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Student Visa Process for Poland

​Academic Year, Fall, and Spring students: You are required to obtain a student visa to participate in the semester program in Poland. It is your responsibility as a student in this program to obtain a student visa before departure.

WHAT IS A CONSULATE?

A consulate is an official office of the government of a particular country that is actually based in the territory of another. In plain English, this means that the representatives of a particular country live and work in another country (i.e., the United States). Consular officials have been appointed by the host country government and have the authority to issue visas. Consequently, they are responsible for reviewing and processing all visa applications. In some cases, visa applications can also be facilitated by Vice Consular Officials who have their own offices within a given jurisdiction (generally one in each state). These Vice Consular Offices may be able to review your visa documents as well.

HOW DO I APPLY FOR A VISA?

  • You must apply for your student visa directly through the corresponding Polish Consulate. To determine which consulate you should be working with, we have included a list of consulates for you to verify which consulate is located in your home jurisdiction or that of your home university. 
  • Follow these steps to begin the process of obtaining your student visa: 

Step One: Research and Review 

Carefully review all of the API provided documents. Visit the Website of the Republic of Poland for a list of general documents required. Contact the consulate in your jurisdiction if additional documents are required. Consulates may change student visa requirements at any time. It is extremely important that you verify the document requirements with your local consulate before submitting your application. You should also verify the number of copies of each document you are required to submit and the visa processing fee. Incomplete applications will not be processed by consulates. Please reference the Poland Application Instructions to help you complete the application. 

Research the following components:  

  • Application requirements
  • Standard processing times and recommended timeline guidelines
  • Submission requirements (personal appearance or submission by mail) 
  • Appointment requirements/procedures 
  • Open days/hours if drop in appointments are accepted 
  • Return requirements (Is a personal appearance required to collect the visa once it has been issued?) 
  • Personal travel plans that will affect my ability to obtain my visa before I leave the U.S. (Remember that API discourages students from making plans to travel internationally before the program.)

Step Two: Schedule an Appointment

Next, we encourage you to make a schedule of when and how you will collect all of the necessary  documents, schedule an appointment (if necessary) with the consulate in your jurisdiction, and make travel plans to visit the consulate well in advance of your travel dates. You must submit your visa application to the consulate within your jurisdiction a maximum of 90 days prior to the start date of the program abroad but no later than 31 days prior to the start date. If you do not follow this strict guideline, your documents may be returned to you unprocessed. In many cases, submitting your visa application requires an appointment. 

It is critical that you do not wait until the last minute to apply for your student visa or schedule an appointment to submit your student visa!

API will provide the following documents to you to submit with your visa application:

  1. API Letter of Enrollment
  2. Letter of Acceptance from Jagiellonian University
  3. Student Insurance Letter
  4. Housing Verification Letter

These documents will be sent together (as they are received by API) to the student’s permanent home address by regular mail, unless otherwise requested. These documents are requested from the host institution overseas as each student is accepted into the program.

Lost Documents: Should you lose your letter of acceptance from Poland, it will be an additional $20 for two day shipping, $40 for one day shipping, and $10 for ground shipping to obtain a new one. You must allow a minimum of one and a half weeks for the processing of this letter. The API Letter of Enrollment and the Insurance Verification letter can be reissued in 3 days and sent to you by express mail for an additional fee.

Step Three: Collect and Submit Documentation

Gather the necessary documents and submit them to the appropriate consulate according to the specific consulate’s rules. Consult API’s sample documents, as well as the documents provided on the consulate’s website. The average processing time for a student visa is 30 days. When submitting the application, please be sure to keep a copy of the tracking number of the return envelope so that you can track the package at a later date. Polish Consulates do not have an expedited visa processing service. You must apply on time or you risk not receiving a visa before your program start date. Students whose passports and visas have not been returned to them prior to their scheduled departure date will have to wait for their passport and visa to be returned to them before traveling. They will not receive a discount for missed orientation activities from API.

Step Four: Follow Up With the Consulate

If you do not receive your visa within 30 days or less, you should start tracking the return envelope to see if it has been sent or not and you may want to begin contacting the consulate to check the status. You may be able to apply for a student visa at the consulate that corresponds to your local address, but generally you must work with the consulate connected to your permanent state of residency.

CONSULAR OFFICES: 

CONSULATE GENERAL IN CHICAGO 

  • 1530 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60610
  • Tel: (312) 337-8166 ext. 228
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Office hours: Monday-Wednesday; Friday 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM; Thursday 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Jurisdiction: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin
  • https://www.gov.pl/web/usa 

CONSULATE GENERAL IN HOUSTON

  • 3040 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 525, 5th floor, Houston TX 77056, USA
  • Tel: (713) 479-6770; (713) 993-9685
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Open to Public: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Mon.: 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM
  • Jurisdiction: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
  • https://www.gov.pl/web/usa 

CONSULATE GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES

  • 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, suite 555, Los Angeles, CA 90025
  • Tel: (310) 442-8500
  • Email: [email protected] 
  • Office hours: Monday- Friday 8:15 AM – 4:15 PM
  • Open to Public: 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM
  • Jurisdiction: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington,  Wyoming
  • https://www.gov.pl/web/usa 

CONSULATE GENERAL IN NEW YORK

  • 233 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016
  • Tel: (646) 237-2100 or (212) 561-8160
  • Email: [email protected] 
  • Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM; Wednesday 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
  • Jurisdiction: Delaware, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,  Vermont
  • https://www.gov.pl/web/usa 

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND IN WASHINGTON, D.C., CONSULAR DIVISION

  • 2224 Wyoming Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008-3992
  • Tel: (202) 499-1700
  • Email: [email protected] 
  • Office hours: Monday- Friday 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
  • Open to Public: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Wed.: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
  • Jurisdiction: Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and Overseas Territories
  • https://www.gov.pl/web/usa