Visas

The period your visa is valid "according to Polish regulations" is the basic period for which you have the right to visit and stay in Poland. Foreigners can apply for visas in Polish diplomatic outposts abroad. They must be ready with their personal details, dates of arrival and departure to and from Poland as well as the purpose of their visit. The consulate will confirm acceptance of applications with the appropriate stamp in the passport.

You must also pay a fee when applying for your passport. Regardless of the type of visa and period of its validity visa payments range from 10-80 euros. In the case of visa applications being refused by a consulate no payments made will be returned. In connection with Poland’s EU accession, transit visas have been reintroduced for citizens of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Thanks to a beneficial bilateral agreement, citizens of Ukraine will not have to pay a visa fee.

In your passport, assuming you have not been refused entry by the consulate, you will find one the following types of visa:

• AIRPORT,
• TRANSIT,
• ENTRY WITH THE PURPOSE OF:

a/ repatriation,
b/ resettlement as a member of a repatriated person’s closest family
c/ obtaining permission to stay for a specified time or permission to settle permanently,

• PURPOSE OF VISIT:

a/ tourism,
b/ visiting,
c/ participation in sports events,
d/ conducting economic activity,
e/ conducting cultural activity or participating in international conferences,
f/ undertaking special service activities or as a representative of a foreign state,
g/ participation in matters related to seeking asylum
h/ undertaking work,
i/ science, training, educational - excluding paid work,
j/ temporary immunity:

• DIPLOMATIC,
• SPECIAL SERVICES,
• COURIER,

Entry visas are granted only:

• short-term
• a maximum stay in Poland of 3 months in a 6-month period counting from the day of arrival
• long-term - to the year the visa deadline expires

The validity period of a long-term visa can be up to 5 years. Details of the rules of entry, stay and movement in the Republic of Poland are contained in the Law of June 13th 2003 on foreigners ( Dz. U. Nr 128, poz. 1175 ).

If, however, the purpose of the visit to Poland is to gain employment or conduct other paid work other procedures apply.

MEANS OF FINANCING YOUR VISIT

Simply having a visa in your passport does not absolutely guarantee that you will be able to enter the territory of Poland. A very important issue the border authorities will be interested in is how you intend to finance your stay in Poland.

At the request of the border authorities foreigners may have to show how they intend to finance their entry to, stay in and departure from Poland. This may be in Polish zlotys or other exchangeable currencies. Valid credit cards and travellers checks can also be used, as may a bank confirmation stamp, stamped at the latest a month before crossing the border, with the signature of an employee authorised to confirm that the visitor has appropriate funds in his or her bank, which also must have its branch in Poland.

The amount of financial means which a foreigner coming to Poland must have, and documents to confirm this and the purpose of his or her crossing the border are regulated by the Amendment of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Administration from September 29th 2003 (Dz. U. Nr 178, poz.1748).

For every day a foreigner is staying in Poland he or she will need to have at least 100 zlotys, and children under 16 years of age, 50 zlotys. The total money visitors need to have on them is 500 zlotys for adults and 300 zlotys for those under 16. If the period of stay does not exceed three days, the respective amounts are, 300 zlotys and 150 zlotys. Border authorities will check if the person crossing the border is able to cover the costs of using a car for use on Polish roads.

Border authorities will strictly require a foreigner to have confirmation that they have sufficient financial means if they are a part of a package tour, youth camp group, on a sportings event or visiting a medical centre or sanatorium for treatment. In such cases, they may be asked to show documents confirming their participation in such events, together with confirmation of fees paid for a stay in Poland or a document confirming the foreigner’s need for treatment. Such documents, the equivalent of financial means, must contain: the exact data about their issuer, the dates concerning tourist services, dates and places of stay, exact itinerary of the trip, name and surname of participant(s) and a confirmation that all costs have been paid to the relevant tourist services.

Additionally, participants of on package tours, youth camps, or members of sports professions or those entitled to sanatorium treatments must have the equivalent of 20 zlotys for each day of their stay, in total not less than 100 zlotys. The document confirming support for a foreigner coming to Poland is an invitation, issued by a Polish citizen living in Poland or a foreigner staying in Poland legally for at least 5 years before issuing an invitation. The boarder authorities will only respect an original invitation written on a formal form and registered in the invitation registry run by a voivodship, according to the address of the person inviting. A voivodship will refuse the registration in the invitation registry if the inviting institution is not able to prove or will not obligate itself to cover all the costs of a foreigner’s stay in Poland, including costs of possible treatment.

A foreigner can also be invited by a legal entity (e.g. an enterprise functioning as a joint-stock company) or an institution (e.g. a public or self-governing office, or a university).