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Here you can download the guidebook for international students living in or planning to come to Wroclaw. Divided into three chapters, it provides you with information about Poland, the University of Wroclaw and students' life in Wroclaw.
The Poland Kit gives you introductory information about Poland. You will find an overview about Polish history, the political and economical situation as well as media, general information concerning visa, health care, and safety issues and means of transportation and communication. In addition to a small introduction to Polish culture you can get a first impression of Polish cuisine and language.
The University Kit gives you an overview over the structure of the University of Wroclaw, including practical information concerning international cooperation and exchange programs.
The Wroclaw Kit gives you useful advise for your stay in Wroclaw, such as issues concerning accommodation and means of transportation. Find out where to go for dinner and where to spend your evenings. In addition to that the the Kit provides you with information about leisure time activities such as recreation and cultural life.
Download Jungle Book [PDF, 2.9 MB] or visit its website.
Registration of Residence, Residence Permit and Visa Matters
EU/EEA citizens
An EU student can enter Poland with his/her ID document (a valid travel document e.g. passport) or another document certifying his/her identity and citizenship. If a student intends to visit Poland's neighboring countries (not all of them are EU Member States), a passport is recommended. For stay up to 3 months no legalization of stay is necessary. For stay exceeding 3 months an EU student has to register his/her residence. In case of students the registration is issued for one year (possibility to prolong). The document is issued by the Department of Citizens Affairs of the Voivodeship Office (province administration, Urząd Wojewódzki).
Documents that have to be submitted by the EU-student to the Voivodeship Office in order to obtain the registration:
1. Application form for EU Citizen (in Polish: Wniosek o zarejestrowanie pobytu)
2. Travel document (passport or other ID document),
3. Health insurance document ("European Health Insurance Chip Card" is enough)
4. Declaration about sufficient resources to cover the subsistence costs in Poland [e.g.: statement of account of the last three months, credit card, (Erasmus) scholarship ...]
5. Certificate from your lessor that you have a residence (zameldowanie)
6. Official letter of acceptance from the Polish university (with information about the planned period of study)
7. Fee of 1 PLN
You have to show them the original documents! They will keep the copies.
After your application you will get a letter with the decision of the office. You have to be patient - two months process time is not unusual. After receiving the letter you have to wait three weeks - then you can go to the office to get the card.
Non-EU/EEA citizens
Visa requirements
Students of a non-EU/EEA country can enter Poland on the basis of a valid travel document (passport) and a visa (if required). A student of a non-EU country has to obtain a visa from the consulate of Poland in his/her country of residence. A short-term visa entitles the holder to stay in Poland for up to 3 months, a long-term visa up to 1 year.
Prolongation of a visa in Poland is possible only in cases of force majeure or situation impossible to foresee while applying for the visa in the consulate. The visa can be prolonged only once. Students coming for a period of study longer than 3 months are therefore obliged to apply for a visa in a consulate for the whole planned period of stay in Poland.
Current information on existing regulations is available on the following websites:
Information available in English: Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in London http://www.londynkg.polemb.net/index.php?document=80
Information available in German: Polnische Botschaft in Berlin http://www.berlin.polemb.net/index.php?document=1
Information available in Polish: Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej http://www.msz.gov.pl/
Poland is now member of the Schengen Area (membership since 21st, December 2007) - so you can apply for the Schengen Visa in the Consulate of Poland in your home country. If you have a Schengen Visa you can travel around in the Schengen Area (most countries of the European Union!) - You don't need any other visa.
Please check the validity of your Visa and the Schengen Membership of your target country before you start traveling around.
Please check the website of the Consulate General/Embassy of the Republic of Poland in your home country as well. Maybe there are particularities for citizen of your country to get a visa for Poland.
Residence permit (Temporary Residence Card)Â
For stay up to 3 months no legalization of stay is necessary. If you stay longer you have to go to the Department of Citizens Affairs of the Voivodeship Office (province administration, Urząd Wojewódzki) to get a residence permit. In case of students the residence permit is issued for one year (possibility to prolong).
Documents that have to be submitted by the Non-EU student to the Voivodeship Office in order to obtain the residence permit:
1. Application form (original and three copies!) for NON-EU Citizen (in Polish: Wniosek o udzielenie zezwolenia na zamieszkanie na czas oznaczony)
2. Passport (copy three times the personal data and one time a copy of the whole passport)
3. Registration of accommodation/dormitory (four copies)
4. Official letter of acceptance from the Polish university (with information about the planned period of study)
5. Card of dormitory (copy)
6. Copy of a declaration about sufficient resources to cover the subsistence costs in Poland [e.g.: statement of account of the last three months, credit card, (Erasmus-Mundus)scholarship ...]
7. Health Insurance Document (copy)
8. Five colored pictures (3, 5 cm x 4, 5 cm, left side profile, the ear has to be visible)
9. Fee of 340 PLN - before you submit the application to the office you have to pay the fee
10. Fee of 50 PLN - you have to pay it before you receive the card
You have to show them the original documents.They will keep the copies.
After your application you will get a letter with the decision of the office. You have to be patient - two months process time is not unusual. After receiving the letter you have to wait three weeks - then you can go to the office to get the card.
On the floor of the Foreign Office is a "kasa" where you can pay these fees. They will give you receipts to prove the payments - so keep them!
If you don't have original documents you have to show them certified copies (advocate, layer, notary or similar can do this)
If you have documents which are not in Polish you have to go to a sworn translator. In this case you have to give a copy of the original document and the original of the translation to the office - keep a copy of the translation!
Dolnośląski Urząd Wojewódzki we Wrocławiu
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1
50-951 Wrocław
Official Website: http://www.duw.pl/
You have to enter a small entrance - left side of the building, first floor (when you are in front of the main entrance).
Office hours:
Monday, Tuesday: 8 a. m. to 4 p. m.
Wednesday: 8 a. m. to 6 p. m.
Thursday, Friday: 8 a. m. to 4 p. m.
you can get in different ways:
1. in your dormitory,
2. in the Voivodeship office,
3. on the official website http://www.duw.pl/ -> Poradnik clienta -> Cudzoziemcy -> Formularze do pobrania (End of the page) -> Wniosek o udzielenie zezwolenia na zamieszkanie na czas oznaczony (pdf)
Wrocław was a sad portrait of devastation and destruction after the war. The southern and western districts had been destroyed by 90 percent with the Old Town and city centre half destroyed. Of the 30,000 buildings that had existed before the war, 21,600 were left in ruin including 400 historic buildings. On the third day after Germany's capitulation the first stage of rebuilding began. Power stations, waterworks and gasworks were started up. Tramlines in the city and the main railway to the capital started running again.
From that time on Wrocław was once again a Polish city. Reconstruction of the city administration was entrusted to the Cracow Socialist Bolesław Drobner, who fulfilled the function of City President. In reality, however, Soviet headquarters wielded authority in Wroclaw. Simultaneously an alternative German administration still existed. In May 1946, the National City Council was appointed the sovereign authority in Wrocław, led by Edward Paszke.
Wrocław began to change with respect to its new nationality. The population from the borderlands of the Second Republic began flooding in from areas now within the borders of the Soviet Union. The displacement of the 150,000 Germans remaining in the city simultaneously commenced. Soviet soldiers stationed in Wrocław brought in their families. Jews again came flooding into the city. Greeks and Macedonians also appeared in the reonstructed quarters of the city.
A new chapter in Wrocław's cultural life opened. On 8 September 1945 the performance of "Halka" was held at the Opera House, and on 15 September the new academic year was inaugurated at the University and Polytechnic. Libraries and theatres were organized anew. An important event in the history of the city was the opening on 21 July of the Exhibition of the Recovered Territories (WZO) on the site of the former Jahrhunderthalle, renamed the Hala Ludowa or People's Hall, as well as the 'International Congress of Intellectuals in Defence of Peace' organized at the end of August at Wrocław Polytechnic. Almost 600 people from 45 countries participated in the gathering. Among others came: Ivo Andrić, Jorge Amado, Louis Aragon, John Brenal, Paul Eluard, Ilya Ehrenburg, Paul Hogarth, Julian Huxley, Frederic Joliot-Curie, György Lukacs, Pablo Picasso, Anna Seghers and Mikhail Sholokhov. Poland was represented by Maria Dąbrowska, Xawery Dunikowski, Ludwik Hirszfeld, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Tadeusz Kotarbiński, Zofia Nałkowska, Jan Parandowski, Antoni Słonimski and Julian Tuwim.
In the 1950s a regression took place in many areas of economic, political and social life. There was a shortage of manpower and resources to rebuild the city. Cultural and academic life came gradually to a standstill. Those who left the city at that time included: Stanisław Dygat, Anna Kowalska and Wojciech Żukrowski. The Concert Hall was closed and the Lower Silesian Music Society liquidated.
The first signs of a revival were visible in 1955. A relaxed atmosphere began to prevail and students ignored the party Union of Polish Youth. In the autumn of 1956 students refused to participate in its ideological and military lectures. A wave of mass speeches commenced.
In the 1960s construction work got off the ground. Monuments were restored and simultaneously new housing estates were extended and built. Estates were built in the areas of Borek, Gajowice, Gądów Mały, Kozanów, Popowice and Szczepin. Gas, water and thermal mains were built. Telecommunication lines were also built.
Cultural life slowly began to be reborn. From 1962, the Polish Radio broadcasting station, Feature Film Company and Television Wrocław all commenced activity. The Teatr Polski (Polish Theatre) and Teatr Współczesny (Contemporary Theatre) gained publicity during this time. Worldwide fame was gained by Henryk Tomaszewski's Pantomime Theatre and Jerzy Grotowski's experimental Laboratory Theatre. A number of festivals arose: the Polish Contemporary Art Festival, the Open Theatre Festival, the Polish Contemporary Music Festival, the Organ Music Days, Jazz on the Odra and the International Oratorio and Cantata Festival Wratislavia Cantans.
Social discontent however continually grew. In 1968 successive speeches took place. A demand for the democratization of life, artistic freedom and limited censorship was put forward. These actions ended in counter manoeuvres by the government in the form of arrests.
The next decade began with an improvement in social moods. Earnings rose, with more diversified products appearing in the shops. The town was extended and modern industrial plants were built. An attempt to introduce significant price increases led to a collapse of the economic situation in 1976. Protests of workers and the intelligentsia again took place. Opposition structures began to be built on this wave.
1980 brought change throughout the whole country. Many Wrocław production plants had already begun to strike in mid-July, the majority coming to a standstill at the end of August. Wrocław became one of the main centres of the "Solidarity" Movement. Władysław Frasyniuk and Karol Modzelewski operated here. Beside "Solidarity," other independent organizations arose with the aim of both compromise and circumvention the decisions of the Communist authorities. The most famous of them was the "Orange Alternative", under the leadership of "Major" Waldemar Frydrych.
The great event of the 1982-1989 period was the visit of Pope John Paul II. In July 1982 his arrival was celebrated with an open-air Mass to almost 700,000 faithful.
In June 1985 the Racławice Panorama was opened for visiting. In 1987, the Holy Father beatified Edith Stein (born in Wrocław) as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Today Wrocław, the fourth largest city in Poland with almost 640,000 inhabitants, is a center of art, culture and education as well as of commerce, industry and technology. On the one hand it is a city of tradition and on the other a city of progress.
Wrocław possesses an extensive network of cultural activities and venues, from museums and cinemas to theatres and musical ensembles, as well as a puppet-theatre for children and one of Poland's most renowned operas. In Wrocław there are many annual events and special gatherings such as the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1983 and the World Eucharistic Congress in 1997.
When you visit Wrocław for any of it's diverse cultural, social or economic events taking place in city, you will certainly be struck by the many changes that are happening through out the metropolis. In the 1990s there was an explosion of building projects and renovation programs. The Old Town underwent thorough restoration and the public transit system was upgraded and refitted.
One major testimony to the transformations occurring in Wrocław is the scale of new construction activity. In several ways and methods architects have managed to combine the most contemporary architectural innovations with the appearance and spirit of varying styles from all eras of the city's history. At no. 30 ul. Malarska (Painter St.) the Baroque facade of the Artzat House received a modern addition faced in glass and tiles, built for the headquarters of the Pomorski Bank Kredytowy. This building in form and material, recalling the historical buildings along the street, won First Prize in an architectural contest in 1992. Another example of harmonious blending of the old and new is the Passage of the Blue Sun. The walls of this modern building on ul. Kiełbaśnicza (Sausage-Grinders' St.) are enriched with Gothic and Renaissance details. Nearby, on the corner of ul. św. Mikołaj (St Nicholas St.), the shopping mall "Wratislavia" was built in 1999-2000 along with the Hotel Dorint. Just opposite in 2001 arose the skyscraper of the "Renaissance Business Centre". The elevation of this dark-blue glass building is decorated with elements in stone and the windows are framed in sandstone. In the same neighbourhood, and likewise effectively intermixing the differing styles of the city, is the new seat of the Faculty of Law and Administration of Wrocław University, which stands on ul. Więzienna (Gaol St.). The sandstone-faced building recalls structures of the 19th century, while retaining a modern appearance for the 21st century.
Among the historic architectural monuments of the Old Town there also have been risen new buildings that function aesthetically on the principle of contrast. The enormous Galeria Dominikańska was built in 1999-2000 on Dominican Square. The seven-storey shopping mall with a floor area of 60,000 sq. metres contains shops, restaurants, cafes, a garage with 900 parking spaces and office space. Next to the Galeria is the equally modern Hotel "Mercure Panorama." Another example of this distinctive architecture is at the intersection of ul. Wita Stwosza (Veit Stoss St.) and ul. Szewska (Tailor St.) where there was built in 2001 the office tower of the "Wratislawa Inwest Company," next to that of the "Howell Complex" which was opened the previous year. The glass facade of the retail and office center is set off with a polished travertine. On ul. Świdnicka (Åšwidnica St.) the postmodernist department store "Solpol" was built at the beginning of the 1990s. In the year 2000, on ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego (Kazimierz the Great St.) arose a multi-layered parking garage along with the office block of the LG Petro Bank and in 2001 the "Wratislavia Tower," a multi-levelled complex including offices, retail space and a multiplex cinema was built.
The changing architecture of Wrocław reflects not only the new designs of the metropolis but also the transforming facets of life within the city. Although Wrocław has always been the administrative, cultural and industrial center of Lower Silesia, today it has also become a major focus of foreign investment. Considered a safe and attractive investment target, it has drawn the attention of many multinational companies, which now dominate the city's industrial and production lines. Here it is possible to find divisions of Schweppes, Cadbury, Cussons, Volvo, Siemens, ABB and many more. Investors who build factories and establish firms here value the highly qualified workforce, especially in the fields of electronics and information technology, and frequently seek employees among the graduates of the Wrocław Polytechnic.
Wrocław is a city that respects its past while looking towards the future. It has placed major importance on its development, which is based on technology and transportation. Two large projects will further serve to attract investors in various fields: the creation of the Wrocław Technology Park, which will bring together entrepreneurs with developers and employers of high-technology goods, and the building of the Wrocław Integrated Logistics Center, facilitating the transportation needs of domestic and foreign firms.