Poland greatly reduces issuance of visas

Polish authorities have significantly reduced the issuance of visas to foreigners in 2024 compared to 2023, Report informs referring to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

According to the country’s foreign ministry, Poland has issued more than 98,000 work visas since the beginning of 2024, in particular to citizens of Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia, while in 2023, 248,000 such visas were issued.

The new Polish authorities have canceled the Poland Business Harbor priority visa program, which was actively used by IT specialists.

Warsaw has practically suspended the issuance of humanitarian visas: since the beginning of the year, only 542 such visas have been issued, while last year the Polish authorities approved the issuance of more than 4,500 humanitarian visas.

In addition, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided from June 1 to increase the visa fee to 135 euros for a category D visa that allows staying in the country for more than three months. This is 45 euros more than the standard fee for Schengen visas.