The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hereby gives notice that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has taken a further decision to reduce the consular fee for accepting and reviewing applications for issuing visas valid within the Republic of Poland for Belarusian citizens. The first decision to reduce the visa fee to 35 euro was taken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in December 2007. The generally applicable fee, meanwhile, is 60 euro.
        The latest decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to reduce the fee to 20 euro comes into effect as of 1 November 2008. The new fee takes into account the current financial situation of people in Belarus and the resulting difficulties in paying the consular fee of 35 euro. The current situation meant that in the first half of 2008 a fall was recorded in the number of visas issued by Polish consular offices in Belarus.
        It can be expected that the new rates will lead to an increase in the number of trips made by Belarusian citizens to our country, particularly during the Christmas and New Year period, which is an occasion to take short holidays and visit family in Poland.