Poland in US

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

Airport transit Schengen visa (A-Type)

Choose this visa type if you plan to pass through an international transit area of a Schengen airport travelling with a passport of one of these states:  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka.

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 is eligible:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This procedure applies only to family members of EU nationals who do not have Polish citizenship or do not have a permanent residence in Poland.

EU nationals include:

• nationals of EU member states,
• nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

A family member of an EU national is:

• a spouse,
• a partner with whom an EU national formed a partnership under the law of a given EU state, provided that this country’s law recognizes a formal partnership as equal to a marriage,
• a child under 21 who is dependent on an EU national, his/her spouse or partner.

Under the procedure you are eligible to submit your visa application:

• free of charge,
• without prior appointment.

Required documents:

• A printed and signed visa application (filled in online)
• A recent photo in colour 35 x 45 mm size,
• A valid passport,
• A document confirming marriage or partnership with an EU national,
• A document confirming that you accompany an EU national in his/her journey or join him/her in their place of residence.

Visa refusal:

A consul refuses a visa in the form of a decision. You can appeal against the refusal 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.

Pursuant to the intergovernmental agreement on visa representation between Poland and Latvia, Polish Consul in Los Angeles represents the Republic of Latvia in the territory of the Los Angeles consular district in the scope of processing visa applications and issuing visas C-type (uniform Schengen visa) and A-type (airport transit visa), with the exception of:

1. diplomatic and service visas;
2. visas issued for the purpose of employment;
3. visas issued for the purpose of study;
4. visas issued for other activities for which prior authorization of the Latvian authorities is required.

For the cases mentioned above the competent institution is the Embassy of Latvia in Ankara. 

As a rule, the procedures for submitting and processing visa applications for C-type and A-type visas for Latvia are the same, as the application procedures for C-type and A-type visas to Poland.

The list of third countries whose nationals or specific categories of whose nationals are subject to prior consultation or information can be found below in the "Materials" section.

In order for an application to be considered admissible, the following must be fulfilled:

- A filled in and signed application form (downloaded from e-konsulat system), a valid travel document and a photograph (in accordance with the standards set out in Council Regulation (WE)1683/95)  must be submitted,

- The visa fee must have been paid,

- Where applicable, biometric data must be collected,

- The travel document presented must be valid at least 3 months after the intended date of departure from the Member States in case in a single visa is applied for. If a multiple-entry  visa is applied for, the travel document must be valid 3 months after the last intended date of departure. The travel document should be issued not more than 10 years prior to the visa application,

- The travel document must contain sufficient, at least 2, blank pages.
 

Supporting documents must be attached to visa application, in accordance with visa requirements.

The possession of a visa does not constitute an automatic right of entry. The visa holder will be asked at the external border to provide evidence that he meets the entry conditions as foreseen in Art. 5 of the Schengen Borders Code.

 

ATTENTION: The stamp in the travel document indicating that an application is admissible under article 20 of the Schengen Visa Code has no legal consequences.