Middle East / West Asia
Study in Poland from United Arab Emirates
A practical, honest guide for Emirati students — visas, refusal rates, flights, costs and what life is really like. Backed by sources, not marketing.
2022/23 · GUS/NAWA
visa-free entry
€≈ 235–560 (one-way with stops from ~€235; direct round trips ~€455–560, est.)
Visas & entry
No visa for ≤90 days (Emirati passport), but study >90 days needs a type D visa or temporary residence permit
- Processing time
- 2–4 (statutory 15 days, extendable to 30, for the type D) weeks
- Where to apply
- Polish Embassy in Abu Dhabi (appointment via e-konsulat) — it also accepts applications from non-Emirati UAE residents holding a valid Emirates ID, who apply under their own citizenship's visa rules
- Proof of funds
- No fixed amount on the embassy page — it requires proof of sufficient funds for the stay and return travel; Polish practice commonly references ~776 PLN (≈ €180)/month for living costs — confirm the current threshold with the embassy
Key documents
- UAE passport (Schengen visa-free short stay)
- original acceptance letter from the Polish university
- proof of funds
- health or travel medical insurance
- B2 certificate in the language of instruction
- NAWA recognition statement for non-EU/OECD diplomas (since 1 July 2025)
Source: gov.pl
Getting there
Dubai (DXB) → Warsaw (WAW); also Abu Dhabi (AUH) and Sharjah (SHJ) → Warsaw / Kraków / Katowice
- Typical price
- €≈ 235–560 (one-way with stops from ~€235; direct round trips ~€455–560, est.)
- Flight time
- 6.4 h
- Airlines
- Emirates, flydubai, Etihad (from AUH), Wizz Air (from AUH), Air Arabia (from SHJ), LOT (from Oct 2026)
Emirates flies DXB→WAW up to daily year-round (~6h20m); flydubai serves Kraków, LOT joins the Dubai route in October 2026, and Wizz Air/Air Arabia link Abu Dhabi and Sharjah with Warsaw, Kraków and Katowice — one of the densest Gulf–Central Europe air corridors.
Prices vary — estimate from kiwi.com
Cost of living
≈ €500–850/mo in Warsaw/Kraków, ~€350–550 in smaller cities. Estimate (study.gov.pl).
What it's really like
Emirati citizens are all but absent from Polish campuses — 14 students in 2022/23 — so there is no established Emirati student community and no specific stereotype attached to one; Gulf Arabs are known in Poland mainly as tourists and business travellers. In practice most applicants 'from the UAE' are Indian, Pakistani, Filipino or other expat residents, whose reception in Poland follows their own nationality's profile, not the UAE's. CBOS's February 2025 nationality survey shows Poles remain cooler toward Middle Eastern nationalities than Western ones (Turks: 29% sympathy vs 30% dislike), but the international districts of Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław are used to Gulf visitors, and friction for students is more likely bureaucratic than social.
Community: Tiny — 14 Emirati students in 2022/23, ranked 109th of 179 source countries (Perspektywy/GUS 'Foreign Students in Poland 2023' report); there is no organised Emirati diaspora in Poland. The UAE-to-Poland student pipeline is overwhelmingly expat residents of the Emirates rather than Emirati citizens.
Tips from students & forums
-
Visa-free entry on an Emirati passport covers only 90 days — for a degree you still need a national type D visa from the Polish Embassy in Abu Dhabi, booked via e-konsulat; the decision takes 15 days (extendable to 30) and the fee is 861 AED.
gov.pl ↗ -
Non-Emirati residents can apply in Abu Dhabi too — the embassy accepts applications from anyone with a valid Emirates ID and works with no intermediaries, so skip agencies promising 'guaranteed' Polish visas.
gov.pl ↗ -
Since 1 July 2025 study applicants with non-EU/OECD diplomas must add a NAWA recognition statement, and the embassy asks for a B2-level certificate in the language of instruction — line both up before your e-konsulat slot.
gov.pl ↗
Good to know
- The UAE was the first Arab country granted Schengen visa-free access (May 2015) — Emirati passport holders enter Poland without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180.
- Emirates was the first UAE carrier to enter the Polish market (2013); together with flydubai it offered up to 44 weekly UAE–Poland flights at peak in 2024, alongside Wizz Air, Air Arabia and Etihad services.
- Mobility runs mostly the other way: ~9,000 Poles lived in the UAE in 2024, while only 14 Emirati students were recorded at Polish universities in 2022/23.
English-taught programmes for Emirati students
All 963 degrees in the catalogue are open to Emirati applicants — these picks match what students from United Arab Emirates most often look for. Tuition shown per year where the university publishes it.
Medicine & health programmes
Medical degrees taught fully in English — a popular route for Emirati students.
No IELTS required
Programmes at universities that state no language certificate is required — always confirm the current rule with the university.
Affordable programmes
Tuition-free and lowest published-tuition degrees in the catalogue.
Universities behind these picks
Each profile has step-by-step application instructions, admissions contacts and every English-taught programme the university offers.
Browse the full catalogue by field of study, city, university or use the programme finder.
Ready to find your programme?
Compare Emirati-friendly, English-taught Bachelor's and Master's across Polish universities.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13. Visa-refusal figures are Schengen short-stay proxies unless stated; Poland does not publish national (type D) study-visa refusal rates per country. Flight prices and monthly budgets are estimates from aggregators and study.gov.pl and change over time. Entries ranked 31+ are added for search coverage of countries Poland does not publish separate student counts for; their studentsInPoland.count is null by design unless a published figure exists (the Perspektywy/GUS "Studenci zagraniczni w Polsce 2023" report covers some).