Travel to Poland and Romania with ILR

Hello,
Wondering whether anyone with ILR has actually travelled to either Poland or Romania without the need for a schengen visa?

Wikipedia says!:
Poland - Visa required, except for A max. stay of 3 months allowed for holders holding a passport containing an "Indefinite Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom" or "Limited Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom".

Romania - Visa required, except for A max. stay of 90 days for holders of a permanent alien residence permit (valid at least 5 years in total) issued by United Kingdom. Visa required, except for Holders of a temporary residence permit issued by United Kingdom provided continuing their journey (incl. other modes of transport) to a third country within 5 days."

Has anyone actually visited either country using ILR? Thanks.

NOG wrote:Hello,
Wondering whether anyone with ILR has actually travelled to either Poland or Romania without the need for a schengen visa?

Visa free entry depends on the passport an individual holds. If you are a visa national for Poland or Romania then certainly you need schengen visa. However, once you upgrade your ILR to British passport then you do not need schengen visa.

I would not be inclined to rely on wikipedia entry. Things may have changed since it was written.

Many thanks for your response. Yes, I am aware that a schengen will be required if a person does not hold an EU passport. I am curious, in this case, for an Indian passport holder who holds ILR. Not sure whether what it says below for Poland and Romania are correct?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requi ... n_citizens

If you click on the links posted in the Wikipedia entry, it takes you to Timatic website, which is where the information came from.

I would suggest that you contact the relevant embassies directly for up to date information.

Best of luck.

Thank you. Yes, I'll contact the respective embassies for confirmation.

I received a response on email from the Romanian embassy asking me to send them a scanned copy of my ILR.

"Regarding your email, in order to answer it, if you have an Indefinite Leave to remain in UK, be kind to send us a scan copy, to can check if you need visa or not for Romania."

I do not understand the above. Why do they need to see my ILR before deciding if a visa is required or not. Surely, it has to be the same for all, i.e. if you have ILR you do or do not require a visa. I am reluctant to send them a scan of my ILR, I do not see the logic in this.

Any thoughts?

Well, if you don't send them a scan, you won't have an answer. The terminology might not be familiar to them.

I sent them a scan of my ILR and received the following response from the Romanian Embassy, which doesn't not give me a clear, Yes/No answer.

If I understand correctly, since ILR which is a permanent residence permit, which is issued in the UK (which is a member state of the EU!) I will not require a visa to visit Romania?


"Dear Sir,

Regarding your email, we hereby inform you the following:

Holders of permanent residence permits, issued by member states of the European Union, may enter and reside the territory of Romania for a period of up to 90 days, within 6 months, without a Romanian visa.

http://www.mae.ro/en/node/2040

Also we hereby inform you the following:

In order to be fully compliant with the requirements laid down in article 6, paragraph 1 from GEO 194/2002 regarding the conditions of entry on the territory of Romania, upon arrival in any Romanian border post, for the purpose of entry, you must comply with the following:

* submit a valid travel document, recognised by Romania;
* submit a Romanian entry visa issued according to the provisions of Romanian legal framework, or, depending on the case, a valid residence permit, provided that it has not been differently settled through international agreements;
* submit documents that justify the purpose of the trip, the conditions of stay and that probe the existence of appropriate means of support for the entire stay, as well as for the return to the country of origin, or for the transit towards another country where you are undoubtedly allowed entry;
* the entry in the country of destination, as well as leaving the territory of Romania must be guaranteed, in the case of third-state citizens who transit the national territory;
* you do not belong to the category of third-state citizens who are refused entry on the territory of Romania, or have not been registered as undesirable;
* you have not previously misused the purpose of your stay on the territory of Romania or have not attempted to cross the Romanian border with falsified documents;
* you do not represent a hazard to national security, order or health.

The Consular Department"

Romania is not yet in Schengen (though it will join at some point). It would appear that your ILR can be used in lieu of visa.

If you have any specific doubts, email the embassy with them.

Did you email Polish embassy or just Romanian?

Yes, I got a response from the Polish embassy as follow, from which I understand that a schengen visa will be required:

"Dear Sir,
Please be informed that if you have to apply for a Schengen visa, please open links which you kindly sent to us, there are an explanations that only the spouses of the EEA nationals don’t need a visa if they hold the UK family member residence card.
To apply for a visa you must make an appointment on line at : www.e-konsulat.gov.pl and follow the instructions listed below:
On the home page click on the country: Great Britain, diplomatic mission: London (all type of passports)
Select the sub-icon “Schengen Visa- Register form “
Read the 4-step instructions provided
Book your Visa appointment ( bottom of page)
Fill in Visa Application form (it will pop out)
Print out the filled in Visa application form and the page with your appointment details.
Next , you are very welcome at the Polish Embassy on the day of your appointment.
When applying for a visa you have to submit the following documents so that the Polish Embassy can begin the visa procedure:
· Passport- must be valid for at least 3 months on departure from Schengen country and issued within the last ten years.
· Completed visa application form
· One photograph with a white background
· An invitation from your host in Poland [ a handwritten invitation will cover a single entry visa, if you want to get a multiple entry visa you have to have a formal invitation issued at the municipal office in Poland ( Urząd Wojewódzki)] with a copy of the passport of the inviting person or hotel/hostel booking [multiple hotel reservation do not mean that you get a multiple entry visa].
· Travel health insurance for the whole period of your stay in the Schengen area covering medical expenses (emergency hospital treatment and repatriation) .The minimum amount of the cover: 30.000 euro
· Evidence of occupation, recent letter (issued not earlier than one month before applying) from your employer (the letter should state your position at the company) or the confirmation letter from school/university.
· Last months’ bank statement.
The visa fee is 51GBP, we accept cash, credit cards, cheques and Postal orders. The cheques and postal orders should be addressed to: Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
The applications by post can only be accepted in exceptional cases i.e. when the distance to the Embassy is more than 200 miles.
Yours sincerely,
Visa Section"

Thanks for posting back. The Wikipedia entry and IATA information would appear to be out of date.

hi, can anyone help with my doubt....i would like to know whether its possible to travel to Romania without a visa if we have Residence Permit of UK with Indian passport??

Hi jacsij123,

Were you able to find out if we can travel to Romania with UK ILR?

Thanks.

divyapeddi wrote:Hi jacsij123,

Were you able to find out if we can travel to Romania with UK ILR?

Thanks.

I. Do I need a visa to come to Romania? Conditions of travelling to Romania

**Holders of permanent residence permits, issued by member states of the European Union, may enter and reside the territory of Romania for a period of up to 90 days, within 6 months, without a Romanian visa.

Hi,

So has the OP or someone else travelled to Romania on their ILR? The rules still seem to be the same -

http://evisa.mae.ro/CheckResult?cetaten ... iometric=2

should you fit into one of the situations below, you are exempt from the Romanian visa requirement, for stays that of no more than 90 days during any 180-day period:
...
• I hold a long-term resident's EC residence permit (the validity of which is of 5 years or more) issued by a member state of the European Union;
...