In his interview with TV broadcaster TVN 24, foreign minister Radosław Sikorski stated that Poland will not be issuing study visas to international students without high school diploma verification, following concerns that some universities are enrolling thousands of students without proper eligibility checks.

This move, according to Sikorski, comes in light of international students using the visa to work in the Schengen Area rather than study in Poland. 

“A student visa grants the right to work for one year, which led to numerous cases where individuals obtained visas and never attended the university that facilitated their entry,” Sikorski told the broadcaster, as per a report by Polish news website, TVP World. 

The minister’s statement holds significance after reports highlighted that only 37% of international students graduated from Polish universities in the last decade or so.

According to Polish daily, Rzeczpospolita, in the last decade, 321,000 international students came to the country from nearly 200 countries with only 118,371 having graduated among them.

Expressing its surprise over media publications being critical regarding its efforts to regulate study visas, the ministry of foreign affairs maintained that no new rules are being enforced. 

“This document does not introduce any new legal solutions, but only collects the principles of applying the applicable law, including in the field of verifying the credibility of foreigners applying for visas,” said the release by the ministry, on August 12. 

“Such guidelines are issued regularly in various matters in order to ensure uniform practice in the application of the law by Polish consular offices.”

According to the ministry, the lack of enforcement on secondary school certificates issued abroad places international students in a privileged position over Polish citizens. 

“It should be noted that in some non-public universities the percentage of foreigners in the total number of students exceeds 50%, often reaching 60–70%,” read the release by the ministry. 

“Foreign students, whose number has increased in recent years even a dozen or so times, come mainly from third countries characterised by high migration risk.

Despite Polish authorities maintaining that verification of diplomas is a standard practice, The PIE has learnt that universities across Poland are already sending communications to students over concerns regarding their applications. 

“The process of this year’s recruitment, which you have successfully completed, has been jeopardised due to the fact that the MFA, without informing Polish universities in advance, has issued an announcement about the need to submit an additional document in the visa process,” read a note by a Polish university to its applicants, seen by The PIE. 

The email highlights that students can only complete the procedure for ‘Recognition of the secondary school leaving certificate’ once they are in Poland as it is issued by the education superintendent offices supervised by the Polish ministry of education.

“Polish universities, in their admission rules, generally specify the time by which a newly admitted student has to provide this document, knowing well that this is only possible after arrival at the university,” the mail added. 

The ministry, in its release, has suggested that a student candidate can submit the required documents confirming the certificate’s validity by correspondence or through a proxy.

But some Polish stakeholders believe the process is easier said than done. 

“The current change practically makes it impossible for individual students to get the recognition that the embassy requires by themselves, as they will have to complete the certificate’s procedure through a registered agent in Poland,” said Krzysztof Szymanski, head of operations, Marhaba Poland, a consultancy for students wishing to study in Poland. 

“The same goes with recruitment agencies in India or elsewhere, for example, because they won’t be able to do it due to the Poland-specific administrative procedures.”

The current change practically makes it impossible for individual students to get the recognition that the Embassy requires by themselves, as they will have to complete the certificate’s procedure through a registered agent in Poland

Krzysztof Szymanski, Marhaba Poland

According to Szymanski, verification of such a document would be new to Polish embassies, who haven’t received further instructions on how to go about the procedure. 

“Because of the confusion in the beginning, we might see a reduced inflow of international students this semester, by next semester it might clear things out,” he added. 

Citing examples of Lithuania and Germany, Szymanski stated that countries can help with diploma verification before a student reaches Poland but implementing it in Polish embassies around the world is difficult. 

“There’s a need for a central system involving the embassies and border control to be able to verify the document for the students. We also need to update our IT infrastructure for the process as it is not possible to cater to all the students under the current solutions,” suggested Szymanski. 

With Poland’s academic year set to start on October 1, it’s not realistic for the document to get processed in time nor can it be done online, universities warned students.

Home to over 100,000 international students, Poland’s universities and labour market will face unfavourable consequences due to the restrictions, according to Rafal Lew-Starowicz, VP, Fundacja EdTech Poland.

“We do not want students to choose German or British universities instead of Polish ones, where studying is cheaper but still guarantees a solid education,” said Lew-Starowicz. 

“Unfortunately, it often happens that decisive measures against abuses cause harm to those who, like employers, benefit from having new qualified workers, and students who gain access to an attractive and growing job market in Poland.” 

This could be the first of many restrictions on international students in Poland as it has been reported that Polish ministries are also considering increasing the minimum funds required of international students while applying for a visa and residence card.