Polish Residence Regulations

In order to study in Poland, a foreign student is required to be in possession of a Polish student visa. Student visas are issued at Polish consulates the world over and are given for a period of up to 12 months. This visa will allow the foreign student to reside in Poland legally for the given study period. This document must be secured in your home country before arriving to Poland. The responsibility for obtaining a Polish student visa ultimately lies with the individual student.

You will be issued a student visa that will be valid for your entire academic stay in Poland. You will need to present a letter addressed to the consulate from the Jagiellonian University which confirms the specific time period you will have student status in Poland. The Department of International Polish Studies provides this document for its students. If you are intending to study for one semester you can expect to receive a student visa that will be valid for around 5 months (August-December; February-June), depending on your date of arrival to Poland. If you plan to spend the whole academic year, you can expect to receive a student visa for around 9 months (August-June), depending on your date of arrival to Poland.

The process of acquiring a Polish visa is fairly simple for foreign students. The application process is initiated at the Polish consulate closest to your home. You will want to apply for a multiple-entry student visa. The visa should be issued free of cost but please be aware that theory does not always meet practice in this matter. Polish consulates are given much lee-way and independence in interpreting existing rules and regulations and have been known to charge for student visas.

You will need to provide for the consulate the following:

1. A valid passport with the date of expiry at least 3 months after the date of your required departure from Poland.
2. One colour 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm photograph.
3. A letter of confirmation of acceptance to the Study Abroad Programme addressed to the consulate from the Jagiellonian University. The Department of IPS will send this letter to you upon acceptance to the Programme.
4. Documentation proving you have the financial means to travel to and from Poland and to financially support yourself during your study stay in Poland without recourse to gaining employment while residing in Poland. A photocopy or printout of your bank statement or other documents showing you have or are to receive grants or loans will suffice.
5. A completed application form. Application forms are available at each consulate or can be downloaded from here.

You may be requested to provide supplementary documents. Usually this will take the form of providing medical insurance documents.