Poland to End Visa-Free Work for Colombia, Georgia, Venezuela in August 2026

Poland is closing a route that let citizens of Colombia, Georgia and Venezuela enter without a visa and take up work under simplified rules. From August 2026, most new workers from these three countries will need to secure a Polish national (Type D) visa from a consulate in their home country before they travel.

What changed

The change comes from a regulation signed on July 31, 2026 by the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy and published in the Journal of Laws on August 7. It takes effect in two stages. From August 15, 2026, affected nationals can no longer enter Poland for employment without a visa. From August 22, 2026, they lose the option to work on a permit while still on a visa-free stay.

A narrow transition rule protects those already in place: people who arrived before August 15, and those who began work before August 22 under the old framework, can continue under the earlier arrangement.

The route being closed dates back to 2017, when biometric passport holders from Georgia, and later Colombia and Venezuela, could enter the Schengen area for 90 days and apply for a work permit inside Poland. Officials link the tightening to illegal stays, unauthorized employment, labor exploitation and human trafficking, citing cases of people entering the EU elsewhere as tourists and then moving to Poland to work. The measure sits within Poland's 2025-2030 Migration Strategy and follows the removal of Georgia from a simplified work-visa scheme in December 2025.

Who is exempt

Not everyone from the three countries is affected. Full-time students, graduates of Polish universities and holders of the Pole's Card remain outside the new rule. Others will need a Type D national visa obtained from a Polish consulate, such as in Bogotá, Tbilisi or Caracas, before arriving.

What it means for nomads

If you hold a Colombian, Georgian or Venezuelan passport and were planning to work in Poland, the key shift is timing: the paperwork now has to start before your flight, not after you land. Applying through a consulate typically means booking appointments, submitting documents and waiting for processing, so building in extra lead time is essential.

Business groups have flagged a practical concern. Confederation Lewiatan's Nadia Winiarska said it is "worth considering whether the Polish visa system is prepared" for the surge in consular applications, warning the system may struggle with the volume. That suggests possible delays as thousands of workers move from visa-free entry to formal consular processing.

For digital nomads, the broader signal is that Poland is steadily tightening its labor migration rules. Anyone relying on informal or simplified entry-then-work routes should verify their status against current regulations and official consular guidance before making plans.

Originally reported by VisaVerge.