Foreigners employed in Belarus can take a test in Belarusian or Russian at one of six universities. Although the number of attempts is not limited, some migrants and their Belarusian employers must take into account special requirements.
Exam Locations
The list of institutions authorized to assess migrant workers’ knowledge of one of the state languages of the Republic of Belarus was approved by Resolution No. 161 of the Ministry of Education dated September 5, 2025.
The ministry also set limits for each university on the number of participants per test session and per month.
The list includes:
Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin — 150 people per session, 300 per month
Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov — 70 per session, 140 per month
Gomel State University named after F. Skorina — 50 per session, 100 per month
Grodno State University named after Y. Kupala — 30 per session, 60 per month
Mogilev State University named after A.A. Kuleshov — 50 per session, 100 per month
Belarusian State University of Foreign Languages (Minsk, formerly MGLU) — 150 per session, 300 per month
The main testing day is the 15th of each month (if it falls on a weekend, then the next working day). A reserve day — the last day of the month — is used if employers submit requests. Universities will set the cost of testing.
How Many Times the Test Can Be Retaken
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection explained that a migrant may retake the language test an unlimited number of times. But there are important nuances.
Knowledge of Belarusian or Russian is mandatory when hiring foreigners for 11 professions. Without passing the test, an employment contract cannot be signed.
For three professions — waiter, hairdresser, and administrator — a special permit is required. In such cases, the employment contract must be concluded within 30 days:
- either from the date the foreigner enters Belarus, if the employer has already obtained the special permit;
- or from the date the permit is issued, if the migrant entered before it was obtained.
In practice, this means that at least in the first case, the migrant will have only one attempt to pass the language exam within the set period. If unsuccessful, the employer will have to obtain a new special permit.
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