Are Polish People Being Discriminated Against? Problems getting a US visa.

I am sure it makes up a portion of the economy. There was an interesting piece in the Globe and Mail today

Hundreds of thousands of young Polish workers have flocked back from the battered economies of Britain and Ireland, where almost a million Poles filled those countries' service economies during the boom years after Poland joined the European Union in 2004. Once home, they find themselves entering a surprisingly robust economy that is poised to take off far more quickly than its neighbours to the west, north and south.

right on but unfortunately jola is right with her assessment.


no, what you don't get is that most "good/safe/clean" polish citizens get approval. the problem is that many "shady" poles are the ones that are applying in droves..

yeah right... like Americans would be "dying" to visit Poland... they don't care... they would visit Western Europe instead (if they are willing to leave their State for a week lol)... beside, i don't think they would have any problem to get one, so why to even bother...

only because of the visa situation... poles are still likely to over stay their visa... it's still happening..


BS.. for the most part those get the visa w/o all that much hassle..


not completely bush's fault even though i couldn't stand the bastard. poles have to realize that they may be part of the reason.. you just can't blame everything on the us.


don't wonder,, they would have not.


bingo.. here comes the truth. you can't point your finger at the usa for this issue any more..


yes, that is how law breakers are treated here.. and in fact everywhere.


sorry, your "bad girl" got caught in this case.. you can't *****..



exactly but it's so much easier just to blame USA and keep doing the things that will get one denied. whine, *****, moan.. how about learn?


right but these guys don't want to see that for some reason.


that is exactly what's going on.. all the ones that don't qualify get rejected.. it's rather simple, really.


sorry but this the proper way to deal with this.


don't muddy things up with this kind of crap as religion has nothing to do with any of this.

Well, about 100 thousand of them visits Poland every year and they don't
have to go through the hassle of getting visas.


That's irrelevant. If our citizens are forced to apply for visas to go to USA
then American citizens should also apply for visas to get to Poland.


To uphold the principle of balance in international relations.

sending 2 pictures and a bank statement wouldn't change anything...


balance: visas to every country in the world or none... that simple and that's balance...

There were visas to Poland. In 1991 I visited Poland in April and had to get a visa, a month later they abolished them.
I know several people from Poland who got 10 year visas and return back. I heard it's easier to get a visa earlier in the year because all the quota haven't been met yet and if you have a job or family to return to guarantees you will come back gives you more chances to obtain a visa. America has to protect herself from too many illegals, and unfortunately, Poles overstay their visa and don't obey the rules ruining it for other Poles who when don't get a visa, then get mad at America, while they are the ones who screwed it up for themselves.

in case you could not tell I was being sarcastic. Poland if you follow its track record has a tendency to be screwed over by its allies. No kidding they won't be put on the VWP.


Thanks Shawn, that's what I meant to say.

true but the thing is poland always looks at external help. poland can help herself just fine.. no need to always hang on someone else's skirt.

To plk123:

If you think it's a reasonable policy to criminalize,shackle,and jail Europeans (Poles) who overstayed a tourist visa by two weeks,then misguided at best. Do you think such treatment would be acceptable if your daughter/sister/mother were traveling into England/France/Germany for a holiday,and was shackled,denied basic rights,and tramatized after getting off the airplane - all because the last time she was on holiday in Europe (several years ago) she stayed at Euro-Disney for six weeks,insteadt of four weeks?

If any North American were treated the way my girlfriend was treated,I can GARUNTEE you it would be a diplomatic scandal.

It's rather about politics than about security. Having Ukrainian passport is a great advantage for a Russian while applying for American visa. So I believe about being Polish. It's an advantage. Poles are generally treated very well by the US government AFAIK.

To plk123 :

You've apparently missed my point on how US immigration policy is applied to Poles and EU members. As a native New Yorker and someone who works in construction,I have personal experience with the immigrant population (legal/illegal).I maintain that Poland never has,and never will pose any serious threat to the US job market,and certainly no threat to our national security. To suggest that the majority of Poles that apply for entry visas are dubious,is beside the point. They shouldn't have to go through this process to begin with!

If you think there would be waves of "slavic hordes" rushing over - your dilusional.Frankly,even if there were,I wouldn't see it as such a bad thing.Poles are by and large more skilled,better educated,and assimilate better than the Central/Latin American - Carribean immigrants who are a growing exponentially throughout the US.

So yes,should the US have strict immigration policy - I think so - but it would be nice if they actually APPLIED it toward the masses of Latin Americans and Carribeans who are pouring into the country, and not towards college educated,English speaking,Christian Europeans.

YES plk123 - It religious background IS a relevant issue. I'm not suggesting that all Muslims pose a terrorist threat (I am close to many Muslim Americans in New York),and I wouldn't suggest that different measures be applied to Muslim applicants - BUT - It shouldn't be EASIER for a person from Germany/England/France who is of Muslim descent to enter the US on the VWP - Having lived in various parts of Western Europe,I can tell you there are radical Islamists preaching "Death to America",and would like nothing better than to "visit" New York on a Visa Waiver compliments of European host country.

So,it makes no sense to subject Poles (predominanlty Christian) to harsher scrutiny than Muslim visa applicants coming from host countries under the VWP.

It's dangerously naive.

I'll call bullsh!t on that one. Openly shouting death to anyone in the UK is a crime and will get you locked up.


Sad but true.


Anybody who spends six weeks at Euro-Disney needs locking up for their own safety. Unless they spent those weeks working, in which case they deserve to be deported.

******** ..huh - You obviously haven't spent much time around North London - "shouting death to anyone will get you locked up in the UK"

I was fearing for my life on a Camden street corner when a group of Somali youths heard my American accent,started spitting chewed chat at my feet and said ,and I quote..''George Bush,we kill your George Bush,you see..." and proceeded to try to surround me - about five of them

I'm grew up in New York,so I'm used to it - but, you can call ******** all you want- the fact is,there is a significant Muslim population growing within Europe,and I'm simply saying it's perverse that Poles are scrutinized more than a British national of Muslim faith,who practices Sharia law and more often than not has a very unfavorable view on US foreign policy.

It would seem to me that such an individual should at least be subjected to the same scrutiny that a Polish national, certainly nothing LESS.

And while it's cute to suggest anyone who spends six weeks at Euro-Disney needs locking up (I would agree),the point being made is that such treatment would be unacceptable for any US citizen traveling in Western civilization,and this policy of criminal processing and detainment is unnecessary,expensive,and disgraceful. I challenge anyone to say otherwise.

You should try returning to the UK on a UK/EU passport - 30-60 minute queues at immigration to get back into your own country/region, but the non-EU passport holders get in far quicker, through a separate queue! It's ridiculous!

Mind you, what do you expect from an idiot Government which puts up the price of passports because people aren't applying for enough of them, due to the price already being too high. ffs!

I believe it.
Many times the US starts playing games with visas.
Could have something do do with the missiles.
They use visas as a leverage tactic.
Who knows?
Quite frankly, in my opinion, the US not even a country worth visiting.
It is crime ridden with many unfriendly border officials.
They make visitors feel like terrorists.
And the average US border guard would not be able to tell you which continent Poland is on.
My Czech Friends who visited the USA got their suitcase locks broken and ruined and all cosmetics and tooth paste opened and poured out.
Polish people might consider visiting some South American Countries instead.
Or Central American Countries.
There is a little corruption, but mostly the people are friendly, and don't think they can dictate to the world what to do.

What is sad is Poland is one of the few countries helping the US in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are being denied visas.

What is sad is that people don't understand that visas have nothing to do with Iraq. Some countries don't need visas to the US because they return, Poles do not. Many Poles are given visas but many don't return and stay illegally and the illegal Polish population in the US is huge.

Some day Poles won't need a visa but first the illegal ones have to return to make way for the legal ones. It's not the US's fault, it's the Poles that don't obey the rules and spoil it for others.

What is sad is that some people don't understand that imposing a strict visa
system on ALL POLES wanting to visit USA because of those who overstay
their visas is nothing short of discrimination. The worst kind of discrimination
at that, because it's a discrimination based on ethnicity:

You're a Pole? Well, some Poles overstay their visas so...
It's like saying:
You're a black man? Well, some black men steal and rape so...

It's time the Americans recognised the folly of racism.

No, that's not it. Every country is allowed to give away a certain amount of visas. People from other countries return. This is not discrimination. Poles are allowed to come to the US if they prove they will return. There are too many illegals, doesn't matter from what country they are.

America is a country of illegal stealing and murdering immigrants, who illegaly stole
the land and slaughtered the natives. So it takes a lot of nerve for the descendants
of thieves and murderers who stole the land from its rightful owners, murdered them
and closed the remaining ones in reservations, to call anyone coming to USA "illegal".

I wish you would say the same thing regarding Israel :)


What do you expect red carpet?

did we miss something? o.O

seems like the Visa requirement rate has been decreased to only 3% now!
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>> "For these reasons, it seemed that the visa refusal rate would soon naturally fall below the required 10% percent and further negotiations between Polish and U.S. officials would not even be necessary.

However, starting July 1, the required rate will be reduced to 3%, making it much harder for Poland to reach the goal.

"This change is a consequence of a bizarre compromise reached by supporters and opponents of the expansion of the VWP in Congress as part of the 'Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007,'" explains Pawel Kotowski, a counselor at the Polish Embassy in Washington, DC.

"The required rate can now only be increased back to 10% if the U.S. manages to install biometric air exit systems which will register all the passengers leaving the U.S.by air, a system now only used upon arrival to the U.S. These two things seem to be entirely independent, but that's how the Congress wrote the law," Kotowski said. " <<

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well.. they said the refusal rate in 08 was 13.8%(look at the site)... so i guess we might have to wait longer if they don't make an agreement to install "biometric air exit systems"

again.. this is a bad time for Poland i guess :/ so close to 10% then they lower it to 3%

and here's a nice quote

"Some, like Senator Barbara Mikulski (D.-Md.), proposed various pieces of legislation to include Poland in the VWP for its merits and its loyalty to America. But the VWP has many opponents who fear its expansion will make it easier for potential terrorists to enter the U.S."

With Israel the situation is much more complicated when it comes to the
historical and moral rights to the lands in question.
Comparing the way that USA was built to the creation and struggle for survival
of Israel is not very sensible here. Two completely different cases.

And Poles are just so welcoming to foreigners, eh? Particularly non-white foreigners.....

Go thank Columbus. It's all his fault. Lol.

Yeah, it's pretty funny how the Europeans blame the American for the plight of the Indian when the European sent the American to America in the first place. Replete with the knowledge of modern military and the idea that they were superior to any "savage". The African slave is another one you hear about constantly... when guess who's idea it was to send them over the waves? I can assure you it sure as hell wasn't George Washington's.

This thread is a bit of a paradox is it not? I mean for people who constantly refer to us as: stupid, fat, brutal, muderous, racist and imperialistic buffoons and apparently want nothing more than to just pay us a visit? One would think you'd be happy to be spared the disgrace of seeing us in person.

Torq, you mention racism quite a bit on here. Your slavic relations the Czechs do not have the same visa restrictions imposed on them right now. We don't have jobs right now, we cannot take in any more immigrants, guess workers, etc. We can't, we're not the EU.. sorry if you hate us for it, my quess is that you'll hate us anyway. We're hated no matter what we do. No matter how much aid and free Harvard scholarships we give away no matter how many dictators we vanquish by the blood of our young men. The Polish and Europe can be extremely vocal about criticizing the US - Probably the State Department has picked up on this?

You may ask what has the US done for Poland? How about bankrupt the Soviets in the 80's by an arms race the US taxpayer had to pay for? You didn't like the Wall, you didn't like communism.. well.. it's gone. Soley because of us? No, but we sure as hell nailed a few nails into the coffin.

you just don't get it, do you?

I guess I'm just too fat and stupid to comprehend :- (

The British were active in the slave trade according to Obama's trip to Ghana.

Cape Coast Castle was the epicenter of the British slave trade in Ghana, 17th century.