Poland Visa Application & Requirements

The Republic of Poland is a large country situated in Central Europe and extends from the beaches along the Baltic Sea in the North to the Tatra Mountains in the South. Having topographically diverse territory, more than 1000 years of history, and many cultural attractions to offer, Poland attracts millions of tourists every year.

Visa to Poland

Poland has borders with 4 countries-members of the European Union and the Schengen Zone and also with Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia which are not in the EU. That means that if you get a visa to Poland, you can freely go to all Schengen Zone countries, especially to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Lithuania which are Poland’s neighbouring countries.

The tourist holding a Polish visa can cross the Polish border via air, land, or sea but they cannot enter the European Union from any outside country. If the holder of the Polish single-entry visa leaves the country, this visa is not valid anymore.

During one stay, Poland’s visa bearers are allowed to travel and stay inside the Schengen Area for up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes. You can get a:

• single-entry visa
• double-entry visa
• multiple-entry visa

If this is a multiple-entry visa, they can stay these 90 days within a 180-day period.

If you have a Polish visa, you must enter the European Union at the Polish port-of-entry, but you may leave the Schengen Zone from any member state.

Which countries can you go to with a Polish visa?

Poland is the member country of the Schengen Area together with:

 Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

As the Schengen Area is the passport-free travel zone (the largest one in the world), citizens of Schengen Zone countries can travel, work and change their residence without any limitations inside it. For the holders of Polish tourist visas, it means that they are allowed to freely travel within the Schengen Zone too. There are no border controls within the Schengen Zone and each country that is a member of this agreement can issue a Schengen visa to a foreign citizen.

What is Polish Schengen C-type Visa?

A Polish  C-type visa is a short-stay Schengen visa issued by the Polish government authorizing its holder to travel to any member country of the Schengen Area and stay inside this zone up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes.

A Schengen visa is not a student, work, or permanent residence visa. If you want to get a paid job study in Poland or move there for a living, you must apply for a D-type Polish visa.

There are limited purposes of the stay with the Polish tourist visa in Schengen (C-type visa). You can come to Poland and travel to 26 other Schengen Zone countries only for:

• tourism and holidays
• reunion with your family and friends
• business (participating in a business meeting, negotiations, conference, etc.)
• medical reasons (surgery, health treatment, etc.)
• official visit
• attending a sport or a cultural event
• airport transit/seafarers transit
• research or short-term study

Can you come to Poland without a visa?

If you are a citizen of one of the Schengen Zone countries or have a residence permit or a valid long-stay visa issued by one of the Schengen Zone countries, you do not need a Polish visa. It also applies to:

• EU family members residence or EU long-term residence permit,
• holders of passports of a “British National Overseas”, “British Overseas Territories Citizen”, “British Protected Person”, “British Subject” holder
• holders of a special residence card as a diplomatic or consular staff

Additionally, your country may be on the list of Schengen-visa-free ones which are:

• Albania, Andora, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia
• Bahamas, Barbados
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei
• Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica
• Dominica
• El Salvador
• Georgia, Grenada, Gwatemala
• Honduras, Hong Kong
• Israel
• Japan
• Kiribati
• Macao, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro
• New Zealand, North Macedonia, Nicaragua
• Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru
• Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent
• Samo, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea
• Taiwan, Timor Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu
• Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay
• Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela

Nationals of these countries can come to Poland and all Schengen Zone countries for  tourism, visiting, and/or business for a maximum of 90 days within a 180 days period,

If your country is not on the list, then you have to apply for a travel permit to Poland. How to do that? Read our article!

How to apply for Poland’s tourist visa?

You can do it in Polish diplomatic missions all over the world. This is not possible to apply online for a Polish visa because the visa appointment is obligatory. However, this is possible to download visa application forms from the Polish embassies and consulates-general websites, print them and complete them. You will need a printed and signed application to submit it together with additional documents.

The best moment to submit your application is a maximum of 6 months before the date of your planned departure to Poland and a minimum of 4 weeks before the intended date of travel.

When you complete the form, prepare the following documents to get a Polish visa:

• your passport valid for a minimum of 3 months after the end of your planned stay in Poland. At least two blank pages of the passport must be blank
• 2 printed color photos 35 mm x 45 mm taken within the last 3 months
• copies of older visas if you have any
• certificate of the travel medical insurance valid in all European Union covering a minimum of €30,000 of medical costs
• complete Itinerary of your trip
• proof of means of subsistence
• addresses of accommodation in Poland – hotel bookings or address of the person who invites you
• certificate of the criminal record of the home country (you must that you have no open crime case involvement)
• proof of payment of the Polish visa fee 

Keep in mind that your passport must be biometric and issued within the last 10 years. Your Polish visa photo must meet requirements about the size, crop, background, head position, etc.

When it comes to the proof of your financial means – it may be the employment contract stating your salary if you are employed or a bank statement from the last 6 months). You can also present:

• income from a rented property
• retirement benefit plan.
• a letter of declaration from a sponsor in Poland (they must be Polish citizen or have a resident permit)
• any other documents proving that you have the means to support yourself while stating in Poland
• a copy of your business license if you are self-employed
• Income Tax Return (ITR)

Poland Visa Appointment in the embassy or consulate

After you submit all required Polish visa documents, your application will be processed. You may be asked about submitting additional documents such as, for example, proof of your civil and family status (marriage certificate, birth certificate of children, death certificate of a spouse). The embassy or consulate employee will contact you in such a case on the given email address or a phone number. You may be asked to send missing documents or bring them with you to the meeting.

Then you will have a meeting in the embassy or consulate. Usually, this is a 10-15 minutes conversation about the purpose of your visit to Poland, travel plan, and your family and professional situation. You may be asked for how long you come to Poland and the Schengen Zone and which countries you are going to visit. Prepare your answers because any uncertainty may work to your disadvantage.

After the meeting, the officer will give you a printed report. Check all the details, sign it, and wait up to 20 working days for the final decision.

Be aware that these 20 days is the time of processing the application for a Polish short-term visa. If you want to get a long-term stay visa, it may take up to 60 days. You will be informed about the official decision about your visa.

Polish visa refusal

Usually, granting a Polish visa is an easy process but sometimes the embassy or consulate officer takes a rejection decision. If you think that this decision is unjust or a mistake, you have the option of submitting a request for a reconsideration of the application. Your Polish visa application will be processed one more time and you will get the new decision about it during the next 2 months. It may happen that you will not receive any answer for the diplomatic mission. If so, after 60 days after submitting your request for a re-evaluation of the application, you may consider your application irrevocably rejected.

Poland Visa for Under-Age Children

Of course, you may travel to Poland with your children. In such a case you have to apply for visas for them too. Basically, the conditions are the same as for adults – you must submit their passport and 2 color visa photos but there are some documents applicable only for minor’s visa applications. They are:

• Proof of parent’s regular income (work contract with specified monthly income or a 6-last-months bank statement or business license)
• Notarized travel permission from the second parent/legal guardian (or both of them if the child travels with the third person)

The guardian or parent should accompany their under-age children during the visa appointment in the Polish embassy or consulate.

Entrance to Poland

When you arrive at a Polish port-of-entry from the country outside of the European Union and Schengen Zone, you will be asked by the immigration officer about some documents. Be prepared also for a short conversation about:

• the purpose of your visit
• period of your stay in Poland
• addresses of your accommodation in Poland
• contact details of the person who invited you 

You must have with you a valid passport with the Polish visa, tickets back from Poland or another Schengen Zone member-country, and proof of sufficient financial means for the period of stay in Poland.

If you are permitted to enter, the border officer gives you a stamp in your passport. Make sure he/she does because without that stamp you may have trouble with traveling and leaving the Schengen Area.

Polish long-stay visas (D-type visas to Poland)

What is a D- type national visa?

A D-type national visa permits to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland and to stay there more than 90 days during the period of validity of the visa, up to 12 months. This is possible to stay with D-visa continuously or enter Poland more than one time. A D-type Polish visa also authorizes its holder to travel to other Schengen Area Member States for a maximum of 90 days during a 180-day period, during the validity period of the visa.

Required documents when applying for a D-type visa are:

• Valid passport
• Passport-style photograph of the applicant
• Certificate of medical travel insurance covering a minimum EUR 30,000 of medical costs and covering all expenses that may arise in connection with the need to return for medical reasons, a medical emergency, urgent hospitalization or death, or medical insurance
• Proof of visa fee payment
• An application form and a cover letter explaining the purpose of travel and conditions of stay
• Document confirming statements above
• Proof of possession of enough funds to cover the costs of living during the planned stay and to cover the costs of return to the country of origin or residence, or to cover the costs of transit to a third country or documents confirming that the applicant can legally obtain such funds
• Other documents that confirm other circumstances claimed to in the visa application (ex. an enrollment certificate allowing attendance of courses, Polish marriage certificate, a medical attestation from the hospital or doctor in Poland, confirming the date of your surgery and describing your medical situation and others)

You can be asked about some more supporting documents and these documents may be different depending on the country where you apply for a Polish D-type visa.

A D-type Polish visa is not an equivalent to a work permit and you cannot get any paid job with the D-type visa. If you want to work in Poland, you should apply for a work permit in person, not later than on the last day of legal stay within the territory of the Republic of Poland. For more details contact the Voivode competent for the place of your residence.

Tourism in Poland

Polish people are very proud of their thousand-year history which is visible in stunning medieval architecture in the cities like Cracow or Gniezno, rich culture, and art. Traveling across this large and beautiful country you will have many occasions to visit castles, palaces, cathedrals and military objects but not only! You can plan a trekking trip to mountains, national parks, or picturesque coastlines. Don’t miss the world’s oldest salt mine Wieliczka with the magical Chapel of St. Kinga, a 12-meter-high chamber where everything — including the elaborate chandeliers and furniture — are made of salt.

See the Malbork Castle – this 13th-century Teutonic castle is the largest Gothic building in Europe and the world’s largest castle by land area.

If you like museums, shopping and places of culture, music, and art – visit one of the Polish big cities. Warsaw, the capital is waiting for you with Lazienki Parc, Palace, and 76 hectares of the gardens around it, Wroclaw with the 13th-century colorful Main Market Square and one of the oldest cities in Poland, Krakow, which was already inhabited back in the 7th century. 

There is also something for nature lovers: Europe’s largest remaining section of the primaeval forest that once covered much of the continent, the Bialowieza Forest Reserve (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Bialowieza Reserve is home to bisons, birds, and many rare species of animals and plants.

Polish people are friendly, you will feel there like in-home!