Poland Detains 3 Colombian Nationals Posing as Students to Obtain Residence Permits

The Polish police have detained three Colombian nationals who had filed applications for temporary residence permits, claiming they were students.

The three foreigners, who were aged 19, 27, and 35 years old, had submitted applications for temporary residence permits, also presenting certificates issued by universities in the Mazovian Voivodeship, Schengen.News reports.

According to the documents, the applicants were first-year students in the first cycle of their administration studies, which started in the 2024/2025 academic year. Later was also revealed that the university was not a unit conducting studies approved to admit foreigner students.

Detained Persons Fined Up to €2,400 for Their Crimes
The three men were charged with attempting to obtain false certification by deception, which represents Article 13 § 1 of the Penal Code in connection with Article 272 of the Penal Code.

The Colombian nationals admitted their charges and voluntarily surrounded themselves. By decision of the District Prosecutor, each of the detainees was fined €2,400

The Border Guard reminds that since 2019, universities are required to be approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration for foreigners that want to enter Poland for study purposes.

Poles Approve the Reintroduction of EU Border Controls if It Reduces Immigration
According to a survey from SW Research, 62 per cent of respondents are in favour of the reintroduction of internal border controls with the EU countries, revealing that the majority of Polish respondents want tighter border controls with the Schengen Area.

On the other hand, 23 per cent of respondents were against the border control idea, whereas the remaining 15 per cent of respondents did not have an opinion.

The survey’s question addressed to its respondents was, “Do you believe that the European Union should reintroduce border controls between countries in the Schengen Area to curb the flow of migrants?”

The reason why this notion could have received more support from Polish nationals is that immigration rates in the country have been quite high in recent years.

The migratory map shared by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, reveals that the Eastern Land Borders, which stretches across Poland, is one of the most affected borders from irregular border crossings.

The total number of illegal border crossings recorded in January of 2025 was 412, with the majority (410) coming from Ukraine, while one person crossing the border was from Russia and one was entering from Romania. Poland recently revealed it opposes the EU migration pact if its implementation includes receiving relocated migrants.

Source: https://schengen.news/poland-detains-3-colombian-nationals-posing-as-students-to-obtain-residence-permits/