- Belarusian tour operators kept submitting Italian visa papers after appointments in Minsk were suspended for new individual applicants.
- The September 15 pause closed only the waiting list for new applicants; people already registered kept their place.
- A September 21 meeting will review quotas and filing rules with agencies, the visa center, and the embassy.
Belarusian tour operators kept filing Italian visa papers after the suspension of Italian visa appointments in Minsk stopped new waiting-list registrations for individual applicants on September 15, 2026. Their work goes on.
The Republican Union of Tourism Organizations said companies accredited by the Italian Embassy reported "nothing has changed" for travelers going through a tour operator. The group tied that to the ordinary paperwork flow.
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We continue to collect and submit tourists’ documents for Italian visas as usual,
That line came from the union. It said the same pattern held for bus tours.
The difference is narrow, but it matters for the process itself. Tour operators handling Italian group/bus tours continue collecting, checking, and submitting documents as usual. They are still working through the same channel.
The pause announced on September 15 applies to new individual applicants joining the waiting list, and registration remains closed until further notice from the Italian Embassy. People already inside the queue keep their place.
Applicants already registered on the waiting list were told their registration stays valid. Re-registering will not improve their position. The line is fixed.
A meeting is scheduled for September 21, 2026, with accredited agencies, the visa center, and the embassy. The aim is to clarify whether quotas or filing procedures will change. No decision comes yet.
The pause split individual applicants from agency submissions
VFS Belarus began accepting new applicants for Italian Schengen visas in Belarus in May 2026, after replacing TLScontact. That switch came only months before the current halt.
The latest suspension is temporary and tied to further instructions from the embassy. For now, the stop covers new people trying to enter the waiting list on their own, not agencies that already work under accreditation.
That division has held through this week. Belarusian reports on September 18 repeated that the restriction does not reach tour operators, and companies working bus tours to Italy kept moving documents through the regular route.
The union’s message was blunt. The agency side is still open.
The queue stays intact while agencies wait for guidance
The scheduled September 21 meeting now stands as the next checkpoint. Accredited agencies, the visa center, and the embassy are expected to use it to settle whether the quota system changes, or whether filing rules stay the same.
Until then, applicants already in the queue remain in place. The registration pause stays in force, and the embassy has not opened the waiting list for new individual applicants again.
