How many foreigners work in Belarus? The Interior Ministry announces latest figures
The Interior Ministry of Belarus has reported a “steady increase” in the number of foreign nationals arriving in the Republic. The head of the Ministry’s Citizenship and Migration Department, Ivan Novikov, has announced the latest statistics on the number of foreign citizens officially residing and working in Belarus.
According to Novikov, over the first nine months of 2025, the number of foreigners who came to Belarus to work increased one and a half times compared to last year – from 21,000 to 32,000 people.
As of 1 October, more than 230,000 foreigners were registered with the police, including 167,000 permanent residents. Fewer than half of them had temporary residence permits – 63,000 people, including 24,000 international students and about 32,000 labour migrants.
According to official Interior Ministry statistics, just this year more than 3,600 foreigners have been deported from the country for various violations of Belarusian legislation – almost a third of them (1,300 people) were in Belarus illegally.
«If people come to our country to holiday or to work, then Belarus is always glad to welcome such people. Those who do not comply with legal norms immediately leave our country – voluntarily or by force. The situation in migration processes is fully under control,» Novikov stated in an interview with the state news agency BELTA.
Earlier, Telegraf.news reported that this year migrants coming to Belarus to work were required to pass an exam in one of the state languages – Belarusian or Russian. The list included 11 professions, and migrants were allowed to retake the language exam an unlimited number of times.
В Минтруда Беларуси ответили, могут ли мигранты, не сдавшие языковой экзамен, его пересдать