Poland in Syria

You can apply at the consular office.

Visa application form must be submitted in person. Diplomatic mission does not accept application forms sent via fax, regular mail or e-mail.

You can book your appointment to apply for a visa via the e-konsulat system (please remember to choose country: Syria, diplomatic mission: Damascus).

1.    A visa application form filled via the e-konsulat system, printed and signed. IMPORTANT: at www.e-konsulat.gov.pl it is obligatory for Syrian citizens to choose country: Syria, diplomatic mission: Damascus (not Lebanon/Beirut).

2.    A 3.5 x 4.5 cm colour photo. The photo must be:
a.    sharp, taken against white background and printed on a quality paper,
b.    newer than 6 months,
c.     taken en face, clearly showing the eyes and face from both sides from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders with the face covering 70-80% of the photo. 

3.    Passport issued within last ten years, valid for at least three months from the expected return date, with at least two blank pages for visas. If you have another valid passport, you should attach it to the visa application form.
4.    A copy of the passport pages with personal data, validity, and previous visas. Also you need to provide previous (old) passport.  

5.    Healthcare insurance valid across all countries of the Schengen area for the amount not lower than EUR 30,000. If you apply for a multiple-entry visa, it should cover the date of the first entry. Preferably insurance should be bought outside Syria and Lebanon (worldwide insurance companies are available online or it can be bought in Poland as well by inviting person/company/institution), because of the current currency crisis and thus the risk your medical expenses in Schengen area will not be covered.

6. Confirmed booking of flight ticket (you do not need to buy it).

7. Family register (ikhraj qid aila), translated into Polish or English and stamped by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

8.    Proof that you have enough means of subsistence (covering cost of flight ticket, accommodation, living expences):
a.    valid bank account statement issued by your bank, showing transactions from last 6 months,
b.    valid income certificate from your employer for the last three months,
c.    statement from a sponsor of your trip – it can be close family member or inviting person/institution in Poland. In case your sponsor is an individual, his/her original bank account statement showing transactions from last 6 months must be provided. Statement must be confirmed by public notary. Official invitation registered in Poland is accepted as the confirmation of possessing financial means covering cost of living and – if it is stated clearly in this document – accommodation. 

9. Document confirming current professional status, such as: 
a. confirmation letter from employer, showing period of contract and salary,
b. in case of students: letter from school/university confirming enrollment and current year of education,
c. retired: document confirming receiving of pension.

10.    A proof of accommodation. Hotel booking or apartment reservation. It can be stated as well in official invitation registered in Poland. 

11.    Documents confirming the purpose and the conditions of your planned stay in Poland and Schengen area, depending on the reason of your travel:

A.    Tourism

a.    Hotel/apartment bookings for whole period of planned trip and all countries you are going to visit.
b.    Written travel plan, showing places you are going to visit and means of transport between them.

B.    Family/private visit visa

a.    Documents confirming family relations.
b.    Official invitation registered in Poland.

C.   Business visa

a.    Invitation from the company in Poland.
b.    Documents confirming business status, activity in Syria and purpose of travel to Poland – company registration, membership in chamber of commerce, position within the company, monthly salary.
c.    Documents showing history of business relations with Polish companies: previous invoices, shipping documents, customs clearance documents, email correspondence.
d.    In case of attending business events in Poland: invitations/entry tickets to conferences, fairs, congresses.

Additionally, when applying for a visa for a minor you should present:
•    Written consent of the child’s parent(s) to apply for a visa, confirmed by a notary. If there is only one guardian, it should be proved by a birth certificate, a court decision on exclusive parental custody or a death certificate of the other parent.
•    Originals and copies of parents' passports.
•    Original and a copy of a birth certificate.
If a child is entered in their parent's or a legal guardian’s passport, please submit a separate visa application. The visa will be pasted into the parent's or the legal guardian's passport.

Important:
•    - All Arabic documents must be translated into Polish or English.
•    - All Syrian official documents must be stamped by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.
•    - You must apply for a visa in a consular office or the embassy’s consular department in the consular district of your place of residence.
•    - Usually, the above documents are enough to receive a visa, however, the consul may require additional documents.
•    - Apply for a visa not earlier than six months before your planned journey.
•    - You may be banned from entering any of the Schengen States if you present forged documents or provide false information.
•    - Receiving the visa does not guarantee that you will enter the Schengen area - the final decision is always made by the authorities of the country where you intend to cross the Schengen area border.

Additional information:

•    The Visa Information System (VIS) is used, among other purposes, for the exchange of data on visa applications and related decisions between Member States. As a result of having achieved full operational efficiency, the travel document of a foreigner applying for a Schengen visa is not stamped with a stamp confirming the admissibility of the application referred to in art. 20 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 13, 2009 on the establishment of a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code).

The fee for accepting and processing an application for a Schengen visa or a national visa is according to the consular fees table. 

The visa application fee is non-returnable, whatever the consul's decision. 

The consul will make the decision on the visa within 15 calendar days. Exceptionally, the time to make the decision can be extended up to 45 days.  

Personally at the consular office. Exact date and time will be written on the receipt you will receive during your visit. 

INFORMATION TO VISA HOLDERS

You have been issued a visa for the territories of the Schengen States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland). 

As soon as you receive your short-stay visa, make sure that all the information it contains is correct.

Check the following:
•    Your passport has a passport number. This number is also indicated on the visa sticker. Make sure that these numbers are the same.
•    You applied for your visa for a specific period or periods. Check that your air ticket corresponds with the entry and exit dates indicated on the visa sticker.
•    Check that the number of entries you applied for (one, two, or multiple) corresponds with the number of entries indicated on your visa sticker.
•    Check that your name is spelled correctly.

Do this yourself in order to avoid any problems or extra costs arising when using your visa. If you think that the information on the visa is incorrect, tell the consulate or embassy immediately, so that any errors can be corrected.

How to read the visa sticker

DURATION OF STAY………DAYS indicates the number of days, you may stay in the Schengen area. The days should be counted from the date you enter the Schengen area (the entry stamp) to the date you exit the Schengen area (the exit stamp), i.e. both days included. 

The period of time between “FROM …UNTIL” is usually longer than the number of days printed in the “DURATION OF STAY” field. The difference in period is meant to give you flexibility to plan your entry into and exit from the Schengen area, but your stay in the Schengen area must never exceed the exact number of days in the “DURATION OF STAY …DAYS” field. No matter how many days you have stayed in the Schengen area, you must leave no later than the date printed in the “UNTIL” field."

Controls at the border

Your short-stay visa allows you to travel to Poland and usually to other Schengen States. But it does not automatically entitle you to enter the Schengen area. So you may have to provide certain information at border or other controls. You may, for instance, have to provide information on your means of support, how long you intend to stay in Poland, and why you are visiting Poland. In some cases, such checks may result in a refusal for the visa holder to enter Poland or the Schengen area.

It is therefore recommended that you carry with you copies of the documents which you presented when you applied for the visa (e.g. letters of invitation, travel confirmations, other documents stating the purpose of your stay). This will help to make the border control procedure easier and avoid delays at the border.

NB: You must keep to the period of stay allowed by your visa. Misuse and overstay may result in you being expelled and banned from obtaining a new visa for a certain period of time.
 

If you do not agree with the consul's decision, you have the right to apply for a re-examination of the visa application. You must submit it at the office that issued the visa decision within 14 days of receiving it.

The fee is according to the consular fees table. 

The visa application fee is non-returnable, whatever the consul's decision. 

Revocation or annulment of Schengen visa

If you have received a decision to revoke or annul your Schengen visa that you do not agree with, you have the right to ask for a reconsideration. However, if you have applied yourself for your Schengen visa to be revoked and the consul has agreed, you are not entitled to appeal.
You should apply for reconsideration within 14 days of receiving the decision to annul or revoke your Schengen visa at the consular post that issued the decision.

If you apply for reconsideration after your Schengen visa was revoked or annulled, you do not have to pay the consular fee.

Complaint about refusal to issue Schengen visa, decision to revoke or annul Schengen visa and the consul's activities in this respect.

If the consul who examines your reconsideration request, issues a new decision to refuse, annul or revoke your visa, which you do not agree with, you have the right to submit a complaint to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw. The complaint should be forwarded through the consul who made the decision, within 30 days of receiving the decision taken as a result of the re-examination .

You do not pay a consular fee for submitting a complaint to the consul, but you have to pay fees for proceedings before administrative courts. Therefore, you have to note that the court will ask you to pay the court fee. More information on the amount of court fees when appealing with the administrative court, possibility to apply for an exemption from the costs and the language of the procedure, is available at:
http://bip.warszawa.wsa.gov.pl/133/wpis-sadowy-zasady-dokonywania-wpisu.html