Aditional information for International students
Visa is not required for citizens of the European Union (EU) and countries which are in the European Economic Area (EEA). Students from the territories mentioned above need a valid travel document which entitles them to enter Poland. They may enter Poland without a visa and remain on Polish territory without legalizing their stay for up to 3 months.
Stays beyond 3 months’ duration will require the student to obtain a residence permit or a temporary residence permit. In order to obtain a residence permit, appropriate documents have to be submitted by the student in person by the first day of the 4th month from their entering the Republic of Poland.
All citizens of non-EU/EEA member countries who wish to study in Poland are required to obtain a Polish student visa before arriving in Poland.
They should contact the Polish Consulate or Embassy in their country of residence. Information about visa requirements and application forms are available on websites of Polish diplomatic missions abroad, in the candidate's country of residence.
List of Poland's missions abroad.
Candidates for studies after succesful enrolment proces will receive an official Letter of Acceptance from the University, which is necessary to obtain a student visa.
GO TO E-KONSULAT TO APPLY FOR THE VISA!
After a visa has been granted, students who wish to prolong their stay in the Republic of Poland should submit an application form to the adequate Imigration Office before the end of the residence period based on the visa, or before the end of the period for which the previous temporary residence permit has been granted.
Nostrification is a procedure leading to the determination of the Polish equivalent of a foreign diploma. A diploma that has completed studies abroad and that cannot be recognised as equivalent to the corresponding Polish diploma and professional title on the basis of an international agreement that determines equivalence (Legal basis: art. 327 sec. 1 the Act of 20 July 2018. Law on higher education and science )
If a country in which a given document was issued is a party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, concluded in The Hague, 5 October 1961, the document’s legalisation is replaced by an Apostille certificate attached to it. The list of countries – parties to the Convention and the institutions authorised to issue the Apostille is available here.
More information here : NAWA Nostrification
Apostille are necessary for the application process as they are an official confirmation that all signatures, seals or stamps on your educational document are genuine. Without this autorization your educational documents are not valid in Poland. Non-apostilled documents will not be accepted by Univeristy of Social Sciences. The apostilization is done by the Polish Ambassador or Consul at the Polish diplomatic missions in the candidate's country or it can be done by the Ministry of Education in a given country.
Apostilization is the certification of a document’s formal conformity with the law binding in the place of its issuance or of the authenticity of the seals and signatures placed on the document. The certificate or other educational documents' legalization remains the responsibility of the Polish consul or educational authorities in the country where the certificate/document was issued or in the country in whose educational system the school which has issued this document operates.
After a visa has been granted, students who wish to prolong their stay in the Republic of Poland should submit an application form to the adequate Imigration Office before the end of the residence period based on the visa, or before the end of the period for which the previous temporary residence permit has been granted.
International students staying at Univeristy of Social Sciences for more than 3 months are obliged to obtain a temporary residence permit. The residence permit is issued by the Departments for Foreigners:
Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki w Warszawie Wydział Spraw Cudzoziemców
plac Bankowy 3/5, 00-950 Warszawa
email: foreigners@mazowieckie.pl
website in English
Łódzki Urząd Wojewódzki Wydział Spraw Obywatelskich i Cudzoziemców
Piotrkowska 103, 90-425 Łódź
phone: +48 (42) 664-17-22
fax: +48 (42) 664-17-56
website in Polish