Poland’s Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) has decided to keep the temporary controls it re-introduced last summer on the land borders with Germany and Lithuania in force for almost another six months, until 1 October 2026. The so-called “second-filter” regime was first launched in July 2025 to stem secondary movements of migrants who had managed to enter the European Union via Belarus and to disrupt well-organised car-theft and smuggling rings operating along the frontier. According to MSWiA figures quoted by the Border Guard, more than 1.3 million travellers have been screened since the programme began, resulting in almost 1,000 refusals of entry.
![Poland prolongs “second-filter” checks on borders with Germany and Lithuania until October 2026]()
Travellers anxious to avoid becoming part of that statistic can streamline their paperwork through VisaHQ. The service’s Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) offers step-by-step guidance, digital document uploads and expert support for tourist, business and work visas, helping visitors secure the correct documentation before reaching the German or Lithuanian borders.
Most denials concerned nationals of Ukraine, India, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Russia travelling without the correct visas or supporting documents. Twenty-nine people who posed security threats or carried criminal warrants were declared persona non grata across the entire Schengen Area. Officials stress that the checks are intelligence-led and risk-based: vehicles are funnelled to designated lanes and officers use mobile biometric devices to verify fingerprints and compare them with EU databases. Average waiting times in the commercial freight lanes have risen by 15–25 minutes, prompting logistics associations to advise shippers to pad schedules on the A2 (Świecko-Frankfurt/Oder) and S8 (Budzisko) corridors. For corporate mobility managers the extension means that cross-border commuter traffic—particularly tech and manufacturing staff who live in Germany’s border region and work in Lower Silesia—should expect spot checks through the summer. Employers sending non-EU staff to Poland on short-term assignments must ensure that passports carry both a valid Schengen visa (or Polish work permit) and proof of accommodation, as officers have been asking for hotel confirmations and letters of invitation. MSWiA underlines that the measure remains temporary and will be lifted “as soon as the migration and security situation allows”. However, interior-ministry sources told RMF FM that Warsaw is prepared to request yet another prolongation if the EU’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum, due to become operational in late 2026, is delayed.
Travellers anxious to avoid becoming part of that statistic can streamline their paperwork through VisaHQ. The service’s Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) offers step-by-step guidance, digital document uploads and expert support for tourist, business and work visas, helping visitors secure the correct documentation before reaching the German or Lithuanian borders.
Most denials concerned nationals of Ukraine, India, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Russia travelling without the correct visas or supporting documents. Twenty-nine people who posed security threats or carried criminal warrants were declared persona non grata across the entire Schengen Area. Officials stress that the checks are intelligence-led and risk-based: vehicles are funnelled to designated lanes and officers use mobile biometric devices to verify fingerprints and compare them with EU databases. Average waiting times in the commercial freight lanes have risen by 15–25 minutes, prompting logistics associations to advise shippers to pad schedules on the A2 (Świecko-Frankfurt/Oder) and S8 (Budzisko) corridors. For corporate mobility managers the extension means that cross-border commuter traffic—particularly tech and manufacturing staff who live in Germany’s border region and work in Lower Silesia—should expect spot checks through the summer. Employers sending non-EU staff to Poland on short-term assignments must ensure that passports carry both a valid Schengen visa (or Polish work permit) and proof of accommodation, as officers have been asking for hotel confirmations and letters of invitation. MSWiA underlines that the measure remains temporary and will be lifted “as soon as the migration and security situation allows”. However, interior-ministry sources told RMF FM that Warsaw is prepared to request yet another prolongation if the EU’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum, due to become operational in late 2026, is delayed.
