Business-travel planners face an unexpected Christmas bottleneck after Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shut every consular section from 24 to 28 December for its annual holiday closure. Appointment calendars on the e-Konsulat portal have been frozen and walk-in visa, passport and legal-isation services suspended. Applicants in Cairo, Riyadh, Manila and dozens of other capitals must now wait until Monday, 29 December before they can lodge biometrics or collect documents.
While the closure happens every year, 2025 marks the first time 24 December is a statutory public holiday in Poland. That means domestic voivodeship offices and Border Guard customer counters are also dark, removing the normal back-up option of filing residence-permit extensions in country. Employers hoping to onboard third-country nationals in early January will almost certainly see start dates slip by at least a week.
At this juncture, corporate mobility teams may find it helpful to outsource the administrative leg-work. VisaHQ’s Poland desk (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) can pre-screen documentation, secure the earliest available appointment slots and track biometrics submissions, allowing HR departments to stay ahead of the post-holiday crunch.
![Polish Consulates Worldwide Closed 24–28 December, Visa Processing Paused]()
Corporate mobility teams should prepare templated “explanatory letters” for any foreign employees whose 90-day Schengen-stay clocks expire during the shutdown; authorities generally waive penalties when overstays are caused solely by official closures, but written justification is required. Human-resource managers are also advised to pre-upload documents to digital visa platforms so that applications can hit the ground running when counters reopen.
Travellers with emergencies still have limited recourse. The Polish MFA has activated a 24/7 duty officer (+48 22 523 8880) for humanitarian and repatriation cases. In a pinch, some Schengen partner missions—Austria and Hungary were explicitly mentioned—will handle limited outsourcing-centre appointments for category-C visas that allow entry to Poland, but only if itineraries respect the “main-destination” rule.
With heavy post-holiday backlogs expected, experts recommend budgeting at least an extra two weeks for January processing and advising business units to avoid scheduling critical travel until mid-month.
While the closure happens every year, 2025 marks the first time 24 December is a statutory public holiday in Poland. That means domestic voivodeship offices and Border Guard customer counters are also dark, removing the normal back-up option of filing residence-permit extensions in country. Employers hoping to onboard third-country nationals in early January will almost certainly see start dates slip by at least a week.
At this juncture, corporate mobility teams may find it helpful to outsource the administrative leg-work. VisaHQ’s Poland desk (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) can pre-screen documentation, secure the earliest available appointment slots and track biometrics submissions, allowing HR departments to stay ahead of the post-holiday crunch.
Corporate mobility teams should prepare templated “explanatory letters” for any foreign employees whose 90-day Schengen-stay clocks expire during the shutdown; authorities generally waive penalties when overstays are caused solely by official closures, but written justification is required. Human-resource managers are also advised to pre-upload documents to digital visa platforms so that applications can hit the ground running when counters reopen.
Travellers with emergencies still have limited recourse. The Polish MFA has activated a 24/7 duty officer (+48 22 523 8880) for humanitarian and repatriation cases. In a pinch, some Schengen partner missions—Austria and Hungary were explicitly mentioned—will handle limited outsourcing-centre appointments for category-C visas that allow entry to Poland, but only if itineraries respect the “main-destination” rule.
With heavy post-holiday backlogs expected, experts recommend budgeting at least an extra two weeks for January processing and advising business units to avoid scheduling critical travel until mid-month.
