How to travel to USA for Polish citizens
Poland is one of the few countries of the European Union that don’t yet have access to visa-free travel to the U.S.
The Polish flag carrier LOT Polish Airlines has launched a campaign to change that but for it to become a reality, the number of rejected visa applications will have to drop to below 3%. Currently, the figure stands slightly below 4%.
So, how does the process of travelling to USA look like? These are the steps we should take once our visa application has been approved.
After filling out the necessary documents online, scheduling an appointment at the local US consulate and having the application for a visa approved, the rest of the process becomes ever more simple. These are really the last steps before the big trip overseas. We only need to be patient and wait until the passport with the visa returns to us. We can wait at home – it will be delivered to the address indicated or we can choose to pick it up at the consulate.
If we wish to not leave our house, the service of delivery comes with an additional fee of PLN 24 per passport (payable upon delivery). It is very important that we do not forget to enter our mobile number and e-mail address, so that the courier can contact us. When we have the desired documents, all that remains is to check whether all data is correct. Only then should we decide to buy tickets for the plane. LOT Polish Airlines offers passengers a comfortable journey by Boeing 787 Dreamliner: from Warsaw to New York (JFK and Newark), Chicago and Los Angeles; from Budapest to JFK and Chicago; from Krakow to Chicago and from Rzeszów to Newark. When we have a ticket booked, all we have to do is to get to the airport (remember the passport with the visa inside) and then the journey to America is about to start.
Thanks to LOT’s attractive connections, we can travel both to the east and west coast of the United States. Once we arrive, there are a couple of formalities that need to be taken care off. We must fill out the customs declaration and pass an interview with a customs official.
After passing through the immigration control, America lays at our feet.
Let's Meet In Kraków!
Krakow captivates visitors with its centuries-old architecture, unusual ambiance and wealth of fascinating pubs, many of which surround the historical Market Square. Tourists are drawn to St. Mary’s Church, the elongated cloth market, as well as the Wawel Castle and the legend of its dragon. Below are a few of the must see tourist attractions of Krakow.
Walking around the Market Square in the Old Town you can also drop in on one of the many fine restaurants that are located there. I visit Cafe Camelot most often; it has a rich menu, from which you can choose unique and delicious meals, exquisite cakes and a wide range of vodkas. Another culinary highlight is the Starka Restaurant. And remember that all around the center of Kraków there are many more cool, atmospheric bars and restaurants to explore.
You cannot leave Kraków without visiting some of the museums there. It is especially worth going to the Museum Gallery of Polish 19th Century Art at the National Museum of Kraków, and for fans of epic posters a must-see is the Polish Poster Art Gallery (Galeria Plakatu).
After you have visited the main urban sites of interest in Kraków, I suggest to go and relax at the Zakrzówek, an ancient stone quarry that was filled with water to form a beautiful lake. Not far from the city-center, it is a beautiful, natural oasis surrounded by trees that guarantees amazing views and fresh air.
Enjoy your stay!
V4-Group meets to celebrate the 30th anniversary of end of communism
A summit of Prime Ministers of the Visegrad group and the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, has taken place in the Slovak capital Bratislava. The reason for the summit was the 30th anniversary of political changes in Central Eastern Europe, which later led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification.
Trade exchange, economic cooperation, Brexit, this year’s European Parliament election and the future European budget are the main topics of the summit of representatives of the Visegrad group and the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. The Visegrad group countries have annual trade with Germany worth 250 billion EURO. That’s a lot more than the amount of Berlin’s trade with countries such as China, France and the United States, so naturally there’s a lot to talk about. The summit touched on a subject of migration as well. The project to help the countries of North Africa (mostly Morocco) has been adopted. 4 Visegrad group countries along with Germany are supposed to work together help Morocco. Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, emphasized that the United States and the European Union are the linchpin of safety and democracy and that we should bolster cooperation. The Summit in Bratislava took place on the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ground-breaking year 1989. The political changes in Central Eastern Europe led to the reunification of Germany.
The German Chancellor told the journalists that Germany is indebted to the countries of the Visegrad Group as Hungary helped Germany in 1968 while Poland and Czechoslovakia opened the door for East Germany in 1989. She stressed that it was crucial for Germany to become a reunified country in the European Union and NATO.
Polish Prime Minister Matuesz Morawiecki underlined the importance of the events of 1989 and remarked that in that year, he stood in the same square in Hungary as Viktor Orban, with both men and boith countries fighting for freedom from communism.
The previous meeting of the Visegrad group with the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, took place in 2016 in Warsaw. In two weeks, Visegrad group Prime Ministers will meet the Prime Minister of Israel in Israel, which will be the first summit taking place in a country that is not a part of the Visegrad group.
Polish Foreign Minister says Middle East stability is key to global security
The Middle East is looming large on Poland’s foreign minister’s agenda at present. Attending a meeting of EU and Arab League foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, in the run-up to an EU-Arab summit scheduled to take place in Egypt on February 24-25, Jacek Czaputowicz was quoted as saying: “Stability in the Middle East is key to global security”.
The meeting itself was centred on cooperation between the EU and the Arab League, and the challenges faced by both groups. According to Poland’s foreign ministry, the meeting focussed on terrorist threats, extremism, humanitarian aid, the protection of civilians and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Czaputowicz said: “We know how many conflicts are raging there,” adding that they “influence the security of the EU”.
The foreign minister told journalists that Poland was involved in efforts to bring stability to countries such as Libya, Syria and Yemen. For Czaputowicz, counter-terrorism and migration are particular areas where the EU sees the potential for greater collaboration with the Arab League. The transformation of the Islamic State into a global organisation was another key threat that needed to be addressed.
And from Brussels it was off to Washington to attend, on Wednesday, a conference of nations fighting the Islamic State militants. The US-led military coalition against Islamic State, formed in 2014, had been “instrumental in defeating” ISIS and in liberating territory once held by the militants in the Middle East, the Polish foreign ministry noted. The meeting was expected to review the achievements to date of the global coalition to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and to decide on future action. “Poland intends to remain actively involved in the Coalition, both in its military and stabilisation dimensions”, the foreign ministry said.
The visit to Washington, was also expected to give Czaputowicz an opportunity to “emphasise Poland’s broader efforts to stabilise the Middle East,” including its co-hosting with the United States of a ministerial conference in Warsaw on February 13-14, the Polish foreign ministry said on its website.
United States Vice-President Mike Pence will visit Warsaw to give the keynote address at what is known as the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, according to the White House. It said that Pence will also participate in bilateral discussions “on expanding and deepening U.S.-Poland relations, especially in the spheres of military and energy security, as well as expanding our economic and commercial ties.” The Unites States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join Pence for the conference in Poland.
This conference in Warsaw marks Poland’s increasingly higher profile in foreign affairs, as well as providing an opportunity for Poland to strengthen its close links with the United States. Details of the conference participants and agenda remain unclear, although it appears that the focus has been broadened from its original concentration on the particular threat posed by Iran. The announcement of the conference originally was greeted with particular anger by the Iranian foreign minister, who tweeted at the time: “Polish Govt can’t wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts desperate anti-Iran circus.” However, for Poland this opportunity to stand side by side with the United States once more and to demonstrate its new confidence on the diplomatic world stage far outweighs any lingering concerns about entering the minefield that is peace in the Middle East.
2019 to be a big year for LOT Polish Airlines
The Polish flag carrier will buy 15 new planes in 2019. Four Boing 787 Dreamliners and eleven Boeing 737 Max 8s will be added to the fleet. One of the dreamliners will be used to serve a new route between Warsaw and Miami.
The new route to Miami is seen as the next major step in the Polish airline’s plan to expand its long haul operations in general and to USA in particular. The new route is welcome news for the 500 000 Polish-Americans living in the state of Florida but also for Polish tourists who are increasingly interested in visiting the “Sunshine state”.
LOT’s planned expansion on the American market is hampered by the visa requirement for Polish citizens travelling to the U.S. In order to remedy the situation LOT has launched an information campaign aimed to decrease the number of rejected visa applications due to poorly filled out applications. If the number falls below 3%, Poland will be allowed to enter the Visa Waiver Program which will allow swifter, less complicated and cheaper travel to the U.S. for Polish citizens.
The LOT campaign “Without visas to the USA” launched by LOT, includes the website www.bezwizdousa.pl, where it’s possible to learn how to meet the required criteria for being issued a visa USA.
The main hurdle is to fill out the DS-160 form online but some travellers also have problem issues with paying for their visa application. Persons applying for a nonimmigrant visa are required to pay a fee which is non-returnable, regardless of whether a visa will be granted in the end ord not.
It is worth finding out whether one belongs to a catagory of travellers that is entitled to an exemption from this fee before paying it. That can be done at http://ustraveldocs.com/pl_pl. Polish citizens normally pay the fee after converting the total sum from dollars to PLN. For the most popular tourist visa, it is 160 dollars, or around 630 Zloty.
The payments is made online via a credit or debit card. It’s worth using the webpage mentioned above to find out when the fee will be active and which mistakes to avoid. The most common mistake is to pay in the wrong currency. To make a payment, create a profile and log in to the online appointment system. Once this is done, select the option “New application / Set appointment”. The program will take you to the page where you choose the payment option. Once you are on the payment page, continue by clicking on the link “To view the available online payment options, click HERE”. There, the traveller will find detailed information about all available payment methods.
In the end, a CGI reference number or confirmation number is given. Without the CGI reference number or confirmation number it will not be possible to schedule an appointing at the local US consulate for a meeting regarding being issued a visa. After paying the visa fee, you can set the date of the meeting in accordance with the information provided in the table “Time of activation of the fee for processing the visa application”. If you are not automatically redirected, log in to the previously created profile and use the CGI reference number or confirmation number to set the appointment.
The meeting at the US consulate is a pure formality and as long as the traveller brings all necessary documents to the meeting, a visa will be issued within days. After that, the doors to USA are open for the traveller.
Depending on where you want to go, LOT Polish Airlines offers passengers a comfortable flight onboard a Dreamliner : from Warsaw: to New York (JFK and Newark), Chicago and Los Angels, from Budapest to JFK and Chicago, from Krakow to Chicago and from Rzeszów to Newark.
If enough Poles manage to fill out the visa forms correctly, visa-free travel for Poles could become a reality as early as in 2020.