The Polish government has announced a tightening of the visa regime for those who come on work and student visas, as well as an increase in fines for local employers for hiring illegal migrants.
The country’s leadership reported a large number of violations of visa rules and that now every foreign employee and student will be monitored and monitored.
What happened
In recent years, there have been numerous visa scandals in Poland. For example, last year a huge corruption scheme was uncovered, in which the agency issued an unlimited number of work visas to employees from Asian and African countries.
After that, the illegal issuance of visas to Russians was revealed, who since February 2022 have received about 2,000 illegally issued entry permits.
The government expects that with the tightening of the visa policy, not only the number of violations will decrease, but also the number of work and study visas issued in general.
Changes for Polish companies and foreign employees
It is planned to significantly increase fines for companies that irregularly employ foreign workers, allegedly in need of labor. The new fine amount will be approximately € 670 or 3,000 Polish zloty.
Additionally, the Ministry proposed to impose a fine of €23,214 (100,000 Polish zloty). It will have to be paid by Polish companies that help illegal migrants come to Poland, allegedly getting a job there, but not for real work for the company, but for issuing work visas. This is how foreigners enter the country and illegally stay here. There are many such organizations operating in the country now, and they need to be eradicated.
Changes for international students
Due to violations in the field of issuing work visas, foreign students will also suffer. The country’s leadership has decided to finally close the issue with all visa violations, so now it will become more difficult to enroll in a Polish university. This is because some people go to universities not to study, but to move to the country. At the same time, visas are issued automatically upon admission to the university, and no control is carried out.
What new requirements are being introduced:
- A high school graduation certificate must be provided;
- The minimum requirement for knowledge of the language of the curriculum is increased to B2.
The new requirements for issuing student visas will come into force for those applicants who will enroll in 2026.
It is reported that already in 2024, the issuance of student visas to foreigners has decreased by a third.
