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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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 Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Mike from MI wrote: |
| Thanks for your replies. So for my first year, should I arrive in Poland on a 90-day visa, get a job (perhaps having sent CVs and arranged interviews before arriving), and rely on my employer to sort out my visa for the duration of my contract? |
Yes, this the way to do it. If you're lucky, you may even be able to line up a job before you come to Poland.
Of course, coming to Poland on a year visa couldn't hurt either, if it's the appropriate type. If you arrive on a 90-day visa waiver, you have to start the residency application process fairly soon after your arrival in order to meet immigration's 45-day deadline. |
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oipivo
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Location: Poland
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| Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Also, keep in mind that you can leave every 90 days and get a new tourist visa (THIS IS ONLY FOR AMERICANS). This isn't written as far as I can find, but it is true. I've done it three times as has my wife. Feel free to confirm it yourself, but don't stress too hard about the 90 day limit. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:16 am Post subject: |
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| If you google Schengen zone, you'll see that the border crossing re-start of a visa isn't actually on the big books anymore - though Polish border guards may not all be aware of that. |
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oipivo
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Location: Poland
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| Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| This has been discussed elsewhere, but Americans have the right to exit every 90 days and re enter. There's a diplomatic agreement. Ask any immigration office or border patrol office. |
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dynow
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080
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| Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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| oipivo wrote: |
| This has been discussed elsewhere, but Americans have the right to exit every 90 days and re enter. There's a diplomatic agreement. Ask any immigration office or border patrol office. |
has the law changed recently? if not, this is incorrect as far as I know.
the law, at least used to be, that an American was allowed 90 days in the Schengen zone within a 180 day period which means if you stay 90 days straight in the Schengen zone, you must then leave and cannot return till 90 days later. 180 days.
when I had first come to poland, border crossing was doable to get a fresh 90 days worth of stay because they had border police. once the borders opened up, that all changed and they enacted the 90 in 180 policy.
this has been addressed up and down on this forum. |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| oipivo wrote: |
| This has been discussed elsewhere, but Americans have the right to exit every 90 days and re enter. There's a diplomatic agreement. Ask any immigration office or border patrol office. |
Yep, I just did the run to Lithuania under the guidance of the Gdansk Immigration Office. |
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oipivo
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Location: Poland
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| Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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Seriously, if anyone is actually curious then look up the number for the border patrol office and ask. I've confirmed it at three immigration offices and asked the border patrol myself. I've never heard anything different except on this forum. I've also done it three times.
ecocks- you went to Lithuania? It was my understanding that you had to actually leave Schengen and get a new stamp. I went to Georgia and then Ukraine twice. |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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| oipivo wrote: |
Seriously, if anyone is actually curious then look up the number for the border patrol office and ask. I've confirmed it at three immigration offices and asked the border patrol myself. I've never heard anything different except on this forum. I've also done it three times.
ecocks- you went to Lithuania? It was my understanding that you had to actually leave Schengen and get a new stamp. I went to Georgia and then Ukraine twice. |
They told me Germany or Czech Republic would be fine. I asked about Vilnius and they said okay. I was advised to have an ATM slip, receipts, etc.
I have had a copy of the rule since late February or early March. Delph translated some of the info once. It's all on one of the threads where we talked about it.
Last edited by ecocks on Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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oipivo
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Location: Poland
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| Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Ah, ok that makes sense. The office here just warned me that it would be illegal to be in another Schengen country aside from Poland, so we've always gone outside. Good to hear everything is still working! |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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| oipivo wrote: |
| Ah, ok that makes sense. The office here just warned me that it would be illegal to be in another Schengen country aside from Poland, so we've always gone outside. Good to hear everything is still working! |
I told them about that (being illegal in another Schengen country) and they just shrugged their shoulders.
I actually was worried that it would be more of a potential problem to go out and come back in through a passport control booth. There seems to be a complete lack of consensus on the fine points of this agreement. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:47 am Post subject: |
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[quote="ecocks"]
| oipivo wrote: |
| I actually was worried that it would be more of a potential problem to go out and come back in through a passport control booth. There seems to be a complete lack of consensus on the fine points of this agreement. |
I was under the impression the whole point of the visa run was to get the new entry stamp in your passport. That's why I went to a non-Schengen country (Ukraine) to get my passport stamped at the border.
I'm surprised they will accept ATM slips and receipts as proof.
To me, it seems riskier to visit a Schengen country. What happens if Czech immigration ask to see your passport and you're over your 90 days? Will they turn a blind eye if you tell them it's ok because you're going back to Poland and 'immigration don't enforce the 90-in-90-out-rule there'? I doubt it.
I returned from Czech Republic a few weeks ago and our bus was randomly stopped by the immigration police at a checkpoint near the Polish border.
They took one look at the picture page of my American passport and moved on to the next person. At least that time it clearly wasn't a priority to catch Americans overstaying in the Schengen. |
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Coolguy123
Joined: 10 Apr 2013
Posts: 132
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| Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:08 am Post subject: |
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| Master Shake wrote: |
However, most schools in Poland treat kids lessons like a little 'add-on' to your normal adult teaching timetable and don't provide much support. Asia's often even worse.
But if you find a good school that supports you, teaching kids can be just as rewarding, and a lot better paying, than teaching adults. |
That's one of my concerns as well. I really want to have some good professional development - it seems like some of the bigger companies have the resources to support their teachers, while other schools give you more freedom but not that much guidance.
I suppose it could go either way but I'd rather had some guidance as I'm trying to develop as a teacher, if anyone has any comments on that notion. |
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curtmonster
Joined: 03 Sep 2013
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:05 am Post subject: |
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Coolguy123,
I am an American living and teaching in Poland and this is how I did it:
--I had sent my CV prior to coming to the country and told them the dates that I was available to meet. I had tried to set up interviews via Skype so that I wouldn't have to travel to the country to solidify a teaching position, however I didn't get any bites until I told them I was going to be in the country from XXXX to XXXX.
--After interviewing at half a dozen schools only one was able to give me a solid offer (Bell, however I wouldn't work for them again b/c they still owe me $$$ from last year). The contract that I signed with them I used as a 'work promise' which I presented to the Polish Consulate back in Chicago. (I looked at this trip as an investment in my future as a teacher + I was planning on marrying my Polish gf) I used this 'work promise' to apply for a National D-type visa (http://www.msz.gov.pl/en/travel_to_poland/visa/). I was allowed to state how long I wanted the visa to last for (292 days in this case).
--When I presented the visa application in Chicago I arrived just as the doors opened to ensure I wouldn't have to wait in line long. I can supply more details if you want about this process if you are interested, but I was in and out of the Consulate within 15 minutes.
--As far as the contract goes with the school, they helped pay for the acquisition of the Visa (plane ticket to Chicago from Minneapolis, application fees, + a 1000ZL for transportation throughout the year)
--In April I married my Polish fiancée and was able to apply for my residence permit, so I no longer needed a Visa to be in the country. Again, I can go into more details if needed.
--If you have more questions about my process let me know.
Sincerely,
A fellow American ESL Teacher living in Poland  |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland
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| Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:03 am Post subject: |
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[quote="Master Shake"]
| ecocks wrote: |
| oipivo wrote: |
| I actually was worried that it would be more of a potential problem to go out and come back in through a passport control booth. There seems to be a complete lack of consensus on the fine points of this agreement. |
I was under the impression the whole point of the visa run was to get the new entry stamp in your passport. That's why I went to a non-Schengen country (Ukraine) to get my passport stamped at the border.
I'm surprised they will accept ATM slips and receipts as proof.
To me, it seems riskier to visit a Schengen country. What happens if Czech immigration ask to see your passport and you're over your 90 days? Will they turn a blind eye if you tell them it's ok because you're going back to Poland and 'immigration don't enforce the 90-in-90-out-rule there'? I doubt it.
I returned from Czech Republic a few weeks ago and our bus was randomly stopped by the immigration police at a checkpoint near the Polish border.
They took one look at the picture page of my American passport and moved on to the next person. At least that time it clearly wasn't a priority to catch Americans overstaying in the Schengen. |
Exactly. The Polish Immigration people just shrugged like it isn't their problem. Which, of course, it isn't.
The other concern is what about leaving through non-Polish ports? If I fly back to the states (or anywhere) via Frankurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, etc., what happens when they read my visa stamps?
Unless/until I get the residency taken care of the only things I see to do is fly or train from Poland to a non-Schengen destination such as the UK, Kyiv, Odessa, Istanbul, etc. then go to my final, NON-SCHENGEN destination and return the same way.
It also gives me pause before vacationing elsewhere in the Schengen Zone. |
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dynow
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080
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| Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Master Shake wrote: |
I'm surprised they will accept ATM slips and receipts as proof.
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agreed. it doesn't mean you were there, just that your money was. it would be nothing to give your card to a friend and have them make a purchase for you during a trip outside Poland.
It still amazes me that Americans have so much trouble getting a residency card in Poland. I established my freelance business, got a business bank account, zameldowanie in my flat, gathered whatever other paperwork they asked for and it was a done deal, just had to wait around for the paperwork to go through. I never returned to the USA to visit a consulate either, I did it all from RP. |
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