To visit ancient and charming Poland, citizens of Russia and the CIS countries will need a Schengen visa, which can be applied for at the consular section of the Polish Embassy in Moscow or through the VFS Global visa service in Russian cities. Of the features of the Polish Schengen – an online questionnaire (printed ones are not accepted) and confirmation of 50% hotel payment (in case of an independent trip). Otherwise, the requirements are standard: a 3-month supply of passport validity at the end of the trip, air ticket reservation, insurance and confirmation of financial solvency. A nice bonus is the possibility of obtaining a 6-month or one-year visa. According to COUNTRYAAH, Poland is a country that starts with letter P.
Tourist visa to Poland: general information
| Do they give multivisa? | given for at least six months |
| Term of receipt | from 5 working days; but in fact – about 10 days |
| Validity limit | 3 months from the end of the trip |
- The cost of a regular visa: 35€
- Express Visa: 70€
- Visa fees: 11.19€
Types of visas
The following categories of visas are in use in the Republic of Poland:
- A: a classic airport transit visa: needed by those for whom Poland is just a place where two flights connect. Allows you to stay exclusively in the transit zone of the air harbor;
- C: the most common, there are single and multiple entries (multivisa). Requested by tourists, businessmen, everyone who travels to relatives and for treatment. Limits the period of stay on Polish soil to 90 days within six months, allows you to freely enter the territory of other Schengen countries and stay there;
- D (national): for those who want to spend more than 90 days in Poland in six months, for example, for study or work, as well as for immigrants. With this visa, you can freely cross the borders of any Schengen area countries.
Do-it-yourself visa application
Before submitting documents, you should decide on the type of visa you need and the place of application: it can be a consulate (in this case, you will not have to pay a service fee) or visa centers. Reception points are located not only in the Central Federal District, but also in Murmansk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Kazan and other large cities. The amount of the visa fee is not the same for everyone.
Applicants in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Smolensk, Voronezh, Vologda, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk pay 11.19 EUR. In Krasnodar, Ufa, Perm, Novorossiysk, Saratov, Murmansk, Petrozavodsk, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Vyborg, Omsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk – 23 EUR. The prices on the page are for September 2022.
Applications for a national visa are considered only by the Consulate General of Poland in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. You can make an appointment in advance to submit documents to the consulate and visa centers, but this is not necessary.
Documents for a visa to Poland
Required documents for obtaining Schengen category C:
- international passport
Valid for at least three months from the end of the trip
- Photocopies of the international passport
A page with a photo, as well as a photocopy of the pages of the used passport, if it contained Schengen or Polish visas;
- Questionnaire
Completed application form. At the consulate, it is registered and filled out online, and then printed and signed. In visa centers, the document is immediately filled out by hand;
- Photo
One color photograph 3.5 x 4.5 cm, which must be glued to the application form (see photo requirements below);
- Booking a hotel
Booking confirmation and 50% hotel payment for the entire period of stay in the country, if the purpose of the trip is tourism;
- Copies of tickets
Copy of round-trip electronic air or railway tickets or confirmation of ticket reservation;
- Help from the place of work
Certificate of employment with the prescribed position and salary;
- Bank statement
The statement must be fresh, not older than 6 months, traveler’s checks or a copy of a credit card (with a certificate from the bank on the availability of funds on it;
- For students, schoolchildren
A certificate from the place of study, a sponsorship letter with a photocopy of the sponsor’s civil passport, a certificate from work / an extract from the sponsor’s account (issued according to the general rules);
- Medical insurance
Medical insurance valid throughout the Schengen area and for the entire duration of the trip (the amount of insurance coverage is not less than 30,000 EUR);
- Document confirming the purpose of stay
Voucher or confirmation of payment for the tour, invitation from an organization or private person
- Business visa for individual entrepreneurs
Individual entrepreneurs who travel for work, to confirm the purpose of their stay, provide an invitation from a Polish legal entity, company or organizing committee of the event or an entrance ticket to this event (“the age” of the document is no more than 3 months), as well as confirmation of economic activity: certificate 2 -NDFL or 3-NDFL, an extract from the tax register, a certificate stating that the applicant is engaged in an independent business, or a bank statement for the last three months (not “older” than 1 month).
- For student visa
Schoolchildren and students in the main package of documents enclose a certificate from a Polish educational institution on being included in the list of students, either a student card, or a certificate of enrollment in courses, plus documents on tuition fees, if it is paid. Participants of international sports tournaments – a written request from the host organization.
- For a private visit: invitation and/or proof of kinship
Those who go to visit relatives must submit to the visa center or consulate a notarized written application from the inviting person indicating him and the invited person’s personal and contact details, confirmation of the legality of the inviting person’s stay in Poland, a copy of the first page of his passport.
- For a visa for the purpose of medical treatment
We need original documents from a medical institution in Poland, confirming its necessity, and a guarantee of sufficient funds to cover the cost of living and treatment.
If it is not possible to provide a certificate from work, another confirmation of financial solvency is suitable – a bank statement for the last 3 months, documents on real estate ownership in the Russian Federation.
Applying for a national visa
The package of documents for a national visa is somewhat different. Two photographs must be attached plus papers confirming the purpose of the trip: the original and a copy of the Pole’s Card, or the original and a copy of a work permit in Poland, or the original and a copy of the document on admission to study (students additionally provide a certificate of tuition fees and confirmation of financial solvency: sponsorship letter or bank statement).
Visa for children
For each child entering Poland, a full-fledged visa is issued – even if he does not have his own foreign passport, his visa is pasted into the “foreign” parent. The standard package of documents must be accompanied by the original and a photocopy of the birth certificate, copies of the Schengen visas of the parents, if they were made before the child’s visa, a copy and the original of the permission to leave issued by a notary from one or both parents (if the child is traveling with only one parent or with a third face).
Photo Requirements
Clear, contrasting, new – these are the main requirements for a photo for a Polish visa. Attach to the package of documents you need pictures taken from the front on a white background a maximum of 6 months before the trip. Looking straight into the frame, not smiling, mouth closed, ears and forehead as open as possible. The neck and upper part of the shoulders are visible, there is no headdress, even for religious reasons. Glasses are allowed only for medical reasons, the frame is simple, thin, not covering the eyes, the glasses are not darkened, not creating glare.
If the passport photo was taken without glasses, the visa photo must also be taken without them.
Both adults and children must be filmed without foreign objects and people. Pictures cannot be retouched.
The length of the head from chin to crown is approximately 30 mm (70-80% of the area). The photo is taken from the front, the gaze is directed to the camera, there is no smile.
Visa validity periods
Category A visa has a validity period of only 5 days, while with it you can only stay in the transit zone of the airport in Poland.
With a category C visa, you can stay in the territory of the state for no longer than 90 days in six months. The visa can be single and multiple (multivisa – up to two years). With a “cartoon” you can freely visit other Schengen countries and stay there until the visa expires, but not more than 90 days in six months.
A national visa type D is issued for a specific period (often for a year) and can be extended. The rule “90 days in half a year” does not apply to its owner.
Fingerprinting
Each applicant is required to be fingerprinted and take a digital photo. This information is valid for 5 years, after which it must be updated. The procedure of fingerprinting and photographing is carried out on special equipment in the visa center (consular section of the embassy). The requirement applies to all applicants over 12 years old, with the exception of people who are physically impossible to take fingerprints due to injuries.
The cost and terms of issuing visas
Applying for any type of visa should be done at least two weeks before the trip. Authorized bodies will take a decision on extradition from 5 to 15 days. If they have questions about the reliability of the information provided, this period may be extended to a month. The most unfavorable time for applying for a visa is the days of Russian holidays, when you need to add another 1 to 4 days to the standard waiting period.
An urgent visa can be made in 3-5 days, if its necessity is documented.
The most expensive of all visas is express, they charge 70 EUR for it, 60 EUR for national visas, the rest cost 35 EUR. When accepting documents at visa centers, an additional service fee is charged – from 20 to 30 EUR. At the consulate, payment is made in euros, at visa centers – in rubles at the current exchange rate.
The following are exempted from paying the visa fee:
- children under 6 years old;
- close relatives of citizens of the Russian Federation legally residing in Poland;
- members of official delegations, national and regional governments and parliaments, Constitutional and Supreme Courts;
- schoolchildren, students, graduate students and their teachers who go to study or internship;
- disabled people and accompanying persons;
- persons traveling on an urgent humanitarian mission, to attend a funeral or visit a seriously ill close relative;
- participants of youth international sports tournaments and their attendants;
- participants in scientific, cultural, creative and other exchange programs;
- scientists whose purpose of travel is scientific research;
- NGO representatives traveling to other NGO events in Poland.
Documents for traveling to Poland by car
It is easy to travel on an “iron horse” across the border of the state: you just need to be the owner of a valid passport and a Schengen visa category C (ideally Polish, but another will do). It is better to take the rights both Russian and international – the latter can be useful in emergency cases such as an accident.
For each of the travelers, medical insurance must be issued, for the car – “Green Card”.
It is obligatory to have a registration certificate and a vehicle passport, a power of attorney (if necessary) and the presence of its owner in the car, even if not driving – for the Poles this is a guarantee that the car was not stolen.
Experienced travelers are advised to take with them printouts of routes, copies of documents confirming the purpose of the visit (hotel reservations, an invitation from a person living in the Republic of Poland) – in this case, the border guards will definitely not have a reason to complain.
Visa Application Centers of Poland VFS Global are open in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Smolensk, Voronezh, Perm, Novorossiysk, Krasnodar, Ufa, Saratov, Vologda, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Vyborg, Omsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk.
