If your visa is about to end while you are still in Poland, the Act on Foreigners (ustawa o cudzoziemcach) lets you apply for an extension of its validity or of the stay it covers (Articles 82 and 85). This guide to extending a visa in Poland explains who decides, when to apply, what a timely application gives you and which documents the law lists. It sets out the rules. It cannot predict the result of your own case, because an authority decides each case.
Who decides on an extension
The voivode (wojewoda) responsible for the place where you stay extends a Schengen visa or a national (D) visa (wiza krajowa), or refuses to extend it. The voivode acts by a decision (Article 84(1) of the Act on Foreigners).
For a Schengen visa, the Visa Code (formally Regulation (EC) No 810/2009) adds a rule: the authority competent to extend the visa is that of the Member State on whose territory you are present at the moment of applying (Article 33(4) of the Visa Code).
The deadline: the last day of your legal stay
The deadline is the same for both kinds of visa. You submit the completed application form not later than on the day the period of your legal stay in Poland ends (Article 85(1) of the Act on Foreigners).
Start by finding out the exact date on which your legal stay ends. For more on counting stay in the Schengen area, read our guide on how to count the Schengen 90/180-day rule.
What a timely application gives you
Suppose you kept the deadline and your application has no formal defects, or the defects were put right within the time limit. The law then provides two things (Article 87(1) of the Act on Foreigners):
- A stamp. The voivode puts a stamp in your travel document to confirm that you submitted the application.
- Legal stay. Your stay in Poland is considered legal from the day you applied until the day the decision on the extension becomes final.
Notice the wording: the law does not tie the legal stay to the day the voivode decides, but to the day the decision becomes final. The stamp confirms the application, and the decision on the extension is a separate step.
Article 87(2) adds an exception: if the proceedings on the extension are suspended at the request of the party (the person who applied), the rule on legal stay does not apply.
Extending a national visa: four conditions
An extension of a national visa may take place if all the following conditions are met together (Article 82(1) of the Act on Foreigners):
- An important reason. An important professional or personal interest speaks for the extension, or humanitarian reasons stop you from leaving Poland before the visa expires or before the permitted stay ends.
- Events beyond your will. The events behind your application happened independently of your will and could not be foreseen on the day you applied for the visa.
- The same purpose. The circumstances of the case do not indicate that your purpose of stay in Poland will be different from the one you declared.
- No grounds for refusal. There are no circumstances because of which the issue of a national visa is refused.
Extending a Schengen visa
For a Schengen visa, Article 33 of the Visa Code separates two groups of reasons. In both groups the visa holder has to provide proof. Notice the words ‘shall’ and ‘may’: they come from the text of the Visa Code.
- Force majeure or humanitarian reasons. The visa shall be extended where the competent authority considers that you have provided proof of such reasons. They are reasons that stop you from leaving the Member States before your visa, or the stay it allows, runs out. Such an extension shall be granted free of charge (Article 33(1)).
- Serious personal reasons. The visa may be extended if you provide proof of serious personal reasons that justify the extension. A fee of EUR 30 shall be charged for such an extension (Article 33(2)).
The application form and the documents
The form contains, among other things, the following information (Article 85(2) of the Act on Foreigners):
- Travel document: series and number, dates of issue and expiry, and the issuing authority.
- Earlier visas: the Schengen visas and national visas issued to you.
- Reasons: the justification of your application.
- Travels: your journeys and stays abroad in the last 5 years.
- Money: the financial means to cover your living costs.
- Insurance: the health insurance you hold.
- Work: your employment in Poland.
You also show your travel document for inspection (Article 85(4)). Article 85(3) applies points 2 and 3 of Article 77(1) to the application. These points list:
- Photograph: a current photograph.
- Purpose: documents confirming the purpose and conditions of the planned stay.
- Funds: documents confirming that you have sufficient funds for your living costs during the whole planned stay in Poland and for the return journey to the country you come from or live in, or for transit to a third country which will let you enter. The law also names the possibility of obtaining such funds lawfully.
- Health insurance: documents confirming health insurance or the travel medical insurance referred to in Article 25(1)(2)(a).
- Leaving Poland: documents confirming that your declaration of intent to leave Poland before the visa expires is credible.
- Other circumstances: documents confirming other circumstances given in the application.
Health insurance for your application
Article 77(1)(3)(c), which Article 85(3) applies to your application, refers to the travel medical insurance described in Article 25(1)(2)(a) of the Act on Foreigners. That provision describes a policy whose minimum sum insured is EUR 30,000 and which is valid throughout the planned stay in Poland.
The insurance requirements for each visa are explained on two other pages of our site: медичне страхування для отримання шенгенської візи та insurance for a national D visa. In our calculator you enter the day on which cover starts and the day on which it ends. Cover lasts for the whole period you choose, with EUR 30,000 as the sum insured, and the PDF policy is yours as soon as you have paid online.
Поширені запитання
Can a national visa be extended more than once?
The Act on Foreigners allows one extension of a national visa, and the stay under the extended visa cannot exceed the period of stay provided for a national visa (Article 84(2)). An exception applies to a foreigner who is in hospital and whose state of health prevents leaving Poland: the visa or the period of stay is extended until the day the state of health allows leaving (Article 84(3) and (4)).
Can insurance linked to my work meet the insurance requirement?
Article 85(3) applies Article 25(4) of the Act on Foreigners to the insurance requirement. Under Article 25(4), the requirement to hold the insurance referred to in Article 25(1)(2)(a) may be considered met where you have appropriate insurance in connection with your professional situation. Note the word ‘may’: the rule describes a possibility.
What form does an extended visa take?
An extended national visa is placed in the travel document as a visa sticker (Article 88(1) of the Act on Foreigners). Under the Visa Code, the extension of a Schengen visa also takes the form of a visa sticker (Article 33(6)). Unless the authority decides otherwise, the extended Schengen visa is valid in the same territory as the original visa (Article 33(3)).
What happens if I submit the application after the deadline?
If an application is submitted after the deadline set in Article 85(1), the authority refuses to start the proceedings on the extension (Article 86 of the Act on Foreigners). The stamp and the legal stay described in Article 87(1) apply only when the deadline has been kept.
Have the insurance document ready before you submit your extension application. Enter the dates you choose in our calculator and see the premium, or contact us with a question about the policy. The adviser’s phone number is +48 22 299 11 11.
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