Polish Visa Refused, Going To Make Appeal, What should I do ?

I am going to appeal against my Schengen visa refusal (Polish visa) , I love Poland and I even run a website about it , And Now I really want to visit it as a tourist and also do some photography for my website and also visit the country I like , but they refused my visa , Should I tell them about my love about Poland and about my photography and website ? I did not tell them because I did not want them to see I am so amazed about Poland then they would think I am going to stay there and never come back but I wanna come back before expiry of my visa . So in the appeal letter should I tell them about it ? (About the website and photography)

The reasons written in refusal letter :

1. There's no proof of your intension about leaving Poland and returning to the country of residence before the expiry of the visa
2. It turned out that the information submitted in support of the objectives and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable
3. And also the person who gave me the passport back told me that also the embassy was not convinced what you are going to do in Poland , where you are going to stay, How your stay will be in Poland

For #1 : I showed them a letter from my university that I am studying in my country and I have 4 more years to finish my studies. I also showed them the COMPLETELY PAID flight ticket !! (Departure and RETURN) 100% paid ... I showed them Bank account flow that I have money in bank for the trip and I showed the HOTEL RESERVATION + the hotel sent me an invitation letter which they had written in it that I have paid 50% of the hotel money.

But I don't know why they think the documents are not reliable !!!!! All my documents were correct with stamp and sign...

Also they asked me , do you have any friends in Poland ? I said NO!
I have friends in Poland but I have NEVER met them in REAL , so that is why I said no. Because If I say yes they might want a photo but my friends in photo are my long time Internet penpals , I have never met them , But seems like it was better If I said yes ?

What should I do now ? Make appeal letter and attach the passport of one my friends to this appeal letter ? Will that be good ? And also tell my friends to type a letter to the embassy ?

They asked me what you are going to do in Poland , I said I am going as a Tourist to visit Pomeranian Castles in Poland , and they asked me : How do you know about Pomeranian Castles ? I said from Internet. And that's all the truth.

I just lied once that I said I have no one in Poland , but I don't think it is a lie , I just said NO because I have NEVER met those people I have in Poland in REAL! That is why I said no ....

How can I make an appeal letter ? What should I exactly do to get the visa ? I should go to Poland ... I have reserved the Hotel , paid for it , paid for ticket , paid for insurance ...

Based on those 3 reasons of refusal , What should I do ? What documents should I attach ?

And once again should I tell them about my Website ?

And by the way I have NO TIME to tell my friend to make an OFFICIAL invitation , (Because this invitation will take about 12 days to be made and I have only 6 days til making an appeal) So is it effective that my friend make a non-official invitation and write in it we know each other over internet and he will show me the city and will guarantee my departure from Poland ? and also attach his passport to that letter ? How will it be ?

meaningless. often times a 1 way ticket is more expensive than a round trip. When my wife and I moved from Poland to the USA, we both bought round trip tickets instead of one way because they were cheaper. much cheaper.


or money to float you while you look for ways of earning money while in Poland.


if you were planning on overstaying, what would someone do differently? gotta stay somewhere when you land, right? what does a hotel reservation on the day you arrive have to do with overstaying or not?

BTW, where do you live?

I live in Armenia. Thanks for your help. But I am a student and they told me "You don't have to bring a Bank statement because you're an student but if you like to bring it then bring, as you want" so I took the bank statement also. I took with me all the documents that I could ... I don't know what else to take with me

in the refusal letter , the reasons of refusal are written ===>

okazało się że informacje złożone na potwierdzenie celów i warunków planowanego pobytu nie są wiarygodne
nie można było stwierdzić, czy faktycznie zamierza Pan/Pani powrócić do państwa pochodzenia przed terminem upływu ważności wizy

Is there anyone to help me ? It is so important for me ...

Hi,

This is a tricky issue, because what it really means is that the consul or person that interviewed you is not convinced with whatever you told them.

As far as I know, if they have taken your application and the fees from you and then refused it, there is no appeal mechanism against Schengen visa refusal. You have to wait 6 months and apply again.

You are a student staying in Armenia? If I may ask, what is your nationality?

From what I have seen, students staying at a country other than their own country of origin are likely to have their Schengen visa applications refused.

I know a Russian student studying in Qatar. His parents are very rich, and he has a very handsome bank account. He applied for a Schengen visa through the German embassy. Not only did they reject his application, they gave him a letter quoting various articles of German law which bascially state the following:

1. They are not obligated to provide any reason for refusal.
2. There is no mechanism to appeal against the refusal.
3. There is no mechanism to complain and no competent body to complain to.
4. They are not obligated to refund the fees.

At the least the Polish embassy bothered to give you a reason.

I think at this stage you are more likely to get it if you apply through another embassy, like Italian, Swiss or German...

Hello Thanks for your answer, I am Iranian but studying in Armenia. And the embassy told me that I have a chance of appeal until 7 days.

So I want to make this appeal letter the best I can.

Their refusal letter says, basically, "the information you provided, along with the stated objectives and reasons for the intended stay were not reliable. It was not possible to determine if in fact you intend to return to your country of origin before the expiration of the visa."

SO. They thought you were pulling a fast one, or they didn't have enough to refute it. You might wanna get a letter from your intended school, saying you've been accepted, and even better, are on the roster. You might have just gotten a bad agent. Try visajourney.com. It's a good resource for getting visas to lots of places, not just America.

No its just another example of Polish superiority complex. I, in the last couple of weeks, heard of situation where a High Court Order from the UK, was put in front of a polish judge who refused to accept it as it was just a piece of paper.

The Polish ones of course come gold plated!

I am sure I have done everything right but for the appeal letter as I see I should do everything more than right to be able to get a visa. But how can I solve these reasons of refusal ?

And nobody told me that should I tell them about my website or it will make them suspicious that I am going to live in Poland ?

I hate to say it, but they just might not have liked you. It's a horrible feeling, to be subjected to life-changes via the vagaries of a mercurial Immigration Agent, I know. All I can tell you, file the appeal, ask for as high a supervisor as you can get, explain yourself as articulately, and without derision, as possible. And ask for leniency. What else is there? You gave it the ol' college try. Some things in life are out of your control. Don't panic. If one plan crashes and burns, you will simply have to construct another. Best of luck.

If you were refused on the basis of a suspicion, without being given a hearing. you can argue that the refusal was unlawful.

See my blog: schengenjustice.blogspot.com/

is it required, by law, for Poland to list the specifics as to why someone was refused a visa?

it is same case with me i know friends in poland by internet can i tell them to send me invitation and will it be considered in the embassy??

so to sum things up :
You are an Iranian, studying in Armenia ( muslim I assume ) , asking for shengen visa to a 99% christian country mostly catholic, no friends, everything paid up, no apparent reason to go ..and your nick name is Cyanide.. you know where i'm going with this right? are you studying chemistry perchance?

Exactly, or Explosives 101....

Dorota Gouveia
so to sum things up :
You are an Iranian, studying in Armenia ( muslim I assume ) , asking for shengen visa to a 99% christian country mostly catholic, no friends, everything paid up, no apparent reason to go ..and your nick name is Cyanide.. you know where i'm going with this right? are you studying chemistry perchance?

I was not going to comment on the obvious but that comment kind of sums it up.

Sorry. Every consider Romania?

"Up to 97% of Armenians follow Christianity, which has existed in Armenia for over 1,700 years."
"Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event traditionally dated to AD 301"


Are you a drunk plumber by any chance?

Seriously, the casualness of discrimination of other ethnicities, religions and cultures is astonishing.

O really? Try to tell that to those Poles rejected by US embassy recently. A decision is a decision, he should just go elsewhere.

where's the discrimination in that? skip the conspiracy theories.....where's the discrimination.

My friend is A visa consular and she says she meets with almost 25 people everyday ...some have vague stories,criminal history,or simple no paperwork to backup there claims,or some who overstayed before so she refuses them.Some Poles think Embassy dont know anything whereas embassy verifies everything before the come for interview.

I don't doubt it, but there are a lot of people on this forum that flat out won't believe, or accept, that it's possible. The ONLY possibility is that the USA has a full blown conspiracy to keep out Poles from the Visa Waver Program. Any other explanation.....now that would be impossible.

i am a kenyan citizen studying in turkey i applied for polish tourist visa 10 days ago. today i went to collect the visa but unfortunately they refused me when i asked for the reason the didnt gave me clear reason.what shall i do? i payed for evrything. i want to visit historical places in poland. now my dream is shattered shall i die? please help me.

i reserved the hotel, flight, bank account with good money, turkish residence permit and a letter from my school..i waste all my time and money fixing it. my dream was to go to warsaw in my holiday beacuse all my foreign clasmate won their dreams and they are on holiday. what shall i do? should i count myself as a black sheep who have no space to have fun.? am demoralize and dont know how i will concentrate in class after my holidays. help me reach my dream pleas.

But that's true. UK's court papers are meaningless in Poland. It's different country. Why are you surprised.


But he's Iranian, not Armenian.


It sounds crazy, when person from other continent, which never was in Poland says that he loves the country. I don't think it would help, because it doesn't sound probable


Why have you applied for Schengen Visa, not just for Polish Visa. I guess that it's easier to get Visa for Poland only. I think that Polish embassies cannot give a lot of Schengen Visa for poor countries, because people will use it to come work illegally in Germany or France and later these countries will complain.


No, in Poland official invitation requires a lot of paperwork. Inviting person should have a work, assets and sign that will be responsible for you. It's not simple writing 1 page letter.


You sounds like crazy. I wouldn't give you Visa. It sounds like a child which lost his lollipop.

Hi Cyanide,

Did you get the VISA eventually? Can you please leave me a note? It'll be very helpful to know your experiences with Polish Embassy?

P.S.: It's quite urgent as I'm going through a same situation like yours.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the visa, I also made an appeal but it was in vain. Though, I am most probably sure that the reason of my rejection was that I didn't have enough reasons to "fully convince" the interviewer that I will get back to my country of residence when the Schengen Tourist Visa is expired. Being married (and your spouse not travelling to Poland with you), having a well-paying job in your country of residence, etc. helps!

Furthermore, I only had $800 in my bank account; later I found out that having €8000-€10000 in the bank account is also another good reason to show that you'll be back and is actually necessary.

Good luck with your application.
P.S: Having an invitation is one of the things that increases your chances of getting the Tourist Visa.

I'd an invitation with me from my friend and just 1200$ in my account. Also I've a decent job and family ties in my country. Still I got a refusal with a reason that my intention to come back in time couldn't be ascertained.

Now I'm going to re-apply. Not appeal, because it can take a lot of time to get this done. I've made some particular changes as follows:

1. Got invitation from her mother stating a wish to guarantee that I'll not overstay.
2. Borrowed 1500$ from my father to make myself financially strong for this trip.
3. A letter from my employer that I must join my office after expiry of my leaves.
4. I'm gonna tell them how important it is for me to live with my family in India.
5. I don't really own any property in India, but my father does. I'm not sure if I can offer them for a collateral security arrangement to guarantee that I'll come back on time. But I'll try to tell them indirectly.

Refusal stamp is kind of a stain in my passport. I don't know how I can get rid of it. So I'm gonna give this a hard try to make my future better.

Hope it'll be sufficient to convince them.

Thanks for sharing your experience. :)

Of all the things you listed, this is the only one that means much. 1,3 and 4 will help little, if at all, and 2 only marginally so. They're looking for serious money.


It doesn't work like that.

Sorry, but they are probably going to view you as a high-risk economic refuge like they did before. Nothing substantial has changed in your situation, and nothing you have is convincing evidence that you will return to your country. Quite the opposite. Save your money and forget about applying for a visa. Chances are practically zero.

Can you back that up by facts and real life examples? Or is this, once again, something you make up as you go along?

"Serious money" is not a reason for a person to return to their country. What they are normally looking for, apart from whether you can support yourself during your stay, is a genuine reason for the visa applicants return to their home country. Usually they are looking at the family circumstances (is the person married, has a child etc. ), employment records (payslips or other documents that refer the income).

From my time in Ukraine, I know of quite a few Ukrainians who went on bus tours throughout Europe. Most of them earned the average Ukrainian income of 200 - 300 Euro per month and saved for their trip for quite some time. There was never any serious money involved but they had genuine reasons to return to Ukraine and were issued their visa. On the other hand, I have heard of people who were refused a visa because they could not prove a genuine return reason. Yet, they had plenty of money and a bus journey to Europe would have been beneath them.

I would like to hear and understand your examples of how they are "looking for serious money". Perhaps you have ever tried to assist a Non-EU citizen to get a visa and they had it rejected?

I am waiting for your examples.

Poland, like any other country, do NOT have to issue visas and therefore have the right to refuse visas and do not have to give any explanation. You guys don't accept anyone in your home so why should Poland or any other country be forced to let anyone in. When a visa is denied, no need to write on a forum based in the US ;). If a visa is refused, the applicant has to make other plans to go to another country and that's all. I assume all the Third World people who try to get visas for Poland do not give a sh####t for Poland as they see Poland as a entrance door to EU since obviously they mean to move further west. the Polish authorities of course know it and probably they even have instructions from western European countries not to let in too many people since obviously they shall end up in Western Europe.

It is of course sad but when a visa is refused, there is nothing to be done but to accept the reality.

Exactly. You assume! Any facts?

@Sahil : sorry but like Dominik, I don't think that your situation can get you a visa. Your friend's mother wrote a letter that you would not overstay your visa? How the hell can she know? Does she state that she'll be financially responsible if something goes wrong? Writing such a stupid letter is useless.

Your 1,500 usdollars is not a fortune in Poland and won't take you very far. The letter from your boss does not mean much too. You are supposed to go back to your job on such date but so what, if you don't return ? Will you be arrested, sentenced to death ... ?

Furthermore, you don't have a medical insurance. What about if you have an accident, if you need urgent surgery? Things happen and believe me, with your 1,500 usd, you won't be able to pay for the hospital bills.

Again, like Dominik, I say that you don't have any concrete guarantee and you don't know why you want to come to Poland.

Sorry, to be brutal but life is not easy and better to know it....