How To Get To Poland (as of October 3, 2022)

[rikko 84]

I'm confused. Can a Russian national technically enter Poland through a land border on the west, like Germany, with a valid Schengen visa?

 

And they will be turned away if they arrive by air from Germany?

[slavaskii 886]

Yes, a Russian national can absolutely enter Poland through a land border on the west. Poland is in their right to establish border checkpoints (where they could, theoretically, claim the Russian's visa is invalid), but they have not. Poland's measures are principally to keep out those traveling from Belarus and Kaliningrad. 

 

They will also not be turned away if arriving by air to Germany. Technically, they shouldn't also be turned away if traveling from Germany to Poland by air, because one's Schengen visa is not checked on intra-Schengen flights. The problem you'd have with flying is if you went from Russia --> Turkey --> Poland, because in Turkey, they'd check your documents for Poland and realize Poland doesn't recognize your visa.

 

Does this lead to the absurd result that the flight to Berlin accepts the same visa the flight to Warsaw does not, despite the flights being next to each other in Istanbul? Yes, but that's currently the way things are working, so in the end of the day it's not the end of the world.

 

I would heavily caution, however, that any interaction requiring a Russian passport within Poland is probably not advised. That is, I would not be flaunting one's Russian passport when trying to book a hotel (just use AirBnB instead) - Polish hotels, like many in Europe, ask to see a passport. We've yet to see any reports of Poland deporting Russians stopped by police for other offenses, so I'm presuming PiS hasn't adopted a 'deport-on-sight' approach. 

[rikko 84]

13 hours ago, slavaskii said:

Yes, a Russian national can absolutely enter Poland through a land border on the west. 

Thanks you for the clarification, slavaskii. I thought it was completely impossible for Russians to enter Poland. Hopefully others will see this thread and have their questions clarified too.

 

13 hours ago, slavaskii said:

 

I would heavily caution, however, that any interaction requiring a Russian passport within Poland is probably not advised. 

I agree. My fiance and I called the Polish embassy and the minute I said my fiance was Russian, the operator suddenly became cold. I was thinking of accompanying him through Poland to maybe reduce stigma/discrimination.

[Lynxyonok 316]

5 hours ago, rikko said:

Thanks you for the clarification, slavaskii. I thought it was completely impossible for Russians to enter Poland. Hopefully others will see this thread and have their questions clarified too.

 

I agree. My fiance and I called the Polish embassy and the minute I said my fiance was Russian, the operator suddenly became cold. I was thinking of accompanying him through Poland to maybe reduce stigma/discrimination.

"She's from former Soviet Union somewhere... I cannae keep track of all those republics!" 

[slavaskii 886]

13 hours ago, rikko said:

Thanks you for the clarification, slavaskii. I thought it was completely impossible for Russians to enter Poland. Hopefully others will see this thread and have their questions clarified too.

 

I agree. My fiance and I called the Polish embassy and the minute I said my fiance was Russian, the operator suddenly became cold. I was thinking of accompanying him through Poland to maybe reduce stigma/discrimination.

Of course, no worries. We're all monitoring the situation closely here, though, so if Poland starts randomly kicking people out we'll sound the alarms ASAP, lol. But that would be a very serious escalation, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of Poland's PiS government wants it, but even they acknowledge the reality on the ground. They're also being very protective of Belarusians despite their calls to treat them the same as Russians, so their position is pretty unclear and often bark without a bite.

 

I agree it's a good idea to travel with him through Poland. I will say that when I was in Poland, I met Americans with Russian fiancees/spouses that didn't seem terribly concerned about the situation; however, that was a limited sample and, of course, their American partners were with them. I don't personally think he'd attract any attention unless someone sees his passport.