Belarus Work Permits in 2026: EAEU Exemption, the Simplified Professions List, and Why Pakistani Workers Still Need a Special Permit

Belarus runs two different legal tracks for hiring a foreign worker, and which one applies depends on citizenship and recruitment channel — not just on the job title. This overview sets out both tracks, the 2026 list of professions exempt from the standard permit, and the one nationality (Pakistan) where a listed profession does not remove the requirement.

Quick answer

• Citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan never need a Belarusian work permit. Article 97 of the EAEU Treaty exempts them outright; the employer only files a 3-business-day notification.
• Most other non-EAEU nationals can also skip the special permit (spetsrazreshenie) if the job is on the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection's annual list of exempt professions — 29 worker trades and 18 specialist positions for 2026, including several construction and agricultural roles.
• Pakistani nationals recruited through the new bilateral organised-recruitment mechanism are the one significant exception found in this research: even for a listed trade such as plasterer, the employer still needs a special permit for each individual worker, because that recruitment channel runs on its own legal basis (a 2025 intergovernmental Memorandum plus Presidential Decree No. 202), separate from the general profession-list exemption.

This is a general overview of the legal framework, not case-specific advice; requirements should be confirmed with the relevant Belarusian authority before an application is filed, and Belarus does not guarantee the outcome of any individual work-permit or visa application.

The legal architecture: one law, one treaty, one decree

The base rule sits in Law No. 225-З "On External Labour Migration" of 30 December 2010, re-issued in a new redaction by Law No. 233-З of 30 December 2022 (in force since 1 July 2023). Article 23 states that a foreigner without a Belarusian permanent-residence permit may work only after the employer obtains a special permit and signs an employment contract.

Two things override that base rule:

1. Article 97 of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (Astana, 29 May 2014), which lets EAEU employers hire EAEU-country workers "without regard to restrictions for the protection of the national labour market" and states explicitly that such workers do not need a work permit in the country of employment.
2. Article 2, part 2 of Law No. 225-З, which lists 18 categories of foreigners — by status or by profession — to whom the whole special-permit chapter simply does not apply, regardless of citizenship.

Who is exempt from the special permit

By citizenship. Citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are exempt under the EAEU Treaty. They are hired under the ordinary Labour Code; the employer's only obligation is a notification to the local citizenship and migration office within 3 business days of signing the contract — no vacancy posting, no permit application, no labour-market test.

By status or profession, regardless of citizenship. Article 2, part 2 of Law No. 225-З also exempts, among others: holders of a Belarusian permanent-residence permit; refugees and asylum seekers; diplomatic and consular staff; accredited foreign journalists; clergy invited by registered religious organisations; students working part-time or on practical training; graduates of Belarusian institutions working in their specialty; professional athletes and their coaches; seasonal agricultural workers on contracts of up to 6 months a year; and workers hired into a profession on the Ministry of Labour's annual list — the mechanism covered in detail below.

Even where no permit is required, the employer must still file the 3-business-day notification with the migration authority; skipping it carries a fine of up to 100 basic units under Article 24.35 of the Administrative Offences Code.

Who still needs the full special-permit procedure

Any foreigner without Belarusian permanent residence who does not fall into one of the categories above — typically "far abroad" nationals (India, China, Vietnam, Turkey, and others) and non-EAEU CIS nationals (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova) — goes through the full chain: the employer posts the vacancy in the national vacancy bank for at least 15 working days, obtains a labour-market conclusion, applies for the special permit (a standard 10-working-day decision), and only then arranges the worker's entry visa and employment contract.

Ukrainian nationals follow a distinct, faster track under Presidential Decree No. 420: the same special-permit requirement applies, but the decision is issued within 5 working days and without a state fee, and education documents do not need to be recognised.

The 2026 simplified professions list: 29 trades, 18 positions

Each year the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection publishes a list of professions exempt from the special-permit procedure under Article 2, part 2, item 16 of Law No. 225-З. Resolution No. 115 of 10 October 2025, in force from 1 January 2026, narrowed the previous year's list from 41 to 29 worker professions, while keeping the 18 specialist positions unchanged. Construction and agricultural trades remain well represented:

Construction and building trades on the 2026 list: bricklayer, concrete worker (betonshchik), plasterer (shtukatur), painter (malyar), carpenter (plotnik), electric and gas welder, and a general building-maintenance and repair worker.

Agricultural trades on the 2026 list: livestock specialist (zhivotnovod), machine-milking operator, tractor operator/machinist for agricultural production, and — newly added for 2026 — vegetable grower (ovoshchevod).

Specialist positions (unchanged, 18 total): agronomist, veterinarian and veterinary paramedic, zootechnician, physician and nurse of any medical specialty, physician's assistant, engineer (general, design, mechanical, software, process, electronics, power), technician, and electromechanic.

What dropped off the list for 2026 were mostly leather- and hide-processing occupations (13 positions removed); the only addition was vegetable grower. There is no general-purpose "construction worker" or "unskilled agricultural labourer" entry on either the 2025 or 2026 list — only the named trades above.

Why the list does not help Pakistani applicants

This is the point most likely to trip up an employer working from the profession list alone. Belarus and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on labour migration cooperation on 27 August 2025 (ratified by Belarus's House of Representatives on 7 May 2026), which sets up a dedicated organised-recruitment channel: the employer applies to the Embassy of Pakistan, signs a cooperation agreement with a licensed Pakistani sending agency, and — critically — still obtains a special permit for every individual Pakistani worker under Article 28 of Law No. 225-З, regardless of whether the job title sits on the Ministry of Labour's exempt list. Professional legal commentary on the mechanism (ilex.by) lists the special permit as an unconditional step in the process, with no profession-based carve-out.

The reasoning is structural, not accidental: Article 2, part 2 lists several independent grounds for exemption, and the Ministry's profession list is one of them, while "an other procedure established by an international treaty" is a separate one. The Pakistan mechanism runs on the second ground — it is a bespoke bilateral arrangement, not a variant of the general exemption — so it does not inherit the profession list's exemption.

The practical consequence: a Belarusian construction firm hiring a plasterer from Pakistan through the organised-recruitment channel still needs to obtain a special permit for that worker, even though a plasterer hired from, say, Uzbekistan or Vietnam through the ordinary route could in principle be exempt if the profession list applies to their case. Separately, Presidential Decree No. 202 of 21 May 2025 adds a mandatory Russian- or Belarusian-language assessment before the contract is signed for a defined set of public-facing professions, and this requirement applies to all non-EAEU nationals — by any recruitment route — not only to Pakistani citizens.

Step by step: the full special-permit procedure

1. Post the vacancy in the national vacancy bank (gsz.gov.by) for at least 15 working days (7 for investors and highly qualified workers).
2. Apply for the special permit at the territorial citizenship and migration office, with a labour-market conclusion from the employment authority (waived for qualifying founder-directors).
3. Receive the permit decision — a standard 10 working days; valid 1 year (2 years for highly qualified workers), extendable once for 1 year.
4. Arrange the entry visa and, for organised-recruitment channels such as the Pakistan mechanism, complete the sending-agency and embassy steps specific to that treaty.
5. Sign the employment contract and notify the citizenship and migration office within 3 business days.

Costs and timing

The state fee for a special permit is 2 basic units for legal entities (reduced from 5 in 2025), with extensions at 1 basic unit; individual employers were brought to the same 2-unit fee from 9 January 2026. The basic unit itself is BYN 45 from 1 January 2026. Ukrainian applicants pay no fee under the Decree No. 420 track.

Recent changes, 2023–2026

• 1 July 2023: Law No. 233-З replaced contract "registration" with a lighter "notification"; education documents dropped from the standard application; several new exemption categories added (athletes, coaches, seasonal agricultural workers, the profession-list category).
• 10 October 2025: Resolution No. 115 set the narrower 2026 professions list (29 + 18, down from 41 + 18 for 2025), adding vegetable grower and removing 13 mostly leather-industry occupations.
• 21 May 2025: Presidential Decree No. 202 introduced the mandatory language assessment and tightened employer obligations for non-EAEU hires.
• 27 August 2025 / ratified 7 May 2026: The Belarus–Pakistan Memorandum established the organised-recruitment channel described above.

Practical takeaways for employers

• If hiring an EAEU citizen, use the ordinary Labour Code process and file the 3-day notification — no permit needed.
• If hiring any other non-EAEU national through the ordinary route, check the current year's Ministry of Labour list first: a listed trade removes the permit requirement and the 15-day vacancy posting.
• If hiring through the Pakistan organised-recruitment channel specifically, budget for a special permit on every worker regardless of trade, plus the sending-agency and language-assessment steps.
• Re-check the professions list every year: it is revised annually and construction/agricultural trades have moved on and off it before.

Related Permitra guides

• The Two-Step Belarus Route to a Schengen Application — for candidates using Belarusian residence as a step toward a Schengen application.
• Professional Driving and Construction Jobs in Czechia for Pakistanis — a comparable EU construction-sector route for the same nationality.
• Moldova Work Visa from Pakistan: How the Route Works — a non-EU regional alternative with its own visa category and timeline.

Frequently asked questions

Do Pakistani nationals need a special work permit to work in Belarus? Yes. Workers recruited through the bilateral organised-recruitment mechanism need an individual special permit under Article 28 of Law No. 225-З, even for a profession that appears on the Ministry of Labour's exempt list.

Are Russian, Kazakh, Armenian and Kyrgyz citizens exempt from the work permit requirement? Yes, under Article 97 of the EAEU Treaty — no special permit, no vacancy posting, only a 3-business-day notification.

Is "plasterer" on Belarus's 2026 simplified professions list? Yes, along with bricklayer, concrete worker, painter, carpenter and electric/gas welder — but this general exemption does not extend to Pakistani nationals hired through the Memorandum mechanism.

How long does a Belarus special work permit take to process? A standard decision is expected within 10 working days of a complete filing (5 working days, fee-free, for Ukrainian citizens); this does not include the 15-working-day vacancy posting or consular/embassy scheduling time.

Sources

• Presidential Decree No. 202 of 21 May 2025, "On Increasing the Role of Employers in External Labour Migration" — president.gov.by
• Pravo.by legal news, Ministry of Labour explainer on Decree No. 202 — pravo.by
• Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, procedure for hiring EAEU-country citizens — mintrud.gov.by
• Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, procedure for non-EAEU citizens — mintrud.gov.by
• Belarus–Pakistan Memorandum of Understanding, 27 August 2025 (official text mirror) — prg.kz
• ilex.by, "Labour migrants from Pakistan: an employer's action plan" — ilex.by
• ilex.by, "The 2026 simplified-recruitment professions list has been narrowed" — ilex.by
• Pravo.by news, Ministry of Labour Resolution No. 115 announcement — sputnik.by
• Law No. 225-З "On External Labour Migration," consolidated text — base.spinform.ru
• Green Legal, "Employment without a special work permit" — glegal.by

This article summarises publicly available legislation and professional commentary as of September 2026 for general informational purposes. It is not a guarantee of any visa, work-permit, or recruitment outcome; requirements should always be confirmed with the relevant Belarusian authority before an application is filed.