American travelling to a non-Schengen country while still waiting for TEMPORARY residence card in Poland

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question and I hope I can get some answers. My student visa expires in December 2015 and I have applied to the temporary residence card in Poland. I know that it takes about 3 to 4 months to get it, but I need to travel to a non-Schengen (non-EU) country this January 2016.

Does anyone know if you can re-enter Poland with an expired student visa but I have a stamp on my passport saying that I have applied to the temporary residence. I have an American passport. PLEASE HELP. Thank you!

Sure, you're entitled to a 90 day tourist visa-waiver without a valid visa. The stamp in your passport will then allow you to stay legally resident when that 90 day period expires.

So before my student visa expires, I should leave poland and go to any country come back and i will be counted as a tourist till 90 days? And after the 90 days expires, if i didnt recieve my temporary residence card, that stamp on my passport makes it legal to stay in poland?

As I understand it as long as you started the process before your visa expired they should give you some kind of temporary stamp.

Yeah I have that stamp but everyone is giving me different answer about traveling and entering poland. Some say I can leave and come back with no problem, others are saying I can't leave and come back UNTIL my temporary residence card comes out.

Not quite as straightforward as some may think.
"Note: The aforementioned stamp does not entitle the foreigner to travel to other Schengen countries or EU Member States. Pursuant to the stamp in the passport the foreigner may leave for their country of origin, although they may not return to Poland with the stamp - in order to re-enter Poland, the foreigner should obtain a visa".

It depends on where you intend to travel to if, as stated outside the EU then you might have to convince an immigration officer of your intentions.

That doesn't apply to those that have the possibility of entering without a visa.

I really have no wish to elaborate much more, as usual you can have the last say.
P.S. you did notice which country his passport was issued from?

To dd92......take as much documentation as you have to allow exiting the non EU country as painless as can be.
If you came before myself at immigration I would ask you a few relevant questions.

If you failed to notice...


Then there's no hope for you.


Indeed I did. American passport holders aren't required to hold a visa to enter Poland for up to 90 days stay. The stamp in the passport overrides the requirement to leave within 90 days. The only issue is that he will have 90 days in the entire Schengen zone upon re-entry - after those 90 days expire, he'll be restricted to Poland and non-Schengen countries only.


There's no need. He's American, so they won't even look at anything beyond the passport cover.


Polish border guards will look solely at two things - the passport and the stamp that says that he's waiting for a decision. Nothing else.

So what if the border patrol does look at that stamp, what would they do? I wont be able to get back into Poland?

Once again it is YOU who is missing the point.

The issues are nothing to do with Polish immigration either leaving or re entering Poland.

Post 6 is entirely relevant depending on which country in January 2016 is being visited.

Let me leave it at that and my 35+ years of experience doing my job.

Why does it matter what country i am visiting? The country I am going to does need me to get a visa for entry.

I refer you to the original post.


My point stands.


I suggest some comprehension lessons. The issue is entirely related as to whether he can re-enter Poland after his trip abroad.


It absolutely isn't. The only thing that the other country will check is whether he can legally enter Poland upon arrival. He can (as he holds an American passport and thus has 90 days visa-free regardless of the stamp in his passport). Therefore, it's a non-issue.


If you work for the UK Border Force, then it's no surprise that you haven't got a clue about how Schengen works.


Ignore him. It's absolutely irrelevant.

Basically, once your student visa expires, you have 90 days in Schengen "visa-free". The clock will stop when you leave, and re-start when you enter. After you go over 90 days in Schengen (in a 180 day period), you won't be able to visit other Schengen countries while waiting for your temporary residence card, but your Polish clock stays on Day 1 as you've already applied for the residence card.

In short, you're free to come and go.

delphiandomine : what you said in your last paragraph is exactly what the residency office in poland told me when I asked this question! So you are making sense to me but my other question now, i leave poland before my student visa expires in December, where do I go? Can I go to Germany ( or a Schengen territory) or does it have to be a NON Schengen territory?

The residence place told me that I can go to Berlin for example get proof that I was there, then come back to Poland and I will be counted as a tourist so I have 90 days to stay here. After my expiration of 90 days, that stamp on my passport that says I'm legal to stay due to my application of the temporary residence will allow me to stay in Poland legally with no problem.

Essentially, the 90 day clock will begin on the day after your visa expires. You don't need a stamp at the border - the visa in your passport will prove when the Schengen 90 day tourist clock started. So you're free to go to Germany (for instance) as long as you're legally in Schengen. As long as you remember that the rules for Poland and Schengen are different, you're fine - the only crucial thing is that your Schengen clock will keep ticking as long as you're in Poland. So as long as you don't go to Germany/other Schengen state after the 90 day Schengen clock expires, there's absolutely no problem.


Exactly. There's no real need to leave - it makes the paperwork easier, but you don't have to go as you already have the stamp anyway.

The real problem lies when you have the stamp in your passport, but you enter Schengen via a different Schengen country (not Poland) and the 90 day clock has already expired/you need a visa. But in your case, it's a non-issue, so don't worry about it. And ignore mcm1, he obviously doesn't understand/know how Schengen law works in this case.

Thank you delphiandomine for your help!

Hello, all

I got a "decision" of my work permit(3years) in Poland and so I thought I just need to visit the voivodeship and pick up the card. But my company lawyer said I have to apply for a residence card again.......Isnt the residence card automatically granted to a person who got a decision? Anyway, accordingly, it seems some kind of process to get the card is going on, but I am afraid how long it would take again to get the card since it took alomst 3months to get the decision...

Anyone experienced, please share it.

Thanks

You have 90 days entitlement to temporary tourist visa, this is not USA, we treat people with proper hospitality and as humans, we allow them more freedom of travel and stay in our country.

Shouldn't take long - 3-4 weeks maximum for the card to be printed and for it to turn up.

Thanks delphiandomine!

I have another question. Before working here, I mean Poland, I had applied for renewing my CZ visa with my own company(s.r.o) in the Czech Republic. It was almost 2years ago(still in progress), and for some reason(don't know why, but it seems most of applicants for the CZ visa experience the silmilar situation. My questions is if those two countries share some system that can cause me not granted a visa here? My Polish work permit granted, and going to apply for a residence card soon. Should I cancel the Czech one first to proceed?

Any tips higly appreciated!