Probably someone has already noticed that we are going to Poland. The opportunity turned up to go to Warsaw to the Olinek rehabilitation center, so that Egor and I could work out there. So, I started to apply for a visa here and realized that I completely relaxed with my Thailand. Who was there crying that in Tae the visars were canceled and everything became complicated? You just didn't do the Polish Schengen ... Apparently next time I will do Schengen visa to France or Spain, because Poland's requirements are too tough, I really felt like a citizen of some third-rate country.
Okay, I'll tell you what documents I submitted, and what they said to me on the phone and at the visa center itself.
The content of the article
Obtaining a visa to Poland on your own
Some strange requirements
For individual entrepreneurs: confirmation of business activities (for example, a 2NDFL or 3NDFL certificate or an extract from the tax inspectorate register and a certificate confirming an independent business) or a bank statement for the previous 3 months, a certificate not older than 1 month.
That is, if a person does not have such a certificate (or individual entrepreneur), then they need not only to show the presence of finances, but also to move in 3 months. I had to redo the statement from the bank, because at first I made a regular one with the current availability of money in the account. And there was some problem, because I have several accounts and it is somehow silly to show the movement of 10 thousand rubles for 3 months.
But then more, I called the visa center of Poland and said, look, I have an individual entrepreneur account, I can show you the movement of funds at least for a year, because I really work, but now I have 0 rubles on this account, since I do not keep there is money on it, and no one holds it. And I have a personal account, where now is just the right amount (calculated for 3 people for 30 days). They answer me, there should be one financial document! How is it? Naturally, I submitted two bank statements, but more on that below..
In a civil passport, on the stamps for issuing a passport, there must be a mark about their invalidity. In the absence of such a mark, a copy of the old passport is required. If you lose your old passport, you need a certificate from the FMS, police or other competent authority.
Not only is it not enough that no one is stamped in the passport of the Russian Federation about the cancellation of foreign countries (I asked around on purpose), but there is no particular point in keeping the old foreign country, especially if it changed 5 years ago. It's good that, in fact, these stamps in the Russian passport were not checked..
Proof of Residence (a document from an institution that guarantees accommodation or another relevant document indicating that it is expected to live in accordance with the legislation of a member state of the Schengen area (original, fax or scan with a printout of the email itself, in the attachment of which the confirmation was received). on the territory of Poland must be 50%, and in case of departure to other countries, Schengen must be fully paid.A hotel reservation (only in Russian, Polish or English) must contain the following information: booking period, names and surnames of persons planning to stay at the hotel , stamp, address and phone number of the hotel, information on the amount of payment made, travel plan.
Unpaid reservations will not be accepted, plus there are still some booking requirements. It was confirmed by phone that the accommodation must be paid for and the booking must indicate that it cannot be canceled. While France or Spain accept printouts of reservations from Booking.com, which can be canceled later.
By the way, it is more convenient to look at hotels through the RoomGuru service, which searches in all well-known booking systems at once, including Booking. Convenient that you can see where the price is cheaper and already book there.
Filling out the questionnaire and useful links
I will not dwell here in detail, because filling out the questionnaire is quite standard for a Schengen visa, and the questionnaire is also standard. I filled it out directly on the website of the Polish consulate, or rather clicked on the link to go to the form where you can fill out this form, and then save it to your computer and print.
Online questionnaire
There you need to select a country and a representative office, after which the item will appear on the left side. «Schengen Visa - Fill out the form», here you need to click on it and the form will open.
Online application for a Schengen visa to Poland
At the end of filling, press print
An example of filling out a questionnaire on the website of the consulate of Poland. Or you can download from here on this link from our blog.
If you do not want to fill out a visa online on the website, then you can download a pdf file (1 or 2) and fill it out in your pdf editor or by hand, after printing it out.
If there is an error in your application form, then it's okay, you can cross out and correct it on the spot in the visa center, this is allowed.
Documents for a Polish Schengen visa
You can read the list of documents and all visa requirements on the website of the Polish consulate. There is quite a lot of text on the link, but if you read carefully, then everything becomes clear.
What documents did I submit
- Completed visa application form.
- Photo 3.5 x 4.5, 2 pieces. Moreover, photos with corners are not suitable, or where the face does not occupy 80% of the photo, they wrapped me up, made it on the spot for 200 rubles.
- Consent to the processing of personal data. I printed it from the website of the visa center here, but you can fill it out on the spot.
- Passport and photocopy of the main page.
- A photocopy of the RF passport. Pages: main, registration, marriage stamp, information about children, stamps about foreign countries. For the child, respectively, a copy of the birth certificate. About mark «canceled» on stamps about foreign countries, they did not say anything.
- Copy of marriage certificate.
- An invitation from the Olinek rehab center, not the original, just a printout sent to me by email.
- AirBnb booking printed from the website and fully paid. This was indicated on the printout, but there were no names, seals, etc. Since reservations on AirBnb are often canceled, you need to choose those hosts where you cannot cancel (this is all indicated in the accommodation profile). And if you don't know yet, what is AirBnb, then it's time to find out and get a $ 20 bonus after registration.
- Paid round-trip flights to Warsaw (I bought it here, but you can still buy it on Skyscanner.ru, it's also convenient there).
- Medical insurance for the whole family with coverage of 30,000 euros (Bought here, mega convenient service for travelers.)
- Copies of the certificate of registration of the individual entrepreneur and my TIN. They also asked for a notice of tax registration, but I didn't have it with me.
- Statement from a personal account with the amount (50 euros / day / person for 3 people and for 30 days). As well as a statement from an individual entrepreneur's account with the movement of funds for the last 3 months.
- Free-form sponsorship letter, 2 pieces, one for the wife and the second for the son. Download the impromptu template from us.
- A copy of the child's disability certificate (if any). According to it, neither the consular fee nor the visa center fee will be charged for the child, that is, he will receive a visa for free at all. Also, 1 accompanying person (parent) in this case is exempt from the consular fee, but not exempt from the visa center fee.
- Cash in rubles. Take at the rate for the current day. € 35 for a visa + € 20 visa application center fee.
How I got my visa
Came around 15 o'clock. The line was literally 1 person, there are a lot of windows, so I waited 5 minutes, no more. The whole process took about 40 minutes, because I served for three people, and I was also wrapped up with photographs (there was a corner) and I made them on the spot in a photo booth for 200 rubles.
Specially asked the employee of the center about the requirement to show the movement of funds for 3 months, she replied that yes, this is necessary, just the statement does not roll. I also asked about two bank statements, replied that one shows our solvency, and the second that my individual entrepreneur is real and active, that is, they told me nonsense on the phone.
They also wanted an invoice from Olinek, but I said that we were not invoiced, because this was not a treatment (although the goal was set in the questionnaire), but rehabilitation. We decide on the spot what classes to do, and then we get invoiced. So I understand that in the case of treatment, an account is required.
All documents were checked carefully, but the impression was that the girls from the visa center did not know everything, they periodically ran somewhere for advice, and they also could not say anything about how best to do it. However, they persuaded me to apply for an annual multi-Schengen, instead of a single entry for the required dates. The fact is that in the invitation from Olinek, it was written that for some reason they were expecting us next year too..
I applied for visas on Friday, next Friday they were already ready, that is, 5 working days. Took it also quickly, in 10 minutes.
Schengen visa to Poland
Visa Center
I have already given a link to the website of the Polish Embassy. But the registration is mostly done at the visa center. I applied there, and my friends went there too. On the embassy website there is a link to register a completed application form, I tried several times, but it was written there all the time «dates unavailable». Perhaps the embassy itself is not worth poking into already.
Visa application points are open from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 18.00
- acceptance of visa applications - from 9.00 to 17.30,
- issuance of passports - from 9.00 to 18.00
Information by phone: (499) 426-03-12, (499) 681-19-26
Website: http://www.vfsglobal.com/poland/russia/index.html, e-mail: [email protected]
It is located near the Savelovskaya metro station, about 10 minutes walk from the metro. Moreover, the entrance to the visa center is from the Garden Ring side, you don't have to go anywhere in the courtyards, right behind the Olivier store, where the Tanuki restaurant is.
Visa center here under this sign
Poland Visa Application Center
The visa center takes an additional 20 euros for its work, so the visa will eventually cost not 35 euros (standard consular fee for Schengen), but 55 euros.
The visa is made up to 10 working days, so it is better to apply in advance.
P.S. As a result, we received an annual Schengen with a stay of 90 days. It remains to figure out why we need this, and where else to go to Europe so that the visa does not disappear.
