Documents and Photographs
Visa applicants must provide:
- A valid passport. Normally passports must be valid for six months beyond the date an applicant intends to depart the U.S. Poland has an agreement with the USA to honor the validity of its passports for an additional six months beyond the expiration date shown in its passports. If the passport is valid for less than six months, the visa can be issued but the applicant's stay in the USA will be limited to the expiration date of the passport.
Please also bring your expired passports for review.
If your passport with a valid USA visa was lost or stolen and you are applying for a new visa you must present a police report. You are highly encouraged to report the loss of your passport with a valid U.S. visa to the Consular Section by e- mail krakowniv@state.gov. Please provide your full name, date of birth, the number of your lost passport, the date of issuance of your visa and your telephone number. This will help protect you so others will not be able to steal your identity.
- Interview and application forms are designed to elicit all necessary information. Aside from instances where specific documents are required, applicants may want to consider bringing along documents that they feel are useful such as bank statements or an employment agreement. The consular officer may choose not to look at them if it appears that additional documents won’t make a difference in the adjudication.
Written invitations from family members or friends in the United States are not required to qualify for visas.
Many visa applicants bring such letters to their interviews and are disappointed when the consular officer does not look at them. However, the decision to approve or deny a visa is not based on the guarantees of a relative, friend, or business associate in the United States. Rather, it is the applicant’s personal situation in Poland, not that of the person inviting him or her, that determines whether or not a visa will be issued. U.S. law requires each applicant to qualify for a visa in his or her own right.
Some unscrupulous persons make a profitable business of providing, at substantial cost to applicants, falsified letters of invitation to the United States. Both the Embassy in Warsaw and the Consulate General in Krakow strongly urge applicants not to waste their money purchasing these letters.
- Application forms.
All applicants must complete an electronic application form DS-156 which must be completed on-line. Hand written applications will not be accepted.
Please make sure to have an electronic DS-156 form with a bar-code that is printed clearly without smudges or fuzzy lines. If a bar code cannot be read, the application will not be accepted.
Please give clear, precise answers to each question; do not leave empty fields.
Click here to download these forms. [po polsku]
- Proof of payment of the application fee. Effective January 30, 2009, the visa MRV fee is 445.40 PLN, (the equivalent of $131 at the prevailing exchange rate). The amount should be paid in Polish zloty to the Embassy's account:
Ambasada USA 00-540 Warszawa Al. Ujazdowskie 29/31, Citibank Handlowy w Warszawie SA, account no: 33 10301508 0000000500350016.
Applicants are encouraged to pay the application fee at the Polish Post Office (Poczta Polska). The Embassy has an agreement with Poczta Polska whereby applicants do not have to pay any handling fee (oplata manipulacyjna) for this service: they should not pay the usual 3-3.5 zl. fee paid when making post office payments. Applicants who elect to pay through banks may incur transaction fees of up to 25 zl: no banks have entered into agreements with the Embassy to waive their charges. We do not accept payments from entities other than Poczta Polska or a bank.
Receipts must have the original stamp of a post office or a bank as well as the applicant's name, the bank account number and the words "oplata wizowa" written on it. Persons who appear at the Embassy/Consulate with receipts that do not contain this information will be turned away and required to reschedule appointment on a future date. There must be an individual receipt with name on it for each application except those of immediate family members with the same family name. The receipt(s) are kept for the Embassy’s records and are not returned to the applicants.
The application fee is not a fee for visa issuance. It is a non-refundable fee for visa services charged to all U.S. visa applicants everywhere in the world. Visa issuances for Polish citizens are free of charge. All applicants, regardless of citizenship and place of application, pay the non-refundable application fee.
- A photograph must be securely attached to the application and must meet all of the following requirements:
a. Recent (taken within the last six months);
b. Dimensions: 5cm square;
c. Color;
d. White or off-white background that is not patterned or busy;
e. Face must measure 3cm from the top of the head to the chin;
f. Applicant’s face must face camera directly and not be looking down or to either side;
g. Both ears must be exposed;
h. No sunglasses;
i. No head coverings or hats, except for religious reasons. Even for religious reasons, head coverings or hats cannot obscure any part of an applicant’s face.
- DHL Express address form. One form per individual or family
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