Extension of validity of national visas by law for Ukrainian citizens, including students – reminder
14.07.2022
Special Act on Assistance to Citizens of Ukraine provides, inter alia, for the extension by law of the validity of national visas until 31 December 2022 in the event that the last day of the period of stay of a citizen of Ukraine in Poland on the basis of a national visa falls within the period from 24 February 2022. Ukrainian citizens may also benefit from an extension of their national visas on a general basis – under special legislation adopted to alleviate for foreign nationals the effects of the SARS-Cov-2 epidemic.
Due to the ongoing military operations on the territory of Ukraine, obtaining a national visa (i.e. a long-stay visa marked ‘D’, entitling the holder to stay for one year and with a validity period of no more than one year) at a Polish consular post on the territory of the country is significantly difficult. Operation of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Kyiv and the Consulates General of the Republic of Poland in Kharkiv, Lutsk, Odessa and Vinnitsa remains temporarily suspended. Currently, only the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Lviv is handling visa applications, which, however, is working on a limited basis and does not have the capacity to handle all visa applications on a regular basis; the waiting period for visa applications depends on the number of people interested in obtaining a visa.
In order to minimise the effects of these restrictions and to enable Ukrainian citizens to continue their legal stay in Poland for the purpose so far carried out on the basis of a national visa issued by the consul of the Republic of Poland, without the need to travel to Ukraine for a new visa, the Special Act on Assistance to Citizens of Ukraine provides for a special procedure for extending national visas. Pursuant to the Act, if the last day of the period of stay of a citizen of Ukraine on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a national visa falls within the period from 24 February 2022, the period of stay on the basis of this visa and the period of validity of this visa are extended by operation of law (i.e. automatically, without the need to perform any actions) until 31 December 2022.
A visa extended under this procedure does not give grounds for crossing the border of the Republic of Poland. Exceptions are national visas issued to Ukrainian drivers carrying out international road transport – following their extension, visa stickers are placed in the drivers’ travel documents visa stickers are affixed by the voivodes.
Ukrainian citizens residing in Poland on the basis of national visas also benefit from another solution, which also has the effect of extending, by operation of law, the visas issued to them. The use of this solution depends on the existence of an epidemic emergency (which is currently in force) or an epidemic state on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The introduction and cancellation of these states is announced by the Minister of Health.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 2 March 2020 on special solutions related to preventing, counteracting and combating COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, applicable to all foreigners residing in Poland, in cases where the last day of the period of stay on the basis of national visas (and thus the last day of the permitted stay indicated in days on the visa sticker) would fall within the period of an epidemic emergency or epidemic state, this period, as well as the period of validity of the visa itself, is extended by operation of law until the 30th day following the day on which the last day of the state in question was revoked.
Again, the entitlement to stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland is extended by operation of law, and no visa sticker is affixed to the foreigner’s travel document, allowing the border to be crossed during the extension period.
For more information, please refer to the section: Special solutions for foreigners.