The Council of the European Union announced late on 19 May 2026 that the temporary restrictive visa measures applied to Ethiopian nationals in 2024 have been fully lifted. Effective immediately, all 27 Schengen states—including Poland—must again apply the standard rules of the EU Visa Code to Ethiopian citizens. The 2024 restrictions had required Ethiopian applicants to pay higher fees, wait up to 45 days for a decision and, in most cases, accept single-entry visas. Brussels cited Addis Ababa’s limited cooperation on readmitting irregular migrants as the reason for that earlier penalty. According to the Council’s new implementing decision, Ethiopia has since started to issue emergency travel documents within 30 days, accepted charter removals and agreed to re-launch a stalled readmission dialogue—behaviour that satisfies the performance benchmarks written into Article 25a of the Visa Code.
![EU lifts restrictive visa measures on Ethiopia, easing Schengen access via Poland]()
Companies and individual travellers who prefer professional assistance navigating the restored, standard process can streamline their applications through VisaHQ. The platform guides users step-by-step through Poland’s Schengen requirements, monitors the earliest available appointment slots and offers real-time status tracking. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/poland/
For employers moving staff through Warsaw, Poznań or Kraków, the reinstatement of normal processing means far shorter lead-times. Polish consulates may now issue multiple-entry C-visas valid for up to five years, and service- and diplomatic-passport holders are once again exempt from the €80 fee. Travel managers should nevertheless budget several weeks for appointment slots because demand is expected to surge in Addis Ababa and Nairobi. Airlines that depend on the growing Ethiopian market—LOT Polish Airlines carried 12,000 passengers between Addis Ababa and Warsaw last year—welcome the decision. The carrier told Money.pl that it will restore a second weekly rotation as soon as consular appointment backlogs clear. Freight forwarders transporting automotive components from Ethiopia’s Modjo-Dry-Port industrial corridor also see fewer hurdles: the switch back to multiple-entry visas reduces the frequency of document renewals for truck drivers entering Poland via Hamburg and Duisburg. Practically, assignees can reference the updated rules on Poland’s e-Consulate platform. HR teams should delete any template letters that mention ‘single-entry only’ or ‘extended processing’ and monitor the MOS portal for possible credentialing delays caused by the seasonal spike in summer-travel applications.
Companies and individual travellers who prefer professional assistance navigating the restored, standard process can streamline their applications through VisaHQ. The platform guides users step-by-step through Poland’s Schengen requirements, monitors the earliest available appointment slots and offers real-time status tracking. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/poland/
For employers moving staff through Warsaw, Poznań or Kraków, the reinstatement of normal processing means far shorter lead-times. Polish consulates may now issue multiple-entry C-visas valid for up to five years, and service- and diplomatic-passport holders are once again exempt from the €80 fee. Travel managers should nevertheless budget several weeks for appointment slots because demand is expected to surge in Addis Ababa and Nairobi. Airlines that depend on the growing Ethiopian market—LOT Polish Airlines carried 12,000 passengers between Addis Ababa and Warsaw last year—welcome the decision. The carrier told Money.pl that it will restore a second weekly rotation as soon as consular appointment backlogs clear. Freight forwarders transporting automotive components from Ethiopia’s Modjo-Dry-Port industrial corridor also see fewer hurdles: the switch back to multiple-entry visas reduces the frequency of document renewals for truck drivers entering Poland via Hamburg and Duisburg. Practically, assignees can reference the updated rules on Poland’s e-Consulate platform. HR teams should delete any template letters that mention ‘single-entry only’ or ‘extended processing’ and monitor the MOS portal for possible credentialing delays caused by the seasonal spike in summer-travel applications.
