For Ukrainian Students

Applying for a Poland student visa? Here’s help!

Poland is a country steeped in history and can be your ideal study abroad destination. The country has more than 450 higher education institutes offering courses in a range of subjects. Students from over 150 countries have made Poland their study abroad destination.

The universities here follow the Bologna system like other European nations.

 Language  Requirement to Study in Poland 

Though international students can enroll in courses taught in English, it is beneficial if they learn the Polish language. This will help them communicate with the local community and get familiar with the local culture.

Tuition Fees and Living Costs 

Tuition fees in Poland starting from 1700 Euros in a year. Accommodation costs like rental rates are reasonable. Living costs that include food, transportation, and social activities are on the lower side here compared to other European countries.

Student Visa Requirements

Non-EU nationals require a student visa to study here. The visa is valid for a period of three months. In order to extend their stay students must apply for a residence permit at least 45 days before their visa expires.

The residence permit is issued for 15 months. You can extend it for a period of up to three years, but it cannot extend beyond the duration of your course.

Working While You Study 

Students from non-EU countries can work here during their course.

You can work part-time and finance your stay in Poland by working part-time.

However, having a valid residency permit to operate would be advantageous. That is required to study in Poland, so you would be able to work part-time.

Documents Required Including :

  • Valid passport
  • Completed visa application form
  • 2 passport size photos
  • Medical insurance that is valid in Europe
  • Proof of having the required financial resources to cover your educational and living expenses during your course of study
  • Certificate of acceptance from the educational institution in Poland
  • Proof of accommodation
  • Receipt of payment of tuition fees for the first semester
  • Receipt of payment of the visa application fees

Steps to study abroad in Poland :

Step 1:

Research Your Options:

Before you shortlist the universities, decide what you want to study, where you want to live, overall cost, various opportunities, etc.

Step 2:

Select Universities:

Shortlist the universities (about 10 universities should do) & study programs that meet your requirements and you want to apply for.

Step 3:

Prepare for entrance exams:

Prepare for standardized tests like TOEFL/GRE/GMAT/IELTS etc. based on the requirements of the universities & colleges. Register for these tests in advance. While applying for the tests you should also plan for the time required in case you need to retake the test. You should complete these tests before September of the year you wish to apply.

Step 4:

Finance your studies:

Ensure that you have the money ready for your entire period of study in Poland along with accommodation, local travel, food, and other miscellaneous expenses. Decide on how you will finance your studies – personal savings, education loans, student scholarships, or assistantship.

Step 5:

Apply to university:

Contact each university directly for the admission requirements. Every university has its own admission requirements. Complete the applications well before deadlines and send them.

Step 6:

Confirm admission:

Once you get your acceptance letters from the universities that you have applied to, choose the university you would like to study at. The next step is to pay a non-refundable deposit to the university to confirm your admission.

Step 7:

Get Student Visa:

Once you get admission confirmation done, you can apply for your student visa.

Study in Poland ThinkNew Help You?

  • Provide guidance on the required documentation
  • Advice on the funds that need to be shown
  • Help in filling out the application forms
  • Help in reviewing your documents for the visa application
Updated on Feb 08, 2022

Visas - general information

Types of visas

Before applying for a visa, you must decide what type of visa you will apply for:

Schengen visa (type C)

Visa for people who intend to stay in Poland or other countries of the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days in each 180-day period. This means that you can stay there legally only if your stay in the countries of the zone did not exceed 90 days during the last 180 days. On the website of the European Commission, you can find a special calculator that allows you to calculate how long you can stay in the Schengen countries.

You can apply for a Schengen visa at a Polish diplomatic mission if:

  • Poland is the only purpose of your visit to the Schengen area;
  • if you are visiting more than one country of the zone, but Poland is the main place of visit;
  • if you are unable to determine which of the Schengen countries is your main destination, but this is the first time you cross the border of the zone in Poland.

In exceptional cases, it is also possible to issue the so-called Schengen LTV visa valid only on the territory of selected countries of the zone.

Domestic Visa (Type D)

Apply for this visa if you want to stay in Poland for more than 90 days. The period of validity of this visa, however, may not exceed 1 year. You must select an application for a national visa if you are applying for asylum, repatriation or you are using the rights given to you by the Pole's Card.

Airport Transit Visa (Type A)

Choose this type of visa if you plan only transit through the international zone of the airport located in the Schengen zone and you travel on the basis of a passport of one of the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka.

Simplified visa procedure for family members of EU citizens

Who can use the procedure?

REMEMBER: The procedure applies only to family members of EU citizens who do not have Polish citizenship or do not live permanently in Poland. 

EU citizens include:

  • nationals of EU Member States, 
  • nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

A family member of an EU citizen is considered to be:

  • a spouse of an EU citizen,
  • a direct descendant of the EU citizen or his spouse, aged up to 21 or dependent on the EU citizen or his spouse,
  • direct ascendant of the EU citizen or his spouse, dependent on the EU citizen or his spouse.

What does the simplified procedure entitle you to:

  • The visa application is free of charge.
  • Your application will be accepted at the diplomatic mission without having to make an appointment in advance.

Required documents:

  • a printed and signed visa application form (filled in on the e-konsulat website );
  • an up-to-date color photograph measuring 3.5 x 4.5 cm;
  • valid passport;
  • a document confirming the existence of family ties with the EU citizen (e.g. marriage certificate, birth certificate);
  • a document confirming the fact of accompanying the EU citizen on the journey or joining him at the place of residence.

Refusal to issue a visa

Refusal to issue a visa by a consul takes the form of a decision. The decision to refuse this type of visa may be appealed against to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Biometric data

When submitting your visa application, your biometric data will be collected: a photo in the case of a national visa and a photo and fingerprints for Schengen visa applications.

If you have applied for a Schengen visa in the last 59 months and your fingerprints have been collected, you will not have to re-submit them - the system will automatically transfer your data.

The following persons are exempt from the obligation to collect fingerprints:

  • children under the age of 12;
  • persons for whom fingerprinting is physically impossible (e.g. due to the lack of fingers or their temporary trauma);
  • heads of state or government, members of national governments with accompanying spouses, and the members of their official delegation when invited for official purposes;

 

Where will you handle the matter?

You have two options to submit the application:
1. directly at the consular office, after prior registration of the application in the e-konsulat system 
2. at one of the Visa Application Points (VAC), the list of which can be found below. 

Please note that due to local government instructions to temporarily suspend business activities as a preventive measure to counter coronavirus (COVID-19) infections, Poland Visa Application Centers have been temporarily closed until further notice.

Please check the news published on our website regarding the work of the VAC.

It will be possible to collect passports after the resumption of the operation of the VAC.

Visa Application Points
Please be advised that under the agreement signed between the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine and VFS Worlwide Holdings Ltd., the acceptance of visa applications takes place through the following Visa Application Points:

- Kharkiv consular district

Kharkiv, ul. Akademika Pawłowa, 271, Radmir Expohol Business Center, 4th floor

Dnipro,  al. Dmytra Yavornytskoho 22 ,  49000 Dnipro ( Atrium Business Center 2 floor)  

Zaporizhia,  al. Majakowskiego 11, business center “Majakowski”, 4th floo

- Kiev consular district

Kiev, pl. Sportowy 1a ("Guliwer" Shopping Center, 8th floor)

Where will you handle the matter?

You have two options for submitting the application:
1. directly at the territorially competent consular office of the Republic of Poland.
2. if there are no vacancies in the e-konsulat system , also at one of the Visa Application Centers (VACs), the list of which can be found below. 

- Kharkiv consular district

Kharkiv, ul. Bohaterów Pracy 7, 61168 Kharkiv

Dnipro, al. Dmytra Yavornytskoho 22, 49000 Dnipro (Atrium Business Center 2 floor)

Zaporizhia, al. Majakowskiego 11, business center “Majakowski”, 4th floor

- Kiev consular district

Kiev, pl. Sportowy 1a ("Guliwer" Shopping Center, 8th floor)

Kropiwnicki, ul. Forteczna 19

- Lviv consular district

Ivano-Frankivsk, ul. Trolleybus 4A

Lviv, ul. Jerelna 18

Uzhgorod, ul. Kapuszańska 92

- Lutsk consular district

Lutsk, ul. Krivyj Wał 31

Rivne, ul. Petliury 22

Tarnopol, ul. Tancorowa 14

- Odessa consular district:

Odessa, ul. Kanatna 22

Kherson, ul. Uszakowa 79

- Vinnytsia consular district:

Chmielnicki, ul. Wodoprovidna 75/2

Chernivtsi, ul. Heroes of Majdan 31

Vineyard, ul. Pirogowa 52 a (3rd floor)

Zhytomyr, ul. Kijowska 116

Customer Service Call Center (for all Visa Application Points):

+38 044 390 78 26, +38 032 298 44 10, + 38 032 236 26 05, +38 050 419 30 10, + 38 067 343 04 80, +38 093 175 55 03

Website:  http://www.vfsglobal.com/Poland/Ukraine

 

How will you make an appointment?

1. Make an appointment in the e-konsulat system to make an appointment to submit a visa application at a diplomatic mission . 

2. To submit an application to the VAC you should:

Step 1:  Choose the purpose of your trip to Poland.

  • for short-term stays (up to 90 days in the next 180 days) for business, tourist, cultural, sports purposes, etc., you must apply for a Schengen visa;
  • in the case of long-term stays (more than 90 days in the next 365 days) in order to study, study, work, etc., you must apply for a national visa.

It is necessary to prepare a set of documents required to apply for a visa according to the selected category.

Step 2: Fee for the VAC service.

After completing all the documents, you should personally report your foreign passport to any branch of Kredo Bank or Idea Bank in order to pay the fee (in the case of registration of the spouse and children, you must have their passports and documents confirming family ties with you).
When making the payment, please provide: 

  1. category of the requested visa:
    D - national visa  (work, studies, etc.);
  2. place of submission of documents;
  3. contact phone number.

After making the payment, you will receive an individual PTN code.

IMPORTANT:

When paying the fee for the VACP services, banks do not have the right to make the acceptance of the fee conditional on the purchase of other services or products of a given bank.  Providing an incorrect telephone number or a telephone number belonging to a third party will result in the inability to register, verification of the telephone number provided, or the necessity to start the refund procedure.

If you have made multiple payments, the registration system will reserve a registration space only for the first payment made. If the registration for the previous bank code has not yet expired or has not been granted, all subsequent fees will not be taken into account and the cost of such fee will be refunded.

Step 3:  On the next business day after payment, the automatic registration system will book the visa application deadline. This date will not be later than 7 days from the date of payment. It will also depend on the number of slots available in the system. Call Center operators have no influence on the choice of the registration date and cannot change the date set by the system.

 

Where will you handle the matter?

You have two options for submitting the application:
1. directly at the territorially competent consular office of the Republic of Poland.
2. at one of the Visa Application Centers (VACs) listed below. 

Please be advised that under the agreement signed between the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine and VFS Worlwide Holdings Ltd., the acceptance of visa applications takes place through the following Visa Application Points:

  •  Kharkiv consular district

Kharkiv,  ul. Bohaterów  Pracy 7, 61168 Kharkiv

Dnipro,  al. Dmytra Yavornytskoho 22 ,  49000 Dnipro ( Atrium Business Center 2 floor)  

Zaporizhia,  al. Majakowskiego 11, business center “Majakowski”, 4th floor

  •  Kiev consular district

Kiev, pl. Sportowy 1a ("Guliwer" Shopping Center, 8th floor)

Kropiwnicki ,  ul. Forteczna 19 

  •  Lviv consular district

Ivano-Frankivsk, ul. King Daniel 37

Lviv, ul. Jerelna 18

Uzhgorod, ul. Kapuszańska 92

  •  Lutsk consular district

Lutsk, ul. Krivyj Wał 31

Rivne, ul. Petliury 22

Tarnopol, ul. Tancorowa 14

  •  Odessa consular district:

Odessa, ul. Kanatna 22

Kherson, ul. Uszakowa 79

  •  Vinnytsia consular district:

Chmielnicki, ul. Wodoprovidna 75/2

Chernivtsi, ul. Heroes of Majdan 31

Vineyard, ul. Pirogowa 52 a (3rd floor)

The amendment to the Act on foreigners implementing the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2016/801 [2] into the Polish legal system changed the conditions for issuing national visas and granting temporary residence permits for the purpose of undergoing first-cycle, second-cycle or long-cycle studies or education at a doctoral school or undergoing a preparatory course to study at university

 

A visa with the annotation "student" can be obtained only by full-time students or people going to Poland in order to undergo a preparatory course to study at university .

A foreigner applying for a national visa with the annotation "student", to justify the purpose of travel, submits:

  • Certificate of the unit conducting the studies on admission to studies or on continuation of studies.
  • Proof of payment of the tuition fee, if he / she undertakes or continues paid studies.
  • Document confirming that he has sufficient financial resources to cover the costs of living and return travel to the country of origin or residence, or the costs of transit to a third country which will grant permission to enter, and the costs of studies . *

 

* Documents confirming the possibility of obtaining funds

Documents that can confirm the possibility of obtaining funds to cover the costs of return travel and funds to cover the costs of living of the foreigner and his family members in the territory of the Republic of Poland are:

1) traveler's check;

2) a certificate of the limit on the credit card issued by the bank that issued the credit card;

3) a certificate confirming the possession of funds in a bank or a cooperative savings and credit union established in the territory of the Republic of Poland ;

4) a document confirming the granting of a national or foreign scholarship;

5) certificate of employment and the amount of earnings.

Minors and dependent on their parents

If the applicant is a minor or is dependent on his parents, it is allowed to submit the above-mentioned documents issued to parents or legal guardians. (e.g. certificates of the limit amount on the parent's / legal guardian's credit card - from any bank).

In this case, you must provide a notarized sponsorship letter from the parents / legal guardians, in which they undertake to cover all travel and subsistence costs of the applicant, and a declaration on being dependent on the parents.

 

 

The amount of required financial resources :

A foreigner applying for a national visa for the purpose of studying should present a document confirming that he has sufficient funds to cover:

  • Costs for the return travel to the country of origin or residence or for the transit to the third country which grants the entry permit in the amount of:
  • PLN 200 , if it came from a country neighboring the Republic of Poland (i.e. from Ukraine)
  • PLN 2,500, if he came from a country other than the above-mentioned

 

  • Maintenance costs ; it is the amount of financial resources , after deducting the resources allocated to cover the cost of living.

 

For each month of the planned stay, it should be at least:

  • PLN 701 for a single person
  • PLN 528 for a person in the family

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