"Didn't want to risk the plane." Why Belarusians Pay Almost 200 Euros to Choose a Border Crossing Date

At first, Dmitry and his wife thought of going without a special booking. They registered in the electronic queue and started monitoring the situation at the border. But, after estimating the approximate call time to the waiting area, the Belarusians realized they would arrive at the airport almost at the last minute. The thought of going by bus came up, but the situation there was even worse, Dmitry recalls.

"We didn't want to risk the plane, so we canceled the regular booking and chose a specific booking date. The next morning we were already at the border."

According to the man, he was called from the waiting area almost immediately. From entering the waiting area to passport control took about half an hour, and the entire border crossing took about two hours.

"After that, I went through the queue in the general order," Dmitry says.

The number of slots that can be booked is limited. The man says he and his wife were lucky: a little later, his friends also wanted to go using the same system, but there were no slots left for their chosen day.

"Precisely at that time, there were huge queues. I think many people going on vacation started using this service."

Almost 31 Times More Expensive Than Regular Registration

The possibility to pre-select an entry date at the border crossing point appeared on January 1, 2026. Individuals traveling in passenger cars can use the service. It is not provided for motorcycles, nor for vehicles used for international passenger transportation.

You can book a date online through your personal account on the "Beltamozhservice" website, in the "Online Booking" section. The driver enters vehicle data, selects an available date, and pays for registration — 15.5 basic units, or 697.5 Belarusian rubles.

Павялічыць

Not everyone who wishes can book a date. The number of such slots depends on the specific border crossing point and its throughput capacity. According to messages from participants in border chats, this averages 20-24 cars per day.

For comparison: standard registration of a passenger car in the electronic queue costs 0.5 basic units — 22.5 rubles. This means booking costs the driver almost 31 times more than regular registration.

The booked date is valid for 24 hours — from 00:00 to 23:59. On the designated day, the vehicle must arrive at the waiting area. Vehicle data is checked there, after which the vehicle is called to the border crossing point, where it undergoes standard procedures — passport control, inspection, and customs clearance. How long these take depends on the workload of the border crossing point.

The date cannot be changed in an already booked registration. If plans change, the registration will have to be canceled and a new one processed. Money for a canceled registration is not refunded and cannot be transferred to a new one. A single vehicle can only have one active registration at a time. The registration number cannot be changed in an already processed registration either.

"To Milk Foreigners and Russians"

Judging by messages from participants in the border chat GranicaBY Belarus—EU, free dates can quickly run out, especially when queues at the border are growing. Therefore, a driver cannot always choose the exact day they need. For example, such a situation occurred on some days in August.

"In recent days, demand for priority was higher than supply. And it couldn't be booked," writes user Katsiaryna.

Although at first, apparently, some Belarusians were skeptical about this option. Users wrote that the cost of the service was too high.

"This is to milk foreigners and Russians traveling to Europe," wrote one of the chat participants.

In response to similar messages, people recalled cases where Belarusians took places in the live queue and then sold them.

"When there was chaos with queues in Brest, people bought queues for 200 euros and didn't complain. And now it's the same money — just officially, into the budget."

• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0