, and you can get a Belarus transit visa by showing your itinerary, but you should try to get them all in advance. if you want to spend extra time in Belarus, you need a tourist visa. it's probably easiest to have all of these in your Schengen (Poland) passport, but i don't *think* Belarus will care if your Belarus visa is in your US passport while your other visas are in your Polish passport.