Poland in Australia

Before you apply, you must decide which visa you need:

Schengen visa (C-Type)

Choose this visa if you plan to stay in Poland or other Schengen countries for a maximum of 90 days in each 180-day period of time. This means that you are allowed to stay in the Schengen zone legally only if your stay in Schengen countries did not exceed 90 days over the last 180 days. A special calculator on the European Commission’s website will help you count how long you can stay in Schengen countries.

You can apply for a Schengen visa in a Polish diplomatic mission if:

• Poland is the only destination country of your visit to the Schengen zone;
• you visit more than one Schengen country, but Poland is your main destination;
• you do not know which Schengen country will be your main destination, but you cross the Schengen border for the first time in Poland.

In exceptional cases it is possible to issue a Schengen LTV visa which is valid only in the territory of selected Schengen states.

National visa (D-Type)

Choose this visa if you want to stay in Poland for more than 90 days. The validity of a national visa cannot exceed one year. You also need to apply for a national visa if you seek asylum, repatriation, or if you use Polish Card privileges.

Who can use the procedure?

IMPORTANT: The procedure applies only to family members of EU nationals who do not have Polish citizenship or do not live permanently in Poland.

EU nationals include:

• nationals of EU Member States

• nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

A family member of an EU citizen is:

• the spouse of an EU citizen,

• Direct descendant of the EU national or his/her spouse, aged up to 21 or dependent on the EU national or his/her spouse

• Direct ascendant of the EU national or his/her spouse, dependent on the EU national or his/her spouse.

What the procedure entitles you to:

• The visa application is free of charge

• Your application will be accepted at the diplomatic mission without prior appointment.

Required documents:

• Printed and signed visa application form (filled in on the e-consulate website);

• A current, color photo 3.5 x 4.5 cm;

• A valid passport

• Document confirming the existence of family ties with the EU national (eg. marriage certificate, birth certificate);

• Document confirming the facts of accompanying the EU national  on the journey or joining him/her at the place of residence.

Refusal to issue a visa

Your visa can be refused only if:

• Your name is entered into the list of people whose stay in Poland is undesirable;

• visa authorities  considered that your stay might pose a threat to national defense or national security or to the protection of public safety and health.

Refusal to issue the visa is a consuls decision. The decision may be appealed against to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

When you apply for a visa, you have to provide your biometric data: a photo in the case of a national visa and a photo and fingerprints in the case of a Schengen visa.

If you have already applied for a Schengen visa in the recent 59 months and if you have given your fingerprints, you do not have to give them again – the system will automatically transfer your data.

The following applicants do not have to give their fingerprints:

• children under 12;
• persons who are physically unable to give their fingerprints (because they do not have fingers or they suffer from a temporary finger trauma); 
• heads of states or governments, members of national governments and their accompanying spouses and members of official delegations if they are invited for official purposes;
• monarchs and high-ranking members of royal families, if they are invited for official purposes.

The authority responsible for the processing of personal data that are in the Visa Information System (VIS) is the Central Technical Authority of the National Information System at the National Police Headquarters, address: ul. Puławska 148/150, 02-624 Warszawa.

Complaints concerning personal data protection are handled by the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection, address: ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warszawa.