Polish and Ukrainian customs authorities warned travellers on 30 March 2026 of multi-hour waits at several major road crossings as thousands of Ukrainian citizens working or studying in the European Union drove east to spend Orthodox Easter with family. According to Ukraine’s State Customs Service, the Korczowa–Krakovets and Medyka–Shehyni crossings were at peak capacity before dawn, with vehicle lines stretching up to six kilometres on the Polish side. Border officers are redirecting motorists to less congested points such as Dołhobyczów–Uhryniv, Hrebenne–Rava-Ruska and Budomierz–Hrushiv, but logistics firms say commercial trucks cannot always divert because of permit or route-planning constraints.
![Holiday Rush: Long Queues Reported at Polish Checkpoints as Ukrainians Head Home for Easter]()
Travellers who want to make sure their paperwork is airtight before facing lengthy lines can turn to VisaHQ, whose Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) streamlines visa checks, residence extensions and courier processing of passports—services that can minimise unexpected holdups at the frontier.
Exporters of perishable goods have been advised to build in 24-hour buffers to avoid missed delivery slots further into Ukraine. Coach operators serving Warsaw–Lviv routes have added rest-stop contingencies and urged passengers to carry water and essential medication. Easter spikes are an annual occurrence, yet this year’s surge is exacerbated by the approaching 4 March 2027 deadline for renewing Temporary Protection status in the EU. Many Ukrainians are making their first trip home since regulations were updated earlier this month, and some are using the opportunity to collect documents required for re-registration in Poland. Immigration advisers counselling employers of Ukrainian staff recommend early April as a safer return window and remind companies that employees delayed at the border may need ad-hoc remote-work arrangements to preserve payroll continuity. The bottlenecks also test Poland’s border-management infrastructure just as the government prepares to upgrade surveillance along the Ukrainian frontier. Customs officials say data gathered over the Easter period will inform lane-allocation algorithms and staffing models for the new electronic barrier project announced the same day.
Travellers who want to make sure their paperwork is airtight before facing lengthy lines can turn to VisaHQ, whose Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) streamlines visa checks, residence extensions and courier processing of passports—services that can minimise unexpected holdups at the frontier.
Exporters of perishable goods have been advised to build in 24-hour buffers to avoid missed delivery slots further into Ukraine. Coach operators serving Warsaw–Lviv routes have added rest-stop contingencies and urged passengers to carry water and essential medication. Easter spikes are an annual occurrence, yet this year’s surge is exacerbated by the approaching 4 March 2027 deadline for renewing Temporary Protection status in the EU. Many Ukrainians are making their first trip home since regulations were updated earlier this month, and some are using the opportunity to collect documents required for re-registration in Poland. Immigration advisers counselling employers of Ukrainian staff recommend early April as a safer return window and remind companies that employees delayed at the border may need ad-hoc remote-work arrangements to preserve payroll continuity. The bottlenecks also test Poland’s border-management infrastructure just as the government prepares to upgrade surveillance along the Ukrainian frontier. Customs officials say data gathered over the Easter period will inform lane-allocation algorithms and staffing models for the new electronic barrier project announced the same day.
