Poland reduces the issuance of visas to foreigners

Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported that Poland this year reduced the issuance of visas to foreigners by between 50 and 90%, depending on the type of visa.

According to the newspaper, from January 1 to June 14 of this year, Poland issued 98,000 work visas, most of them to Belarusians (more than 32,000), Ukrainians (more than 47,000) and Georgians (3,659 visas), compared to “more than 284,000 visas.” This kind of thing a year ago.

The newspaper also announced a significant decline in the issuance of humanitarian visas, which Belarusian citizens have widely requested in recent years. It stated that about 55,000 of these visas were issued in the period from 2020 to 2023. In 2024, only 542 visas of this type were issued.

She pointed out that the new leadership of the Polish Foreign Ministry suspended the issuance of special visas according to the Poland Business Harbor program introduced by the government of former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for information technology experts.

Earlier, the Polish Public Prosecution announced an investigation into a criminal case related to fraud in accelerating visa procedures for several hundred visas. The applications concern foreigners who submitted them at Polish diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Philippines and Qatar.