On 15 April, 2022, the Act on Foreigners was amended to enable national visas to be granted to foreigners residing in Poland (article 79a of the Act on Foreigners).
Meanwhile, a long-awaited regulation issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on issuing national visas to foreigners residing in the Republic of Poland was issued on 30 August, 2022. Under this regulation, citizens of Belarus and Ukraine residing in Poland can apply to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for a national visa.
The regulation only applies to:
- citizens of Belarus – when applying for a national visa to come to Poland for humanitarian reasons, if
- the basis for being in Poland as at the day on which they apply for the visa is a humanitarian visa, or
- they resided in Ukraine legally immediately prior to 24 February, 2022, and entered Poland directly from Ukraine due to the outbreak of war;
- citizens of Ukraine – when applying for a national visa in order to work as a pilot of civil aircraft or other crew member;
- citizens of Belarus and Ukraine – when applying for a national visa in order to work as a driver in cross-border road transport.
We will continue to provide you with updates on legislative developments regarding visa applications and laws under which the national visas described above can be obtained in practice.