flash news: #foreigners
Withdrawal of a draft regulation regarding countries in which foreigners may apply for visas issued by the minister for foreign affairs.
The government is working on a draft regulation concerning countries where foreigners may submit visa applications directly to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The draft act is intended to implement the Minister's authority encompassed by the Foreigners Act, which allows such regulations to be issued having regard for the need to ensure efficient support for foreign citizens.
Since June 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs regulation dated 28 May 2021 has been in force. This identifies Belarus as the only country whose citizens may submit visa applications through the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The newly published draft envisages a significant expansion of this list to include the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Philippines, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The regulation further differentiates, depending on the country in question, the purpose for which a visa can be applied for. Almost all purposes (except for a visa issued for performance of official tasks by representatives of a foreign state authority or international organisation) will be available only to citizens of Ukraine and Belarus - the scope will be smaller for other countries.
Notwithstanding this, citizens of all the aforementioned countries will be able to apply for work visas. According to the explanatory memorandum to the draft, visas of this kind are the main motivation for issuing the regulation. An important reservation is that applications can only be submitted in countries where Polish consulates use so-called visa outsourcing. This currently only applies to a few countries on the list, including Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey, India and the Philippines.
Taking into account the previously published draft regulation on accepting out-of-turn applications for work visas, it appears that this is a long-awaited implementation of the plan to speed up procedures allowing specialists, (shortages of whom are impacting businesses in Poland), to be brought-in more quickly.
On 24 June 2023, the Interior Minister regulation concerning the list of certificates of proficiency in Polish which confirm knowledge of the Polish language required for the granting of a long-term EU residence permit will come into force.
On 29 May 2023 the Polish President signed a bill into law[1] that amends what is often called the Ukrainian Special Act[2], and extends till 4 March 2024 the date until when Ukrainian citizens may legally stay in Poland, if they entered the country due to the ongoing war.
The Mazovian Province Authority’s Department of Foreigners’ Affairs is organising a series of Information Saturdays. During the Information Saturdays, one can obtain information on cases that the office is processing (including having individual consultations in particular cases), as well as take part in consultation sessions led by external bodies (foundations).
End of Legal Residency Based on Covid Extensions?
The Ministry of Health envisages the abolition of the state of epidemic threat as of 30 June 2023. This will affect the situation of many foreigners residing in Poland.
Pursuant to the Covid Act (i.e. the Act of 2 March 2020 on Specific Solutions Related to the Prevention, Countering and Combating COVID-19, Other Infectious Diseases and Crisis Situations Caused Thereby), the period of legal residence, the deadlines for leaving the territory of the Republic of Poland and the validity of held residence documents have been extended until the 30th day following the day of cancellation of the current state of epidemic threat.