Poland in US

You can apply at the consular office within opening office hours.

Consular districts

Consular Section of the Embassy of Poland in Washington

This consular district includes: Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, American Virgin Islands and other overseas territories of the US as well as Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

Consulate General in Chicago

This consular district includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin.

Consulate General in Houston

This consular district includes: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas.

Consulate General in Los Angeles

This consular district includes: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

Consulate General in New York

This consular district includes: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont.

Visa application form must be submitted in person. Diplomatic mission does not accept application forms sent via fax, regular mail or e-mail.

In order to apply for a visa, please book your appointment via the e-konsulat system.
Remember to apply for a visa not later than two weeks before the planned departure.

NATIONAL VISA – GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Documents shall be submitted in person to the relevant consular office. Only in exceptional cases consul may agree to accept application via traditional mail.

1. NATIONAL VISA APPLICATION FORM:

• registered on-line at https://secure.e-konsulat.gov.pl/ , filled out, printed, dated and signed.

2. VALID PASSPORT/TRAVEL DOCUMENT satisfying following criteria:

• valid for at least 3 months beyond the planned departure from Poland,
• contain at least 2 blank pages,
• issued within previous 10 years.

3. PROOF of LEGAL RESIDENCE or IMMIGRATION STATUS in the US (does not concern US citizens):

•  original of Residence Card (Green Card) or legalized copy,
•  or valid US resident visa type A, E, F (with endorsed I-20), G, H, I, J (with I-797), L, O, R.

PLEASE NOTE: Tourists and visitors with US visa type B1/B2 and J1 Summer Work Travel visas must apply in their country of residence.

4. TRAVEL MEDICAL INSURANCE: All persons applying for a D-type national visa must personally submit documentation confirming the possession of medical travel insurance as referred to in art. 25, sec. 1, point 2, letter a, or documentation confirming the possession of health insurance, as defined by the Act of August 27, 2004, on health care services financed by public funds. Medical travel insurance with an insured amount of no less than EUR 30,000 must be valid for the period of the foreigner’s intended stay within the Republic of Poland and must cover all expenses that may be incurred during the stay, including: the need for return travel for medical reasons, the need for urgent medical assistance, emergency hospital treatment, or death, for which the insurer covers the cost of healthcare services provided to the insured with direct payments to the entity providing such benefits and on the basis of a bill issued by said entity.
More information can be found at https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/visas.

5. PROOF OF SUFFICIENT FINANCIAL MEANS, evidence of sufficient funds to support yourself while living in Poland e.g.:

•  bank account statements from previous 3 months,
•  salary slips.

6. FLIGHT RESERVATION or other proof of intended transport showing date of arrival and departure from Poland.

7. PROOF of ACCOMMODATION, e.g.:

• hotel reservation,
• lease agreement.

8. VISA FEE

• acceptable forms of payment for consular fees are cash, money order, cashier's check.

PLEASE NOTE: Personal checks are not accepted.

9. Two passport size BIOMETRIC PHOTOS taken within last six months to enable easy identification of an applicant:

• color, sharp, made on high quality paper against a plain white background,
• 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm (US passport photo size is accepted),
• natural face expression and closed mouth,
• no head covering, hair must not cover any part of the face.

9. DRIVER`S LICENSE or UTILITY BILLS with applicant`s name as a proof of residence in the proper consular district.

10. RETURN SHIPMENT: registered, addressed and prepaid envelope.

PLEASE NOTE: Consul may invite an applicant for additional interview or may request additional documents not mentioned above.

PLEASE NOTE: when applying for any type of visa for a minor you need to present:

• If parents are not present written consent of the child’s/minor’s parent(s) to apply for a visa, confirmed by a notary. If there is only one guardian, it should be proved by a birth certificate, a court decision on exclusive parental custody or a death certificate of the other parent,
• parents' passports or certified copies,
• birth certificate of a minor or certified copy.

If the child is entered in the parent's or legal guardian’s passport, please submit a separate visa application.  The visa will be pasted into the parent's or the legal guardian's passport.

Additional documents to obtain specific type of visa:

1. STUDENT VISA:

• LETTER of ACCEPTANCE from Polish School or University (up-to-date and original) and letter from the US School/University (if applicable) as confirmation of the purpose of travel,
• student loan agreement / scholarship information / proof of financial support by parents / own funds (bank statements) as proof of sufficient financial means,
• dormitory agreement or rental agreement or other documents confirming accommodation.

2. WORK

• WORK PERMIT: an original document of Work Permit issued by corresponding Urząd Wojewódzki/ Governor`s Office in Poland,
• LETTER OF INVITATION from the Polish employer and reference letter from the US employer (if applicable) or
• for English language teachers intending to work in Poland an original document of the Letter of Employment signed by authorized school’s representative. The letter of employment should contain such information as name and place of an employer, personal data of an employee, details regarding employment contact, including start and end date of contract, etc.,
• for other applicants who do not require a work permit – documents confirming their status (e.g.: member of the board).

3. POLISH CHARTER

• Charter for verification,
• This type of visa is free of charge.

4. NATO/SOFA

• Documents listed in Annex B and C of the MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING, i.e.: certificate of the status of family members or members of civilian component and letter from the contractor.

PLEASE NOTE: according the above mentioned MoU if deployment is to exceed 1 year you are obliged to apply to the relevant office of Wojewoda in Poland for a residence permit.

Please note:

• You must apply for a visa in a consular office or the embassy’s consular department in the consular district of your place of residence 
• Usually, the above documents are enough to receive a visa, however, the consul may require additional documents.
• The consul may, but does not have to, invite the applicant for an interview.
• The D-type visas allow to stay in other Schengen states for 90 days of any 180-day period. It means that you can legally stay in the Schengen Area only if your stay was shorter than 90 days over the past 180 days.  
• Remember to apply for a visa not later than 15 days before your planned journey.
• The D-type visa is valid for a maximum of one year.
• Please note, that receiving the visa does not guarantee that you will enter Poland - the final decision is always made by the Border Guard.

Information regarding insurers and the insurances that they offer, which meet the necessary conditions referred to in Article 25 (1) (2) (a) and Article 25 (1b) of the Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners, is available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The visa fee is 89 USD.

Accepted forms of payment: cash, card payment or money order. Information about forms of payment - click here.

The visa application fee is non-returnable, whatever the consul's decision. 

The decision on the issue of a visa is made within 15 working days from the payment date of application fee. If the documents need to be examined in more detail, the consideration period may be extended to 30 days. In urgent and justified cases, the decision can be made in three working days.

In person within office hours or by prepaid courier service.

If you do not agree with the consul's decision, you may ask to have your visa application re-considered. You must apply for the reconsideration in the office that issued the decision within 14 days of its delivery. Applications are accepted during our regular business hours.

The application fee in this case is 84 USD.

Revocation or annulment of Schengen visa

If you have received a decision to revoke or annul your Schengen visa that you do not agree with, you have the right to ask for a reconsideration. However, if you have applied yourself for your Schengen visa to be revoked and the consul has agreed, you are not entitled to appeal.

You should apply for reconsideration within 14 days of receiving the decision to annul or revoke your Schengen visa at the consular post that issued the decision.

If you apply for reconsideration after your Schengen visa was revoked or annulled, you do not have to pay the consular fee.

Complaint about refusal to issue Schengen visa, decision to revoke or annul Schengen visa and the consul's activities in this respect.

If the consul who examines your reconsideration request, issues a new decision to refuse, annul or revoke your visa, which you do not agree with, you have the right to submit a complaint to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw. The complaint should be forwarded through the consul who made the decision, within 30 days of receiving the decision taken as a result of the re-examination .

You do not pay a consular fee for submitting a complaint to the consul, but you have to pay fees for proceedings before administrative courts. Therefore, you have to note that the court will ask you to pay the court fee. More information on the amount of court fees when appealing with the administrative court, possibility to apply for an exemption from the costs and the language of the procedure, is available at:

http://bip.warszawa.wsa.gov.pl/133/wpis-sadowy-zasady-dokonywania-wpisu.html

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