Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has taken the unprecedented step of closing every Polish consular section worldwide from 24–28 December, effectively pausing the issuance of visas, passports and legal-isation services for four consecutive days. Although short holiday closures are routine, this is the first year the suspension spans Christmas Eve, now a new statutory public holiday in Poland.
The ripple effects are immediate for corporate mobility teams. With domestic voivodeship offices and Border Guard customer counters also dark, employers cannot file last-minute residence-permit extensions or collect ready documents on behalf of non-EU assignees whose permits expire during the break. Travel-management companies report that high-volume sending markets such as Egypt, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia were already facing six-week appointment backlogs; the four-day pause adds further delay and could jeopardise January deployment plans.
![Christmas shutdown of Polish consulates halts global visa processing for four days]()
During this freeze, partnering with an experienced facilitator like VisaHQ can give employers a critical edge. VisaHQ continually tracks Polish consular updates, can lock in future appointment slots, and provides a dashboard of real-time processing alerts through its Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/). By having paperwork pre-vetted and ready to submit the moment offices reopen, global mobility teams can shave days off turnaround times and keep high-priority projects on schedule.
Consular staff have advised travellers with imminent departure dates to carry proof of cancelled appointments and flight bookings to mitigate problems at airline check-in. Meanwhile, visa agents are urging multinationals to build extra buffer days into January itineraries and to avoid scheduling board meetings in Poland during the first week of the new year, when pent-up demand is expected to overwhelm e-Konsulat and MOS portals.
For global mobility managers, the shutdown underscores the importance of proactive document planning around Poland’s expanding public-holiday calendar. Companies with time-sensitive projects should explore contingency options such as remote work from Schengen neighbours or short-term business-visa alternatives until consular services resume on 29 December.
The ripple effects are immediate for corporate mobility teams. With domestic voivodeship offices and Border Guard customer counters also dark, employers cannot file last-minute residence-permit extensions or collect ready documents on behalf of non-EU assignees whose permits expire during the break. Travel-management companies report that high-volume sending markets such as Egypt, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia were already facing six-week appointment backlogs; the four-day pause adds further delay and could jeopardise January deployment plans.
During this freeze, partnering with an experienced facilitator like VisaHQ can give employers a critical edge. VisaHQ continually tracks Polish consular updates, can lock in future appointment slots, and provides a dashboard of real-time processing alerts through its Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/). By having paperwork pre-vetted and ready to submit the moment offices reopen, global mobility teams can shave days off turnaround times and keep high-priority projects on schedule.
Consular staff have advised travellers with imminent departure dates to carry proof of cancelled appointments and flight bookings to mitigate problems at airline check-in. Meanwhile, visa agents are urging multinationals to build extra buffer days into January itineraries and to avoid scheduling board meetings in Poland during the first week of the new year, when pent-up demand is expected to overwhelm e-Konsulat and MOS portals.
For global mobility managers, the shutdown underscores the importance of proactive document planning around Poland’s expanding public-holiday calendar. Companies with time-sensitive projects should explore contingency options such as remote work from Schengen neighbours or short-term business-visa alternatives until consular services resume on 29 December.
