The amendment pertains to § 3(2)(21) of the MSWiA Regulation, which is replaced by the following: “foreigners coming to the Republic of Poland for business reasons at the invitation of, and issued by, an entity entered in the National Court Register (KRS) or the Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG), a documented proof of which shall be presented to a Border Guard officer; the invitation shall be put in writing and it shall indicate the business reason of the visit”.

Consequently, as of 16 October 2021, the foreigners coming to Poland for business reasons will no longer be required to apply beforehand for a special recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and crossing the Polish border will be possible on the basis of a written invitation from a Polish business entity (and once other legally binding conditions that apply in Poland have been met, such as, in particular, the visa requirement for foreigners from countries subject to a visa obligation).

It is recommended that the aforesaid invitation have the form of a letter made on a letter-headed paper of a given business entity, contain an explicit indication of the business reason of the visit, the personal data of the invitee(s) (including given name(s) and surname(s), and passport number(s)) and the dates of the planned stay in Poland, and bear the signature of an authorised person and a company stamp. It is also recommended that the invitation be enclosed with a copy or printout of a recent extract from the National Court Register (KRS) or the Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG) concerning the inviting Polish entity.

As of 16 October 2021, the citizens of the countries where a visa is not required to travel to Poland may cross the Polish border upon presenting the aforesaid invitation to an officer of the Polish Border Guard (and once other legally binding conditions that apply in Poland have been met).

As of 16 October 2021, the citizens of the countries where a visa is required to travel to Poland may submit visa applications directly at Polish consular posts on the basis of the aforesaid invitation (and once other legally binding conditions that apply in Poland have been met). Once they obtain a visa, such persons may cross the Polish border upon presenting the visa and the aforesaid invitation to an officer of the Polish Border Guard (and once other legally binding conditions that apply in Poland have been met).

Be advised that the measures above do not apply to the foreigners who come to Poland for business reasons and who were formerly authorised by law to cross the Polish border without meeting the requirement to obtain a special recommendation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The corresponding legal provisions have not been changed. This applies in particular to the following (please be advised to refer to the provisions of the MSWiA Regulation for detailed information):

• citizens of certain countries: Georgia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, Republic of Korea, Tunisia, Australia, Israel, USA, Turkey *  – please note that the list was extended on 9 October 2021 to include Turkey (§ 3(2)(14) of the MSWiA Regulation);
• citizens of EU members states and EFTA states: Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland (§ 3(2)(10) of the MSWiA Regulation);
• citizens of the United Kingdom (§ 3(2)(10) of the MSWiA Regulation);
• professional drivers (§ 3(2)(8) of the MSWiA Regulation);
• foreigners who are Polish work permit holders or perform functions at the bodies of an entity entered in the National Business Register (§ 3(2)(6) of the MSWiA Regulation).

The above solutions do not apply to foreigners coming to Poland from other countries of the Schengen area (free travel without restrictions).

Please also note that the above changes apply only to procedures for crossing the Polish border. They do not affect the existing sanitary regulations effective pursuant to the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 6 May 2021 on the establishment of certain restrictions, orders and bans in connection with the occurrence of the state of epidemic (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 861, as amended). The obligation of a ten-day quarantine for foreigners entering Poland is thus upheld, except where exempted by the above-mentioned Regulation (e.g. documented proof of vaccination against Covid-19 with a vaccine admitted to use by European Medicines Agency).