Business Visa To Poland

Many foreign companies, in order to get a business visa to visit Poland, must get an invitation letter written by a Polish company. Because the writing of an invitation letter can subject the inviting company to liabilities under the Polish law, writing such a letter should be done with caution.

It is common for Polish companies to receive requests for invitation letters from people who claim that they want to make large purchases of Polish products. They cite that the Polish Embassy in their country has asked them for an invitation letter from a Polish company prior to issuance of the visa.

In many cases e-mail requests for invitation letters are followed up by phone calls and many discussions about particular profit product.

By way of example, one amber manufacturer from Gdansk had been involved in negotiations for approximately two months with a man from Africa who had placed a large order by telephone for amber but wished to come to the country to inspect the order and pay for it once he was satisfied with it.

The owner of the amber company, accustomed to such requests, departed from his normal refusal to issue letters and finally consented to issue an invitation letter. He later commented that negotiations over two months seemed to show the buyer was serious.

When the men from Africa arrived in Warsaw, however, the Polish border Patrol checked his passport and found that he had been involved in several fraud schemes. They called the owner of the amber company and told him that if they allowed the man into the country the owner of the amber company would be responsible for any fraud or criminal activity perpetrated by this man.

The owner of the amber company told them to send the man back to Africa.

Other companies report that after issuing letters of invitation, they never hear from the invitee again and it appears that people use the letters of invitation simply to come to the country for the purposes of illegal immigration.

The letter of invitation scam seems to becoming more sophisticated and the people making the arrangements requesting the letters seem to be operating with a well defined scenario that is designed mislead unsuspecting employees in Polish companies to assist them in getting their clients business visas that are used for illegal immigration.

Polish companies are advised to use caution and to recognize that they can incur significant liabilities if they issue letters of invitation.

One company is reported to now require that anyone desiring a letter of invitation must make a deposit of some 15,000 Euro which will be returned three months after the invitee crosses the border to leave Poland and after a check that no criminal or fraudulent activity occurred.

Others simply reject all requests.