Officials:

Under the provisions of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 6 May 2021 on establishing specific restrictions, orders and prohibitions in connection with the occurrence of an epidemic from 15 December 2021 to 31 January 2022, every person crossing the border of the Republic of Poland constituting an external border is, as a rule, obliged to present a negative diagnostic test result for SARS-CoV-2 to a Border Guard officer (in Polish or English), performed, above all, before crossing the border, within 24 hours counted from the moment the test result was obtained.

What are the consequences of failing to present a negative test result?

Border guards: – Failure to present such a negative test result to a Border Guard officer results in the obligation to undergo a 14-day quarantine after crossing the border of the Republic of Poland, counted from the day following the crossing. Travellers subject to the 14-day quarantine requirement may, but not earlier than on day 8—counted from the day following the border crossing—take an RT-PCR test, whose negative result will constitute grounds for release from quarantine.

Who is exempt from these requirements?

  • among others, crews of aircraft, sea vessels and inland-waterway vessels, seafarers, fishermen, drivers performing duties as part of international road transport, including during rest periods, train crews, etc.;
  • students receiving education in the Republic of Poland or a neighbouring country and their guardians, who cross the border with the students to enable that education;
  • children receiving pre-school education in the Republic of Poland or a neighbouring country and their guardians, who cross the border with the children so that they can receive such education;
  • persons sitting the eighth-grade exam, matriculation exam, exam confirming vocational qualifications or vocational exam conducted by district examination boards, and the guardians of those persons;
  • children under 5 years of age.

They also add:

IMPORTANT! The obligation to possess, after entering/flying into the Republic of Poland from a third country, i.e. a country not belonging to the Schengen Area or not being an EU member state, any type of negative diagnostic test result for SARS-CoV-2 (e.g. RT-PCR or antigen test) does not exclude the application of the existing regulations concerning the list of quarantine exemptions arising from § 3 of the above-mentioned regulation.

Therefore, persons listed among the exemptions from the obligation to undergo a 14-day quarantine after entering the Republic of Poland (see, respectively, the list indicated in paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3 of the regulation), in order to use the exemptions to which they were previously entitled, must additionally, under the current legal and factual circumstances, possess and present to a Border Guard officer the above-mentioned negative diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2, which may be performed in three ways:

  1. before crossing the border, within 24 hours counted from the moment the test result was obtained;
  2. before border clearance—after arriving in the territory of the Republic of Poland, at the airport;
  3. at the airport within 3 hours of crossing the border.

Important—in option no. 3, release from quarantine will also cover travellers who were unable to take a test either before flying to Poland or at the airport before border clearance because no such infrastructure had been provided. In this case, the procedure for releasing the traveller from the quarantine obligation will rest solely with the sanitary inspection; therefore, a traveller using this option does not have to return to the border-clearance area operated by Border Guard officers.

Who is subject to mandatory quarantine?

Officials: – ATTENTION!! Persons who are “not fully vaccinated” or are not so-called recovered persons, or who are not covered by quarantine exemptions on other grounds (paragraph 3 of the Council of Ministers’ regulation), and who began travelling before entering/flying into the Republic of Poland from the territory of the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa or the Republic of Zimbabwe, will be unconditionally required to undergo a 14-day quarantine, with no possibility of early release!

Sanitary restrictions at the EU/Schengen internal borders

  • Persons crossing the maritime section of the border of the Republic of Poland using regular ferry connections, as well as the land border of the Republic of Poland with the Czech Republic, the Republic of Lithuania, the Federal Republic of Germany or the Slovak Republic (regardless of the means of transport used or whether travelling on foot):
    I. for the purpose of travelling to their place of residence or stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland:
    are exempt from quarantine if they have a certificate confirming full vaccination or recovered status, or alternatively a negative diagnostic test result for SARS-CoV-2 performed before crossing the border and meeting the following criteria:
    • the test result was prepared in Polish or English,
    • the test result is no more than 48 hours old,

    the test result clearly indicates that the traveller is not infected with SARS-CoV-2 (e.g. RT-PCR, antigen or another test detecting the virus)
    are exempt from quarantine; however, if they do not have any of the above-mentioned documents, they are required to undergo quarantine by reporting themselves via the hotline to the Chief Sanitary Inspector (GIS telephone no. +48 22 25 00 115). In this case, release from quarantine will be possible after obtaining a negative SARS-CoV-2 test result within 48 hours of crossing the border.
    II. for a purpose other than returning to their place of residence or stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland (e.g. transit):
    unless they have a certificate confirming full vaccination or recovered status, they are absolutely required to have a negative diagnostic test result for SARS-CoV-2 performed within 48 hours before entering the territory of the Republic of Poland;
    however, persons meeting the conditions referred to in § 3(1) and § 3(2)(2), (3), (14), (15), (18) and (23) of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 6 May 2021 on establishing specific restrictions, orders and prohibitions in connection with the occurrence of an epidemic are exempt from these requirements.
  • Persons travelling by air from Schengen Area countries and EU member states are required to have a negative diagnostic test result for SARS-CoV-2, which they should present at the request of a Border Guard officer. The test result, in Polish or English, must have been obtained within 48 hours before crossing the border. Travellers referred to in § 3(1) and § 3(2)(2), (3), (14), (18) and (23) of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 6 May 2021 on establishing specific restrictions, orders and prohibitions in connection with the occurrence of an epidemic are exempt from the obligation to have a negative test result.

Details on the Border Guard website.