Poland tightens entry rules after PiS cash-for-visa scandal

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Poland announced it would tighten its visa regulations after an investigation by state auditors found that under the previous government, the country’s consulates in Asia and Africa took thousands of euros in exchange for work visas.

The new rules will also apply to students seeking study visas in Poland, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in a speech on Thursday.

Sikorski said the right-wing Law and Justice or PiS party government, which developed the cash-for-visa scheme, lost control of the system from 2018 to 2023.

“We can confirm that, unfortunately, in a scandalous manner, illegal pressure was exerted on Polish consuls with the intention of increasing the number of visas issued to people… who should not necessarily obtain them , including citizens of the Russian Federation,” Sikorski said.

The results of the investigation found 46 irregularities under the former government in five different areas, including a lack of transparency and poor oversight under Zbigniew Rau, the country’s former foreign minister.

Allegations that the staunchly anti-immigration party had sold thousands of temporary work visas hurt the PiS party in the run-up to last year’s election, which it ultimately lost to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party.

At the time, Tusk called it “Poland’s biggest scandal of the 21st century.”

Between 2018 and early 2024, thousands of visas were issued to people who paid large amounts to agencies cooperating with Polish consulates. One agency issued more than 4,200 visas over the six years, with some applicants paying up to €7,000.

In one case, dozens of Indian farmers were issued visas with documents describing them as Bollywood filmmakers, for which they paid up to $40,000 (€36,582).

Local media reported that the group had traveled to Poland before later going to the US.

Nationals from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Philippines, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also believed to have paid inflated fees for temporary visas.

More than 357,000 visas were issued to Russian citizens following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The audit chamber is considering whether to take the case to the prosecutor’s office. Former Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk, who was fired as a result of the incident, has already been charged over the matter in an independent investigation by the country’s anti-corruption office.