Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Prolong Stay in Shengen Area (Poland) Legally

Interest forums / The Long Haul - Living & Working Abroad

Before everyone thinks "this is another guy that wants to brake the law and stay illegally in Europe", well its not like that, im currently living in Poland with my fiancee, i'm legally here for 3 months (due to my tourist visa), the whole idea of me coming to Poland was for me to be with her, start a new life together, the problem is the following, unfortunately there is this paper that my country needs to provided (Guatemala my country) that says that i can legally marry, what the polish government office said is that my country doesn't give that paper, and for that i have to do another process, i have to travel to the town where my fiancee is registered, go to court and ask for a letter from them that i can legally marry, easy at first, the thing is that it takes more than 3 months to do this process, even to get an appointment with the court takes around 1 month, i can only be here for 3 months, then i have to go back to Guatemala and wait 6 months until i can finally come back to Poland, would be easy if they wouldn't need me at court, but they do, i have to be at court and present my case, i want to stay more time here in Poland, i dont wanna do a visa-run or stay here illegally (don't wanna be deported from Shengen are and not been able to come back), is there a way i can extend my visa? is there such thing as a fiancee visa for me to stay in here in order to get marry? i hear about Visa type D, can i change my visa status from tourist visa to visa type D been here in Poland? im open to any suggestions (legally of course), i already talked to the government office for an extension but they said that they cant do it (they guy who talked to me said that i could get a visa in Czech Republic in the Polish consulate) is this true?

Thank you in advance!
regards,
Pablo H

Edited by: pahb22

I have no idea, but just wanted to say good luck!

Also, there are expat websites for most countries. Consider trying to find the one for Poland, and ask people who are living there now. They will probably know more than a bunch of travellers.

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Some ideas:
1) The polish goverment office has said you that the authorities of Guatemala don't provide a requested paper but Why don't you confirm it with the nearest Embassy or Consulate of Guatemala? Perhaps, the problem is that the paper has been sent but it hasn't arrived yet... It seems that there isn't any embassy or consulate of Guatemala in Poland but there's an embassy in Germany and another one in Austria. List of embassies of Guatemala (click on the magnifying glass -the lupa - to see the address and contact details). (The same pages shows a list of consulates of Guatemala).
2) You can ask for a student visa, a work visa or a long stay visa in Poland. You can get a long term visa valid only for Poland; not for the whole Schegen area but that fact shouldn't be a problem for you. The embassy of Poland in Mexico, that also covers Guatemala, gives info about how to obtain these visas. Be aware that they say that if you're in Poland and you want to extend your current visa you should apply to the local authorities within the first 45 days after your arrival to Poland.
Good luck!

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If you absolutely have to leave Poland, perhaps you could go to a nearby non-Shengen country instead of Guatemala? Plane ticket would be a lot cheaper, although living expenses might eat up those savings - check out ways to cut living expenses like helpx.net

If you're going that route, it's best to apply for your visa now.

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