Visa scandal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided data on the issuance of visas to foreigners – numbers

On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a communiqué presenting detailed statistical data on the issuance of visas to foreigners. As explained:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that over the last 30 months it issued a total of over PLN 1,950,000 to foreigners. visas (national and Schengen), including over 1 million 782 thousand national visas (allowing you to stay only in Poland).

Citizens Belarus over 586,000 such visas were issued, respectively. and over 534 thousand, while citizens Ukraine during this time they received over 990,000. and over 988 thousand such documents.

The remaining almost 375 thousand Schengen and national visas were issued to citizens of other countries. Citizens were at the top of the list Turkey – just over 51.1 thousand visa, Russia – 44.6 thousand, India – 44.2 thousand Citizens came next Kazakhstan – 17.1 thousand, Uzbekistan – 16.3 thousand, Georgia – 16.2 thousand, Philippines – 16 thousand

“It is not true that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs imported hundreds of thousands of migrants from Muslim countries and Africa,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized. The ministry also added that “it is not true that in front of the Polish embassy in an African country there was a stand with official stamped documents.”

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the number of visas issued to citizens of the Russian Federation has decreased significantly in recent years – from 266,632 in 2012 to 10,974 in 2022. Data from the Ministry of Diplomacy show that in 2012, over 263,000 Schengen visas were issued, and 3,550 domestic visas (in total). For comparison, in 2022 there were 2,228 and 8,746 such documents, respectively.

It was noted that in 2012, 20 percent were issued to citizens of the Russian Federation. all visas issued by Polish consular units, while in 2022 only 2 percent

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also presented data on visa issuance by all European Union countries.

They show that France issued the most documents allowing residence in the EU – in 2021 there were 480,057 visas, and in 2022 more than 1.428 million. The second country that has issued the most such documents is Spain – over 377,000 in 2021 and over 912,000 in 2022. visa. The third country that has issued the most Schengen residence permits is Germany. Our western neighbors spent almost PLN 268,000 in 2021. visas, and in 2022 over 817 thousand visa.

According to this ranking, Poland was in 15th place. It was reported that our country spent over 39,000 in 2021 and over 73,000 a year later. Schengen visas. “It is not true that Poland is the EU leader in issuing entry permits Schengen zone“- noted the Ministry of Diplomacy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denied that EU partners had demonstrated that “irregularities occur at the level of Polish consular services, resulting in the mass issuance of visas that enable foreigners from countries where there is a terrorist threat to enter the Schengen area.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that “it is not true that consuls received orders from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue visas.” Moreover, the ministry stated that “it is not true that people applying for visas received them without any verification.”

“The level of decisions to refuse visas varies greatly. In extreme cases, it may amount to up to 90 percent of all applications submitted for a given purpose. For example, among the applications submitted in 2022 for work visas, the following were refused: 90 percent of Iraqis, Nigerians, while the level of refusals for citizens of Tajikistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Tunisia and Syria was approximately 80 percent. In the case of citizens of Uzbekistan and Bangladesh – at a level of over 50 percent, wrote the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the same time, it presented statistics on refusals to issue both Schengen and national visas for people submitting such applications. The presented data does not include citizens of Ukraine and Belarus.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that in 2012, 12,751 visas were refused (7,907 Schengen and 4,844 national), in 2013 there were 13,593 refusals (9,434 Schengen and 4,159 national), and in 2014 there were 13,316 refusals (8,956 Schengen and 4,360 national). Even more negative decisions were issued in 2020-2022. In 2020, there were 16,665 such decisions (4,457 Schengen and 12,208 national), in 2021, 36,586 refusals were issued (2,029 Schengen and 34,557 national). Last year, there were 61,021 refusals (9,214 Schengen and 51,807 domestic).