The Polish authorities have revealed that the number of work visas issued to foreigners has significantly dropped since the summer when the visa scandal took place.
In the summer of last year, the consulates of Poland in some countries were strongly criticised over allegations of having granted hundreds of thousands of temporary visas to nationals of third countries in exchange for bribes.
Not long after, the government took measures, dismissing the former deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Piotr Wawrzyk, and tightening the work visa issuing rules.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, in the second half of 2023, the number of work visas granted to third-country nationals dropped to 6,500 from 15,100 in the first half.
The Ministry said for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna that in the third quarter of 2023, the country’s consulates issued around 4,800 work visas. The same revealed that in the last quarter of last year, the consulates issued around 1,600 work visas to foreign nationals.
In the first half of last year, 15,100 visas were issued under this program. In the second half of the year, this number decreased to 6,500, of which in the third quarter it was 4,800 and in the fourth quarter 1,600.
The work visas for Poland are issued by Poland through the Poland Business Harbor Programme, with the latter’s main goal being to attract highly educated workers, mainly IT specialists, to the country.
However, despite its main aim, experts have said that the programme has some serious shortcomings, Money.pl explains.
According to the latter, experts have claimed that the Poland Business Harbor Programme has become a path for foreigners to reach the other Schengen Member States for work purposes instead of Poland.
Experts further said that work visas do not necessarily get issued to IT specialists but also to their family members, permitting a high number of foreigners to enter the country.
Data provided by the Polish Border Guard show that in the first six months of 2023, only 1,243 foreigners entered the country under the Poland Business Harbor Programme, and in the last six months, only 1,185 foreigners entered the country for work purposes.
This, according to the authorities, is concerning as since the beginning of the programme, the country has issued around 100,000 work visas.
