For everyone who is planning a tourist trip to Eastern Europe - step-by-step instructions on how to independently obtain a visa to Poland. A package of documents, addresses of visa centers, prices and reasons for refusals.
What kind of visa is needed
Poland is a state that is part of the Schengen area. To enter this country for tourist purposes, you need a Schengen visa C. We will tell you how to independently apply for a visa to Poland through consulates and accredited visa centers.
Step 1: Book your tickets
Make copies of tickets purchased or booked tickets to and from Poland. For a short stay visa, unpaid reservations will be accepted. Don't try to paint tickets in Photoshop. Reservations are easily verified and visa refusal is guaranteed in case of falsified documents.
Where can I find cheap tickets? Use the search engines Aviasales and Skyscanner to compare prices of all airlines. Find out the secrets of finding cheap flights.
Step 2: Book your accommodation
An important indication of your intentions as a tourist is accommodation for the duration of the trip. To obtain a visa to Poland, attach hotel reservations for all travel dates. It is convenient to book and search on Booking and Rumguru. At the time of booking, indicate the names of all participants in the trip in Latin letters.
If you want to rent an apartment, room or private house, use the Airbnb service. Attach the confirmation that you receive on Airbnb after payment with your visa application.
To apply for a visa to France or Spain, they accept documents for hotels with free cancellation of booking without any problems. However, for a visa to Poland, you need to pay at least 50% of the reservation within the country, and accommodation in other Schengen countries must be paid in full.
Step 3: make copies of passports
To obtain a visa to Poland, make photocopies of your foreign passport and civil passport. From your passport, copy the spread with a photo, personal data and closed Schengen visas (if any). From a civil passport - all completed pages.
Copies of canceled foreign passports will not be superfluous, as they show your visa history. Place two spreads on a sheet of paper and make copies on both sides of the page.
Step 4: buy insurance
For a visa, you will need an insurance policy with coverage of 30,000 euros and above. Travel insurance can be done in advance on the services of Cherekhapa or SravnRu or directly at the visa center, but it will be more expensive.
Step 5: Get help from work
One of the proofs of a close connection with the homeland and a lack of intention to immigrate is a certificate from the organization where you work, drawn up on letterhead, stamped and signed by the director and chief accountant. This document indicates the position, date of admission to work, average earnings for 6-12 months and information about paid vacation.
Individual entrepreneurs need a copy of the TIN, a certificate of registration of an individual entrepreneur and documents that confirm their business activities - an extract from an individual entrepreneur's account for 3 months, a 2NDFL / 3NDFL certificate or an extract from the register of the tax office.
In the package of documents for a visa to Poland, pensioners must have a copy of their pension certificate, and students of schools and universities must have a certificate from an educational institution with a stamp and signature of the head.
What should housewives do? If you are not officially employed, prepare a sponsorship letter from someone willing to pay for your trip. The Schengen countries require it to be a relative. Prepare documents of relationship and a certificate from the sponsor's place of work on his income.
Freelancers in the Schengen countries are calm. A certificate from the place of employment is not needed, but it is important to confirm that you have enough money for the trip.
Step 6: Get a bank statement
Financial solvency is a prerequisite for obtaining a visa to Poland. Get a bank statement on the movement of your personal account for the last three months with a "wet" seal. According to tourists, the minimum amount of funds on the account should cover the costs of 50 euros for each day of the trip.
Photocopies of the front side of bank cards and checks from an ATM, on which the balance is indicated, will do. If there are not enough funds, fill out a sponsorship letter and attach to it a certificate from the bank with the balance of your sponsor's account.
Step 7: Take a photo
In the package of documents for obtaining a visa to Poland, enclose two color photographs 45 mm by 35 mm. One of them is glued to the visa application form. The photo should be taken against a light or white background, without corners and frames, and the face on it should occupy at least 80% of the picture. It is very convenient to take a picture in the photo booth of the visa center for 200 rubles.
Step 8: fill out the form
Before you start filling out the questionnaire, prepare all the necessary documents. Take your time and try not to make mistakes. Write in capital Latin letters - in English or transliterated from Russian. It is important that the information in the application form completely coincides with the information in the passport, insurance and certificates that you apply for a visa to Poland.
Those who were born in the USSR write USSR in paragraph 6 about the place and country of birth. In paragraph 19, individual entrepreneurs write about their occupation INDIVIDUAL ENTREPRENEUR, pensioners - RETIRED, unemployed - UNEMPLOYED, and housewives - HOUSEWIFE.
To submit documents to the consular department, fill out the online form. When ready, print out the document, barcode, your application number and appointment date.
If you plan to process documents through the visa center, download the PDF form from the website. Fill out the application with a blue pen or computer editor.
Step 9: make an appointment
The Polish Embassy in the Russian Federation is located in Moscow, at 4 Klimashkina Street, and the consular department is located in Bolshoy Tishinsky Pereulok, 1. An appointment is made after filling out a questionnaire on the website.
Visa centers are open in many large cities of Russia. They are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. You can make an appointment on the website, by phone or e-mail.
The Poland Visa Application Center in Moscow is a 10-minute walk from the Savelovskaya metro station, at 31 Suschevsky Val, bldg. 2. The entrance to it is from the 3rd ring, near the Tanuki restaurant.
The visa center in St. Petersburg accepts documents at 7 Chkalovsky Prospekt, in Kaliningrad - at 126 Goda Street, in Perm - at 28 Chernyshevsky Street, and in Rostov-on-Don - at Trolleybusnaya Street, 24 / 2v.
Step 10: Submit documents and biometrics
Please arrive at the consular section or visa center 20-30 minutes before the specified time. If you have never undergone biometrics, get your fingerprints and take a photo. Biometric information is stored in a single database for 5 years. Fill out the consent to the processing of personal data, pay for the visa and give the documents to the employee.
How much does a visa to Poland cost for Russians? The price of a regular visa is 35 euros, express processing is twice as expensive - 70 euros. Visa application center services, depending on the region, will cost 19.5-23 euros. Payment is taken in cash and by bank transfer in rubles.
Asekeevo: "Visiting the visa center in Kaliningrad is the most favorable. Everything went quickly and without a long wait."
Step 11: Get your visa
Documents for a visa to Poland are considered within 10 working days, but sometimes the wait is extended up to 30 days. Do not postpone registration until the last moment!
Passport readiness can be easily tracked online by e-mail The e-mail address is protected from spambots. Javascript must be enabled in your browser to view the address. or by phone +7 (499) 703 49 54, +7 (499) 704 36 83. Passports with visas are issued in the same place where you submitted your application. At the visa application center, you can arrange for the delivery of the document by courier.
Refusals in a visa to Poland
Poland and Hungary are two major transit states through which most Russians enter Europe. The requirements for the preparation of paperwork for a visa are quite strict here, so many tourists prefer to apply for Schengen in more loyal states - Spain, France and Finland.
The most common reasons for refusing a visa to Poland:
- the purpose of the trip has not been confirmed;
- there are no paid hotels and tickets;
- there are not enough documents;
- errors when filling out the visa application form;
- insufficient funds for the trip;
- you have previously violated immigration laws.
Refusal of 1C means that the entry to the Schengen countries was closed for you for a year, and C4 - forever. Record 2C notifies you that you are being invited for an interview with a visa officer to clarify personal data. If you put a 3C stamp, bring the missing documents. A written appeal in case of a refusal is considered for several weeks.
