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Visas - general information

Visa types

Before you apply, you must decide which visa you need:

Airport transit Schengen visa (A-Type)

choose this visa type if you plan to pass through an international transit area of a Schengen airport travelling with a passport of one of these states:  Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka.

Schengen visa (C-Type)

Choose this visa if you plan to stay in Poland or other Schengen countries for a maximum of 90 days in each 180-day period of time. This means that you are allowed to stay in the Schengen zone legally only if your stay in Schengen countries did not exceed 90 days over the last 180 days. A special calculator on the European Commission’s website will help you count how long you can stay in Schengen countries.

You can apply for a Schengen visa in a Polish diplomatic mission if:

  • Poland is the only destination country of your visit to the Schengen zone;
  • you visit more than one Schengen country, but Poland is your main destination;
  • you do not know which Schengen country will be your main destination, but you cross the Schengen border for the first time in Poland.

In exceptional cases it is possible to issue a Schengen LTV visa which is valid only in the territory of selected Schengen states.

National visa (D-Type)

Choose this visa if you want to stay in Poland for more than 90 days. The validity of a national visa cannot exceed one year. You also need to apply for a national visa if you seek asylum, repatriation, or if you use Polish Card privileges.

Payment for consular fee

Please note that consular fees for visa application is being collected in US dollars only, in cash, during appointment at the Embassy.

Simplified Visa procedure for family members of EU citizens

Who is eligible:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This procedure applies only to family members of EU nationals who do not have Polish citizenship or do not have a permanent residence in Poland.

EU nationals include:

  • nationals of EU member states,
  • nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

A family member of an EU national is:

  • a spouse of EU citizen,
  • a child of EU citizen or their spouse, under 21 or dependent on EU citizen or their spouse,
  • a parent of EU citizen or their spouse dependent on EU citizen or their spouse.

Under the procedure you are eligible to submit your visa application:

  • free of charge,
  • without prior appointment.

Required documents:

  • A printed and signed visa application (filled in online)
  • A recent photo in colour 35 x 45 mm size,
  • A valid passport,
  • A document confirming family bonds with EU citizen (i.e. marriage certificate, birth certificate),
  • A document confirming that you accompany an EU national in his/her journey or join him/her in their place of residence.

Visa refusal:

You can have your visa application refused only if:

  • your data are in the register of foreigners whose stay on the Polish territory is undesirable,
  • visa authorities have considered that your stay might pose a threat to national defence or national security or to the protection of public safety, order and health.

A consul refuses a visa in the form of a decision. You can appeal against the refusal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Biometric data

When you apply for a visa, you have to provide your biometric data: a photo in the case of a national visa and a photo and fingerprints in the case of a Schengen visa.

If you have already applied for a Schengen visa in the recent 59 months and if you have given your fingerprints, you do not have to give them again – the system will automatically transfer your data.

The following applicants do not have to give their fingerprints:

  • children under 12;
  • persons who are physically unable to give their fingerprints (because they do not have fingers or they suffer from a temporary finger trauma); 
  • heads of states or governments, members of national governments and their accompanying spouses and members of official delegations if they are invited for official purposes;
  • monarchs and high-ranking members of royal families, if they are invited for official purposes.

ATTENTION! The Visa Information System (VIS) is used, among other purposes, for the exchange of data on visa applications and related decisions between Member States. As a result of having achieved full operational efficiency, the travel document of a foreigner applying for a Schengen visa is not stamped with a stamp confirming the admissibility of the application referred to in art. 20 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 13, 2009 on the establishment of a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code).

Personal data

The authority responsible for the processing of personal data that are in the Visa Information System (VIS) is the Central Technical Authority of the National Information System at the National Police Headquarters, address: ul. Puławska 148/150, 02-624 Warszawa.

Complaints concerning personal data protection are handled by the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection, address: ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warszawa.

Criteria for admissibility of a visa application

In order for an application to be considered admissible, the following must be fulfilled:

  • A filled in and signed application form (downloaded from e-konsulat system), a valid travel document and a photograph (in accordance with the standards set out in Council Regulation (WE)1683/95)  must be submitted
  • The visa fee must have been paid
  • Where applicable, biometric data must be collected.
  • The travel document presented must be valid at least 3 months after the intended date of departure from the Member States in case in a single visa is applied for. If a multiple-entry  visa is applied for, the travel document must be valid 3 months after the last intended date of departure. The travel document should be issued not more than 10 years prior to the visa application.
  • The travel document must contain sufficient, at least 2, blank pages.

PLEASE NOTE

The stamp in the travel document indicating that an application is admissible under article 20 of the Schengen Visa Code has no legal consequences.

The possession of a visa does not constitute an automatic right of entry. The visa holder will be asked at the external border to provide evidence that he meets the entry conditions as foreseen in Art. 5 of the Schengen Borders Code.

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