Visa decision
Deadline for examining the application
The consul is obliged to take a visa decision within 15 calendar days from the date of submitting the application, but they have the option of extending the above-mentioned deadline to a maximum of 45 days.
In the case of national visas, the maximum time limit for processing an application is 60 days. These deadlines do not apply to national visas issued for the purpose of repatriation or family members of the repatriate.
Types of decisions
The consul may take the following decisions:
on the issuance of a visa (Schengen, or national)
on the issuance of a territorially limited visa (in the case of Schengen visas)
refusal of a visa
Issuing of a visa
The consul may issue visas for one, two or more entries.
In the case of a Schengen visa, where the period of validity of the visa exceeds six months, the visa shall be granted with an authorised stay of 90 days and the right to multiple entry.
The consul issues the visa by printing a visa sticker and affixing the sticker to the applicant's travel document. In special cases, when a foreigner's travel document is not recognized by the State examining the visa application, the consul shall affix the visa sticker to a separate sheet for affixing a visa.
Schengen visa sticker specimen.
National visa sticker specimen.
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Important!
Possession of a visa (Schengen visa or a national visa) is only one of the elements required to cross the border.
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Visa with limited territorial validity (LTV)
A visa with limited territorial validity (LTV) is issued to foreigners for the following reasons:
Where the foreigner's travel document is not recognised by all Member States, a visa shall be issued which is limited to the Member States recognising the travel document (if the requested State recognises it) or limited to the territory of the Member State issuing the application (if that State does not recognise the travel document presented), in accordance with Article 25(3) of the Visa Code.
A visa with limited territorial validity (LTV) may also be issued where one of the Member States has objected to the issue of a visa during the consultation procedure referred to in Article 22 of the Visa Code, where such consultations could not be carried out due to the urgency of the situation or the foreigner does not fulfil one of the other entry conditions under Article 6(1) of the Schengen Borders Code, at the same time, the visa authority will consider that for humanitarian reasons (e.g. death or serious illness of a family member), for reasons of state interest (e.g. subpoena) or international obligations, the foreigner should enter the territory of a Member State.
In addition, if the foreigner has used the 90-day period of stay in any 180-day period, and the visa authority considers their stay justified, they may also issue an LTV visa. Under Article 25(2) of the Visa Code, an LTV visa is valid only in the territory of the Issuing Member State. It may, exceptionally, be extended in the territory of more than one State subject to the consent of each of those States.
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Visa refusal
The authority examining the visa application shall refuse to issue a visa by taking a decision and forwarding it to the applicant on an appropriate form together with the premises and appropriate factual justification, as well as with an indication of the appeal procedure against the above-mentioned decision.
a. Refusal of a Schengen visa
The grounds for refusing a Schengen visa are set out in Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No. 810/2009 (Visa Code):
the presentation of a false, forged or forged travel document;
failure to provide confirmation of the purposes and conditions of the intended stay (or, in the case of air transit, that transit);
failure to provide evidence of sufficient means of subsistence appropriate to the duration of the intended stay and of the means to return to the country of origin or residence, or of transit to a third country which is certain to have been granted entry authorisation to the applicant or to obtain such means lawfully;
the use, during the current 180-day period, of the authorised 90 days' stay on the territory of the Member States on the basis of a uniform visa or a visa with limited territorial validity;
the existence of an alert on the applicant in SIS for the purposes of refusing entry and stay;
the applicant's threats to public policy, internal security, public health or international relations of any member state, in particular where the applicant's data are included in national databases for the purposes of refusing entry;
failure to provide, where applicable, proof of possession of adequate, valid travel medical insurance;
the existence of serious doubts as to the authenticity of the documents submitted by the applicant or the veracity of their content, the reliability of the declarations made by them or their intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa.
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Remark!
Information on the formal (in the form of checkboxes) and factual (in the form of a short justification) for refusing a Schengen visa shall be provided to the applicant on the standard form set out in Annex VI, including information on the appeal procedure.
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b. Refusal of a national visa
In the case of a national visa, the basic grounds for refusing a national visa are set out in Article 65(1) of the Act on Foreigners:
the entry of the foreigner's data into the list of foreigners whose stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland is undesirable;
the existence of an alert on the applicant in SIS for the purposes of refusing entry and stay;
lack of financial means for the duration of the applicant's planned stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland and for the return trip to the country of origin or residence or for transit to a third country that will grant entry permission; or the possibility of obtaining such funds legally;
lack of health or medical insurance required by law;
considerations of defence or security of the State or protection of security and public order or the interest of the Republic of Poland;
lodging an application containing false personal data or false information in the course of the procedure or attaching such documents to the application;
testifying untruth or concealing the truth, falsifying, or altering a document to submit as authentic or using such a document
failure to establish the purposes or conditions of the intended stay;
there are reasonable doubts as to the intention to leave the territory of the Republic of Poland before the expiry of the visa;
serious doubts exist as to the credibility of the foreigner as to the purpose of their stay or objective circumstances indicating that the purpose of the foreigner's stay could be different from the declared one.
In addition, Article 65 in paragraphs 1a-1e of the Act on Foreigners specifies specific conditions for refusing a national visa in relation to persons applying for a visa for the purpose of studying, conducting scientific research, completing an internship or European Voluntary Service.
Where the purpose of issuing a national visa would be to study, the visa shall be refused in addition if:
the unit conducting studies operates mainly to facilitate unlawful entry or stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland for students or doctoral students;
the foreigner applies for another visa for this purpose and the circumstances of the case show that the previous visa was issued in a manner incompatible with the purpose of its issue;
if the foreigner has been removed from the list of students or doctoral students.
Where the purpose of issuing a national visa would be to carry out scientific or development work, it shall be additionally refused where:
the scientific unit operates mainly for the purpose of facilitating unlawful entry or stay of researchers on the territory of the Republic of Poland;
the foreigner applies for another visa for this purpose, and the circumstances of the case indicate that the previous visa was issued in a manner incompatible with the purpose of its issue.
In the case of traineeships, a visa shall be refused in addition where:
the organizer of the internship acts mainly to facilitate the trainee's unlawful entry or stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland
the organizer of the internship is managed or controlled by a natural person punished for the offense referred to in Article 120(1) of the Act of 20 April 2004 on promotion of employment and on labour market institutions, who within 2 years of being punished has been punished again for a similar offense;
the organizer of the internship is managed or controlled by a natural person punished for the offences referred to in Article 120(3)-(5) of the Act of 20 April 2004 on promotion of employment and on labour market institutions;
the organizer of the internship is a person convicted of the crime referred to in Articles 228-231 of the Act of 6 June 1997 – Criminal Code (Journal of Laws of 2019 except 1950 and 2128, as amended).
the organiser of the traineeship does not fulfil the obligation to pay social security contributions;
the organiser of the traineeship is in arrears with the payment of taxes, except where they have obtained the exemption provided for by law, the postponement, the staggering of overdue payments or the suspension in full of the implementation of the decision of the competent authority;
the organiser of the traineeship is not engaged in any economic activity and the traineeship is directly related to such activity;
the organiser of the traineeship has been declared bankrupt or is being liquidated;
the foreigner applies for another visa for this purpose, and the circumstances of the case indicate that the previous visa was issued in a manner incompatible with the purpose of its issue.
If you are applying for a visa to participate in a European Voluntary Service, a visa shall be additionally refused if:
the organizational unit for which the foreigner performs or intends to perform services as a volunteer acts mainly to facilitate the unlawful entry or stay of volunteers on the territory of the Republic of Poland
the organizational unit for which the foreigner performs or intends to perform services as a volunteer is managed or controlled by a natural person punished for the offense referred to in Article 120(1) of the Act of 20 April 2004 on promotion of employment and on labour market institutions, who within 2 years of punishment was again punished for a similar offense;
the organizational unit for which the foreigner performs or intends to perform services as a volunteer is managed or controlled by a natural person for the offences referred to in Article 120(3)-(5) of the Act of 20 April 2004 on promotion of employment and on labour market institutions;
the organizational unit for which the foreigner performs or intends to perform services as a volunteer is managed or controlled by a natural person is a person convicted of the crime referred to in Articles 228-231 of the Act of 6 June 1997 – Criminal Code (Journal of Laws of 2019 except 1950 and 2128, as amended).
the organizational unit for which the foreigner performs or intends to perform services as a volunteer does not fulfil the obligation to pay social security contributions;
the organisational unit for which the foreigner performs or intends to perform services as a volunteer is in arrears with the payment of taxes, except in cases where it has obtained the exemption provided for by law, postponement, spreading into instalments of overdue payments or suspension in full of the implementation of the decision of the competent authority;
the traineeship organiser does not carry out any economic activity and the traineeship is directly related to such activity.
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Remark!
Information on formal grounds (in the form of checkboxes) and factual (in the form of a short justification) for refusing to issue a national visa is provided to the applicant on the standard form set out in Annex 3 to the Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of 22 March 2022 on visas for foreigners (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 827) together with information on the appeal procedure.
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