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Update : July 10th, 2020
Government expands extension of stay to include additional categories
What is the change?
Poland has begun gradually lifting entry and travel restrictions, as well as accepting certain immigration applications that were not available during the lockdown.
Key Points:
- Following the recommendations of the European Commission to open the EU internal borders in mid-June, Poland has decided to lift controls and entry restrictions on internal EU borders with the neighboring member states of the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania and Slovakia and Lithuania as of June 13. Travelers may now freely enter and transit through Poland with no quarantine upon entry. Entry restrictions currently remain in place until further notice for Poland’s external (non-EU) borders, with the exception of approved non-EU flights.
- The government partially lifted the ban on operating international flights to Poland as of June 17, allowing flights from airports located in member states of the EU or EFTA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, with the exception of those from the U.K., Sweden and Portugal. Flight restrictions were further updated as of July 1, allowing for flights from the U.K. and seven non-EU countries: Albania, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, South Korea and Ukraine. Passengers arriving from those countries (excluding Ukraine) will be automatically allowed to enter Poland with no entry restrictions and lack of mandatory quarantine as of July 3.
- The majority of Polish overseas consulates and visa application centers (VACs) are still not accepting visa applicants because of local pandemic situations. However, the following locations have recently enabled submission of entry visas: Canada (Vancouver and Ottawa Consulates), India (only New Delhi Consulate), Ukraine (Kiev, Lviv but only for limited types of employment visas in agriculture and international transport), Russia (VACs enabled and St. Petersburg Consulate), Philippines. Consulates in China remain closed but accept visa applications in emergencies for humanitarian reasons or from family members of Polish or EU citizens. The Polish Consulate in Washington, D.C. announced that visa appointments for long-term (D) visas will be available as of Aug. 3, while other Polish consulates in the U.S. still remain closed.
- Although immigration offices in Poland remain closed because of lockdown, they are still processing work permit applications. Personal appointments were allowed in May and June for certain and limited activities, e.g., residency card collection, but foreign nationals were not permitted to submit residency permit applications in person at any regional offices. In-person appointments for permanent residency applications / for presenting missing documents / residence card replacement / EU National registration has been enabled at the Immigration Office in Warsaw since June. Effective July 1, the Immigration Office in Warsaw allows the scheduling of temporary residence permit in-person appointments for the period from July 13.
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Update : April 24th, 2020
Government expands extension of stay to include additional categories
What is the change?
The government has added several additional categories of stay to the extension measures for foreign nationals unable to leave Poland.
Key Points
- The following will be automatically extended:
- All Schengen visas.
- Residence documents issued by another Schengen country.
- Visa-waiver stays.
The government implemented the initial extension of stay earlier this month to ease compliance requirements for foreign nationals affected by lockdown measures and travel restrictions. The initial extension provided for the automatic extension of residence permits, national type D visas, work permits types A-E, intention-to-hire statements and seasonal work permits. Polish government has decided to automatically extend all short-term immigration documents and visa-waiver, which allows for total period of 90 days within each 180 days period within whole Schengen area regardless of purpose of staying in Poland.
The expanded extension policy is good news for employers, as it will ease immigration compliance for affected employees.