Poland in Iraq

Despite the persisting state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland  in Erbil (hereinafter referred to as the Consulate) has made efforts to meet the needs of the Iraqi citizens in the scope of visa applications processing. On September 21^st, 2020 observing the travel restrictions applicable in the Republic of Poland and the EU we have reactivated the e-consulate application providing a limited number of visa interview slots for the applicants. The available slot numbers are definitely lower than previously. We strongly encourage all persons interested in applying for a visa to the Republic of Poland to familiarize themselves with the current restrictions and in case the nature of their intended travel is not included in the list of those allowed to abstain from applying thereby leaving the time slot available for fellow citizens for whom the travel might actually be necessary / obligatory.

Since the resumption of the services apart from people who decide to register within the system for good reasons we have started recording inputs of persons / entities done with clear intention of depriving others from the chance of applying (deliberate blocking of the system with fake applications resulting in no-show). Basing on the correspondence received by the Consulate we believe that those persons / entities may be the so called travel agents / service providers of sorts who offer the services of the registration of applicants in the Polish system (e-consulate) against a specific sum of money while also conveying the message that their assistance (services) may in some way influence the further processing of the application (help in obtaining a positive visa decision).

We wish to strongly deny any possibility of influence of any third party agent / entity on the operations of the Consulate. Moreover as the Consulate does not use the service of any outsourcing agent no external entity is legally entitled to receive / demand any sums of money for the processing of visa applications at the mission. No third party assistance is required to register the form in the system and to go through the process of visa application. The procedure involves solely the applicant and the Consulate. The only cost that the applicant is supposed to cover is the visa fee received by the Consulate.

The actions of the entities described above are aimed solely at extorting sums of money from their fellow citizens. The entities provide no actual assistance to their customers and have no influence on the visa procedure. The Consulate being a foreign entity has no authority whatsoever over any individual or entity operating in the Republic of Iraq. We may in no way battle the individuals / entities described above. Our only means of help to the Iraqi citizens seeking the possibility of travelling to the Republic of Poland is to recommend and strongly encourage them to cease the use of such ‘visa services’.