WARSAW- The authorities in Poland have announced to suspend a visa program which provided hassle-free and swift entry to foreigners.
The government has announced to suspend the Business Habor Programme which was aimed at attracting foreign IT specialists to the country.
Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the suspension, saying that visas were not issued in a controlled manner. The ministry stated that the visa was inconsistent with its intended objectives.
There have been several issues about the programme in the last year but it took some time for the government to finally suspend the program.
The popularity of the visa can be assessed from the fact that till last year, the government had issued more than 90,000 visas.
The program was launched in 2020 and included countries like Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Armenia though cotizens from Belarus were the target initially .
Besides other factors, market needs and irregularities also prompted the closure of the program.
The Foreign Ministry highlighted that the visa type would remain suspended until the country finds solutions to verify the individuals and companies that are benefiting from it.
The benefit of the visa was that IT specialists and companies were able to undergo a faster migration path without much bureaucratic hassle.
The Polish government also faced flak for having issued visas in exchange for bribe which also led to the ouster of Deputy Foreign Minister, Piotr Wawrzyk.
Though investigations are underway, Polish government allegedly issued around 250,000 work visas to foreign nationals in exchange for money which exposed it to criticism from other countries.
He breached his powers. The detained individual faces charges for making unjustified interventions to expedite visa procedures and for disclosing information classified as official secrets to an unauthorised person,’ the country accountability watchdog stated.
After the suspension of the program, foreign IT specialists wishing to enter Poland for work purposes will have to undergo the general visa procedures which is lengthy.
