Hello everyone. In this post, I will go over how you to apply for a student visa/business/tourism visa if you intend to stay longer than 90 days in Poland.
Documents You Need
Here is the summary of things you need have:
- National Visa Application Form
- Valid Passport/Travel Document
- Proof of Legal Residence/Immigrant Status
- Letter of Acceptance
- Travel Medical Insurance
- Proof of Financial Means
- Flight Reservation
- Proof of Accommodation
- Visa Fee
- Biometric Photographs
- Return (Fedex)
Locations
Depending on where you are located, there are only 5 primary locations of the Poland consulate in the United States. They are:
Chicago
1530 N. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone +1 (312) 337-8166
Fax +1 (312) 337-7841
chicago.passport-visa@msz.gov.pl
chicago.legal@msz.gov.pl
chicago.passport-visa@msz.gov.pl
chicago.legal@msz.gov.pl
Los Angeles
12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 555
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone +1 (310) 442 8500
Fax +1 (310) 442 8515
losangeles.visa@msz.gov.pl
losangeles.kg.paszporty@msz.gov.pl
losangeles.legal@msz.gov.pl
New York
233 Madison Avenue, New York
New York 10016
Phone +1 (646) 237-2100
Fax +1 (646) 237-2105
newyork.visapassport@msz.gov.pl
newyork.legal@msz.gov.pl
Houston
3040 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 825
Houston, TX 77056 Houston
Phone +1 (713) 993 9685
Fax +1 (713) 993 9685
houston.kg.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl
houston.kg.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl
houston.kg.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl
houston.kg.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl
Washington DC
2224 Wyoming Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008-3992
phone (202) 499-1930
fax (202) 328-2152
washington.consular@msz.gov.pl
You will want to book an appointment online via the Polish Consulate website for US: https://secure.e-konsulat.gov.pl/
Now if you are just traveling to Poland as a tourist, you don’t have to apply for one. You can stay up to 90 days within a 6 month period in Poland since they are in the Schengen area. You also need to make sure your passport isn’t expiring in the next 6 months.
National Visa Application Form
In order to stay longer than 90 days in Poland without any trouble, you will need to apply for the National Visa, which will grant you a longer stay if approved.
Valid Passport/Travel Document
If you have your American passport, then things will be a lot easier. Also, your passport needs the following requirements:
- valid for at least 3 months
- contain at least 2 blank pages
- issued within previous 10 years
Proof of Legal Residence/Immigration Status
If you have a foreign passport, you will need to bring your green card or have a valid visa.
- original of Residence Card (Green Card) or legalized copy
- valid US resident visa type A, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, O, R
Letter of Acceptance
Now this applies to people that signed up for a school of University. It will be an official letter that tells the Polish consulate that you are accepted to the school and you will need a physical copy.
Travel Medical Insurance
You need to get a confirmation letter from travel medical insurance online proving that you are insured during the entire length of your stay. A medical card is not valid.
Proof of Sufficient Financial Means
You will need to make sure your bank statement that proves that you have enough to sustain yourself. So for example, you are staying 9 months. As a rough guideline as a student:
- Rent – 1000 zloty a month for a room
- Food – 900 zloty a month
- Transport – 100 zloty a month
Total would be around 2000 zloty a month. So for 9 months you would need 18,000 zloty, which is roughly ~5000 USD based on current exchange rates.
Flight Reservation
This one is easy. Save your flight details and print it out. They want to know you are going for real. 🙂
Proof of Accommodation
This one is easy as well. Book an Airbnb for a few weeks. They know you will look for a place to stay after that. Make sure to print the receipt of payment.
Biometric Photographs
Here are the rules you need to follow for your photos:
- Dimensions – 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm (US passport photo size is accepted)
- Colour, sharp, made on high quality paper against a plain white background.
- Must be taken within last 6 months to enable easy identification of an applicant.
- Applicant’s face must cover 70-80% of the photograph.
- Applicant must face camera directly, looking ahead with open eyes, natural face expression and closed mouth.
- Applicant cannot wear a hat or any other head covering.
- Applicant’s hair must not cover any part of the face.
In case an applicant wears glasses:
- The glasses cannot be sunglasses or dimmed glasses.
- The frames cannot cover any part of his/her eyes.
- The glasses cannot produce any light reflexes.
In case an applicant wears head covering required by his/her religion:
- The covering cannot cover any part of face.
- The photo must show the full head and the upper part of the neck, the right and left side of the face must be clearly visible.
Visa Fee
This should be around 80-100 dollars depending on the shipping. The whole process should take no more than 2 weeks and can have occasional delays. They will send the visa and all the required documents back to the address you specified.
I got mine via Fedex. They notified me the day before it arrives with the visa sticker on my passport attached. It was delivered to my house the next day.
kenny