Residence rules

The hospitality for which Poles pride themselves is reflected in official regulations governing the rights of foreigners to stay in Poland. They allow every person to cross the border, regardless of skin colour, religious faith or social and political views.

The Polish authorities reserve the right to bar entry to anyone who has or has had problems with the law. No one, for example, who has been sentenced to a minimum three-year jail sentence or who has been sentenced outside of Poland for common crimes, will be able to enter the country legally. Anyone suspected of terrorism, illegal arms or ammunition trading, human trade or threatening the security of the state will not be able to take advantage of Polish hospitality. The authorities also reserve the right to refuse visas to children of other states who are without adult supervision or when a border control guard believes that the declared aims of visit differ from the actual aims.

Foreigners wanting to legally visit Poland should make their way to a Polish diplomatic outpost in their own country, where they will be given full information on the rules governing their visit to Poland. The list of Polish consulates abroad is accessible on the Polish Foreign Ministry website in English: http://www.msz.gov.pl

Foreigners can visit Poland on the following bases:

• With a current passport that expiry date exceeds at least three months after the date of entry into Poland;
• With a travel visa;
• With permission for temporary rights to remain;
• With permission for permanent rights to remain

Citizens of countries that have signed bilateral agreements with Poland partially lifting visa obligations are in the best situation. A current passport is all they need to enter the country, although their right to remain is limited, most often to 90 days. There are, however, in this group countries whose citizens have the right to stay in Poland for less than 90 days - for example, citizens of Singapore can stay only 30 days on this basis.

The list of ‘visa-less’ countries is long and may increase further, depending on the signing of further international agreements. They are: Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Nicaragua, Panama, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Uruguay, USA. Note! In line with Poland's EU accession on May 1st 2004 all citizens of EU member states are as well as the European Economic Area able to enter Poland from their own states or from other member states on the basis of a passport or ID documents valid in their own countries.