Many foreigners are not sure about their travel to Poland during pandemic state of COVID 19. Since June 13, 2020, there are no border controls at the internal borders with the Republic of Poland. This also means abolishing the quarantine obligation but only within EU internal borders. The border can be crossed at any place both in the entry and exit direction from Poland. The restrictions, including restrictions on the entry of foreigners into Poland and quarantine of 10 days counted from day after foreigner arrival to Poland, still apply at the external border of EU.
Conditions of entry into Poland
At present, the external border in the direction of entry to Poland in accordance with the § 3 section 2 of the Regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration of 13 March 2020 on the temporary suspension or restriction of border traffic at specific border crossing points may only be crossed by the defined categories of travellers:
citizens of the Republic of Poland,
foreigners who are spouses of Polish citizens or remain under constant care,
foreigners holding the Card of the Pole,
members of diplomatic missions, consular posts and representatives of international organizations and members of their families, as well as by other persons crossing the border on the basis of a diplomatic passport;
foreigners having the right of permanent or temporary residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland, i.e.:
persons holding a residence card issued for the purpose:
temporary residence permit,
a permanent residence permit,
long-term resident’s EU residence permit,
a permit to stay for humanitarian reasons,
refugee status,
granting subsidiary protection,
about the people who have:
a certificate of registering the residence of an EU citizen,
the right of permanent residence of an EU citizen,
permission to stay as a family member of an EU citizen,
permission for permanent residence of a family member of an EU citizen;
foreigners who have the right to work in the territory of the Republic of Poland and who simultaneously perform/are performing work in the territory of the Republic of Poland or during border control present documents which indicate that their work start immediately after crossing the border.
Persons belonging to this category of persons should present during border control documents confirming that the foreigner currently has access to the national labour market and currently benefiting from this access, i. e. he/she works in Poland or does business in our country. Depending on the category of foreigner, these will be the following types of documents:
in the case of third-country nationals who are required to have a work permit –
work permit, seasonal work permit, certificate of entry in the register on seasonal work, statement on entrusting work to a foreigner on the territory of the Republic of Poland or permit belonging to the category of uniform permits, such as e. g. temporary residence and work permit;
in the case of foreigners entitled to perform work on the same conditions as Polish citizens – these are, among others, foreigners specified in article 87 section 1 points 1 – 11 of the Act of 20 April 2004 on employment promotion and labour market institutions (e. g. European Union citizens)- e. g. employment contracts, civil law contracts confirming the validity of cooperation with the entity;
in the case of foreigners performing work in the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of secondment – these should be documents confirming the fact of secondment to the territory of Poland, indicating the specific entity to which they were delegated;
in the case of foreigners exempted from the obligation to have a work permit – documents constituting the basis for this exemption, including contracts confirming work performance;
in the case of foreigners conducting business activity on the territory of Poland or performing a function in the management board of a legal person – e.g. an extract from the National Court Register or the articles of association.
Foreigners during the border control can provide electronic version, print or scan of original documents such as certificate of entry in the register on seasonal work or statement on entrusting work to a foreigner on the territory of the Republic of Poland
foreigners who operate a means of transport for the transport of persons or goods and their journey takes place as part of professional activities involving the transport of goods or transport of persons;
drivers engaged in carriage by road in the context of international road transport or international combined transport operations within the meaning of art. 4 points 2 and 14 of the Act of 6 September 2001 on road transport (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 2140 and of 2020, item 875) travelling in transit through the territory of the Republic of Poland by means of transport other than the vehicle by which road transport is carried out:
in order to take the rest referred to in Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) 2135/98, as well as repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 (OJ L 102, 11.04.2006, p. 1, as amended 2)), in the territory of the country of stay,
after collecting the rest referred to in the Regulation mentioned above, and after a break in the performance of work in the circumstances indicated in art. 31 section 1 of the Act of 16 April 2004 on working time of drivers (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1412);
nationals of Member States of the European Union and of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) – Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation and their spouses and children;
foreigners holding a permanent residence permit or a long-term resident’s European Union residence permit, on the territory of other Member States of the European Union, a Member State of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) – Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation and their spouses and children, in order to travel through the territory of the Republic of Poland, to their place of residence or stay;
students studying in the Republic of Poland, after having been documented to a Border Guard officer, learning in the Republic of Poland;
accordance with the provisions of the Act of 14 December 2016 on the Educational Law, the status of a student (listener – as in accordance with Article 4 point 20 – a student is also
a listener and pupil) is owned by persons studying on the territory of the Republic of Poland in public or non-public schools:
– primary and secondary schools for children and youth (i. e. eight-year primary school or post-primary school – i. e. four-year general secondary school, five-year technical school, three-year vocational school, three-year special school for work preparation),
– second-level vocational schools and post-secondary schools (i. e. a two-year industry school of II degree, post-secondary school for persons with secondary education or industry secondary education of no more than 2.5 years)
– for adults (primary school and general secondary school, where a separate education organisation applies and to which adults are admitted).
, the status of a student is also assigned to students of a vocational qualification course – a form of extracurricular adult education. It is intended for all persons who are over 18 years old and have completed a lower secondary school or an 8-year primary school. Training in a vocational qualification course is based on the curriculum of the profession and prepares for a vocational examination.
students, participants in post-graduate studies, specialist education and other forms of education, as well as doctoral students studying in the Republic of Poland, after having documented their education in the Republic of Poland to a Border Guard officer.
Participants of specialist education are those of colleges in which specialist education lasts no less than 3 semesters and allows to obtain a full qualification at level 5. Polish Qualification Framework (at 5. the level of qualification shall be a diploma of graduation from a teacher’s college, a diploma of graduation from a teacher’s college of foreign languages, a diploma of graduation from a college of social workers).
in other forms of training as defined in the Act of 20 July 2018 on Law on Higher Education and Science refers only to education in the higher education system, e. g. students of part-time studies, including studies conducted on-line, participants of preparatory courses to study in Polish, language courses conducted by universities. The term refers only to education in the higher education system.
scientists conducting research or development works in the Republic of Poland, having documented to a Border Guard officer the conduct of scientific research or development works in the Republic of Poland; specialists in a specific field of science employed in a scientific position at a university, college or research institute, who carry out research work on selected issues.
foreigners travelling by aircraft within the meaning of Article 2 point 1 of the Act of 3 July 2002 – Aviation Law (Dz. U. of 2019, item. 1580 and 1495 as well as from 2020 pos. 284 and 1378) operating an international flight who:
are nationals of: Georgia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Tunisia, the Commonwealth of Australia, or
have the right to reside in the territory of the States referred to in points (a)
the entry of these persons into the territory of the Republic of Poland is based on the verification of conditions of entry and stay contained in Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the EU Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) or in the Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners.
persons crossing the border of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a national repatriation visa or a visa to come to the territory of the Republic of Poland as a member of the repatriate’s close family;
foreigners who arrive in connection with participation, as a competitor, training staff member, doctor,
physiotherapist or judge, in international sports competitions organised on the territory of the Republic of
Poland by an international sports federation active in Olympic or Paralympic sport or other sport recognised
by the International Olympic Committee or organised by an international sportsorganisation of continental range
belonging to such federation or Polish sports associationas and accredited journalists, after documenting to
the Border Guard officer the fact of taking part in the competition, the date and
nature of participation by a relevant letter issued by the organiser of the competition or certified by a Polish
sports association competent in a given sport.
foreigners crossing the border of the Republic of Poland on the basis of humanitarian visa
(from 09/22/2020) citizens of the Republic of Belarus;
fishermen within the meaning of the article 2 point 9 of the Act of 11 September 2019 on work on board a fishing vessel (Dz.U. pos. 2197) or seafarers within the meaning of the article 2 point 3 of the Act of 5 August 2015 on worka at sea (Dz.U of 2020 pos.1353), including seafarers employed under the conditions laid down in article 46 or 108 of the Act on worka at sea, and also:
- a) seafarers and fishermen travelling to the port for employment purposes (work onboard a ship) and to their place of residance or stay after the completion employment, even they are travelling by different means of transport – also through the territory of the Republic of Poland
b)persons working on a ship or offshore platform on the basis of documents different than sailor’s employment contract
foreigners holding visa issued for the purpose of participation in ‘’Poland. Business Harbour” programme
Persons who do not meet at least one of the above conditions do not currently have the right to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland.
In particularly justified cases (mainly due to humanitarian reasons), the commanding officer of the Border Guard Post, after obtaining the consent of the Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard, may allow foreigners who do not meet the entry requirements set out in the Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of March 13, 2020 on temporary suspension or restriction of border traffic at specific border crossing points, to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland.
The decision on permitting entry is made each time by the commanding officer of the Border Guard Post during the border check, after the necessary control and verification activities have been carried out, in particular after verification of the documentation submitted by the foreigner.
This means that a foreigner cannot apply for such a permit earlier.
[purchase_link id=”4199″ text=”Purchase” style=”button” color=”blue”]
