The Polish Ministry of the Interior has quietly prolonged the window during which Belarusian citizens can apply for a Polish ‘travel document for a foreigner’ until 30 June 2026 ([envoyglobal.com](https://www.envoyglobal.com/news-alert/poland-extends-travel-document-access-for-belarusian-citizens-to-june-2026/?utm_source=openai)). The document serves as an emergency passport for people who cannot obtain, renew or safely use a Belarusian passport—most commonly opposition activists, IT professionals working remotely from Poland and students whose national passports have expired while abroad.
The scheme was introduced in 2023 after Minsk began refusing to issue new passports to dissidents and to Belarusians living outside the country. Since then, Poland’s voivodeship offices have issued more than 28 000 such documents, according to parliamentary replies to opposition MPs (the government does not publish a consolidated tally). The extension means that thousands of Belarusians whose documents would have lapsed this spring can continue to travel for work, study and family reasons without having to re-enter Belarus.
For employers, the news removes an immediate mobility headache. Polish residence-permit and work-permit renewals require a valid travel document; without the extension, many Belarusian assignees risked falling out of status or being unable to take short business trips within the Schengen Area. Mobility managers should nevertheless check that employees’ residence-cards (karty pobytu) remain valid and that any business travel outside the EU is accepted by the destination country, as some third-country border officers do not recognise the Polish document.
![Poland extends special travel-document scheme for Belarusians until 30 June 2026]()
Employers and individual travelers who want extra assurance navigating these formalities can turn to VisaHQ’s Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/), which provides up-to-date guidance on residence permits, travel documents and visa requirements, along with an easy online interface for submitting applications and tracking their progress.
Belarusian community groups welcomed the decision but cautioned that backlogs of up to three months persist in some regions. They recommend that applicants create a Trusted Profile (Profil Zaufany) and file online to avoid multiple visits. Companies planning intra-EU assignments should build in extra lead-time for visa-on-arrival checks at non-Schengen airports until carriers are fully familiar with the document.
Strategically, the move underscores Warsaw’s dual migration policy: a hard security stance on irregular entries from Belarus coupled with continued support for Belarusian civil-society actors and the tech talent that has relocated to Poland since 2020. HR departments can therefore continue to recruit or second Belarusian nationals with relative confidence, but should monitor any future political retaliation from Minsk that might complicate cross-border family travel.
The scheme was introduced in 2023 after Minsk began refusing to issue new passports to dissidents and to Belarusians living outside the country. Since then, Poland’s voivodeship offices have issued more than 28 000 such documents, according to parliamentary replies to opposition MPs (the government does not publish a consolidated tally). The extension means that thousands of Belarusians whose documents would have lapsed this spring can continue to travel for work, study and family reasons without having to re-enter Belarus.
For employers, the news removes an immediate mobility headache. Polish residence-permit and work-permit renewals require a valid travel document; without the extension, many Belarusian assignees risked falling out of status or being unable to take short business trips within the Schengen Area. Mobility managers should nevertheless check that employees’ residence-cards (karty pobytu) remain valid and that any business travel outside the EU is accepted by the destination country, as some third-country border officers do not recognise the Polish document.
Employers and individual travelers who want extra assurance navigating these formalities can turn to VisaHQ’s Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/), which provides up-to-date guidance on residence permits, travel documents and visa requirements, along with an easy online interface for submitting applications and tracking their progress.
Belarusian community groups welcomed the decision but cautioned that backlogs of up to three months persist in some regions. They recommend that applicants create a Trusted Profile (Profil Zaufany) and file online to avoid multiple visits. Companies planning intra-EU assignments should build in extra lead-time for visa-on-arrival checks at non-Schengen airports until carriers are fully familiar with the document.
Strategically, the move underscores Warsaw’s dual migration policy: a hard security stance on irregular entries from Belarus coupled with continued support for Belarusian civil-society actors and the tech talent that has relocated to Poland since 2020. HR departments can therefore continue to recruit or second Belarusian nationals with relative confidence, but should monitor any future political retaliation from Minsk that might complicate cross-border family travel.
