Visa-Free Travel For Ukrainians Coming to Poland

Ukrainians are now officially permitted to have Visa-Free travel and enter the territory of the European Union without presenting a visa. This is possible due to new EU regulations that have just entered into effect. This is a big change for the citizens of Poland’s eastern neighbor. Provided they fulfill certain conditions, they are now free to come to Poland (and other EU member states) without applying for a visa, paying for the document and waiting for it.

To be allowed no-visa entry, first of all, a person has to have a biometric passport. It includes not only information normally found in a standard passport or other identification document, but also biometric data such as fingerprint or iris scans, which are stored in a chip. Although this form of authentication is not yet present in Poland, Ukraine has already implemented this solution and has been issuing biometric passports since 2015.

What is more, a Ukrainian person coming to the EU has to have insurance and money allowing them to support themselves during their stay (for Poland this is 300 PLN for the first three days and 75 PLN for every extra day). Being denied entry in the past means you will not be allowed visa-free travel. The stay cannot exceed 90 days per every half a year. Changes to the visa regulations do not apply to the United Kingdom and Ireland. To visit those countries, Ukrainians still have to apply for a visa.

Experts warn that the new EU law is bad news for the Polish economy. Our country already has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU and business owners are starting to experience employee shortages. Job gaps, especially among unskilled and low-skilled workers, are usually filled with economic migrants from Ukraine. Now that Ukrainian citizens may have visa-free travel to the EU without a visa, they will likely choose high Western wages over the salaries offered by Polish entrepreneurs.