Not As Attractive
To Polish Visitors
Poland's US Visa Problem Less Dramatic As Polish Workers Go To EU
Warsaw, Poland - 25, January 2008 As hundreds of thousands of Polish workers have chosen to go to Europe for work, the lines of people outside the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland waiting for the opportunity to apply for a visa to visit the United States have essentially disappeared. Where the Embassy halls were full and hundreds stood in lines just to get inside, there is emptiness.
The difficulty in getting a visa to the US has been a long standing emotional issue for the Polish people. Visa free travel to the United States has been considered by Poles as something that they should get as a matter of right because they supported US efforts in Iraq.
In spite of assertions by Poles that they want visa free travel just to either visit family and friends in the United States or tour the country, it is said that as many as 30% of those who visited the US in the past overstayed their visas. And anecdotal evidence indicates that the reason they overstayed was to work.
The Polish history on illegal immigration for work is somewhat revealing.
During the negotiations of the treaty for Poland to join the European Union, Poland took the position that there would not be a mass exodus of people into the Western European labor market. Poland objected to the restrictions placed upon Polish workers working in European Union countries.
Poland presented facts and figures to show that Polish workers did not want to emigrate West. Anecdotal evidence showed otherwise And the West European countries knew what would happen. As they expected emigration West boomed.
What the Government said was simply not the case.
The United States has its own history and evidence on which to base its decision. In spite of the pressure by the Polish Government, including personal discussions by Polish politicians with senior US politicians, including President Bush, US officials have maintained that the visa rules cannot be relaxed as long as the number of people who overstay there visas remains high.
But now, since Poles can work legally in the European Union, there seems to be less interest in friends and family and touring America.
And, by extension, less interest in becoming an illegal worker in the United States.
As one unidentified Polish worker at the US Embassy gate said, "Why should they go to America as an illegal worker when they can work legally in England. And it is closer to Poland."
So in spite of a weak US Dollar that makes tourist travel to the US a bargain, Poles are choosing Europe. And they are going there to work.
Some are still going to the US. But if the empty US Embassy is any indication of how many are applying to go, not very many are interested.
There is no current information publicly available as to the number of Poles who have overstayed their visas to the US since work has opened up for Poles in Europe.
But it is easier for Americans to get service at the US Embassy. The pressure is off.
