Dummy ticket for a Poland visa: slots, jurisdiction and the Warsaw route

For a Polish type C Schengen visa, submit your flight reservation through VFS Global. A paid ticket is not required before the decision. Depending on your state, the Embassy in New Delhi or Consulate General in Mumbai handles the application. Check the appointment release schedule before ordering: a reservation remains verifiable for only a limited period.

How Polish appointment slots are released

Poland's missions in India do not accept applications by post, email or at the counter. Everything is processed through VFS Global centres, and slots are booked on the VFS website. The Polish government's page for India describes the release pattern at the time of writing:

• New Delhi: once a week, every Wednesday at 11:00.
• Mumbai: once a month, on the last working day, for dates two months ahead.

Check that page again before you plan, since these schedules are changed by the missions.

The consequence for your flight document is direct. Under the Mumbai consulate you may know your appointment date eight weeks in advance; in Delhi perhaps a week or two. In both cases, do not arrange the reservation until the slot is confirmed. A reservation ordered while you are still trying for a slot will frequently have lapsed by the appointment.

New Delhi or Mumbai: which mission reads your file

Jurisdiction follows where you live. The Embassy in New Delhi takes applicants from the northern and central states, including Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. The Consulate General in Mumbai takes the western and southern states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The full state list is on the Polish government page.

So a Bengaluru or Chennai applicant is under Mumbai's monthly release even if a VFS centre nearer home accepts the papers. Confirm on the VFS Poland site which centres are open to your jurisdiction.

Warsaw has a nonstop from Delhi, and only Delhi

LOT Polish Airlines flies Delhi to Warsaw Chopin nonstop and moved to daily flights from late March 2026. Its Mumbai to Warsaw service ended at the same time. If you live in Mumbai, an old itinerary copied from a 2025 blog will show a flight that no longer exists, and a reservation cannot be issued on it.

From Mumbai and the southern cities the realistic routings are a domestic leg to Delhi for the LOT flight, or one stop via Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna or Istanbul. A connection in Frankfurt or Munich means you enter the Schengen area in Germany and take an internal flight to Poland. That is fine on a Polish file as long as Poland has the most nights.

Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Poznań have no flights from India. Reach them by a connection through Warsaw or a German hub, or by train from Warsaw (Kraków is approximately two and a half hours).

Poland with Prague, Berlin or Vilnius

Poland is frequently part of a wider central European trip, and the Schengen rule is that the country with the most nights takes the application, with first entry as the tie-breaker. The Schengen guide sets out that rule, the 90/180-day limit, the insurance minimum and the standard advice to purchase the real ticket only after the visa.

What needs saying for Poland in particular: do not select the Polish consulate because a slot happened to be open or because someone said it is easier. A Warsaw arrival followed by two nights in Poland and six in Germany and Czechia is a German or Czech application. Officers compare the reservation with the hotel list, and a file where Poland is only the entry point invites a refusal.

A Kraków and Prague trip with four nights and three is a sound Polish application. Indicate the Delhi to Warsaw flight in, the train or flight to Kraków, the onward leg to Prague, and the flight home from Prague or back via Warsaw.

A short visit is a C visa; work and study are not

Many Poland-related searches from India come from people going for jobs or university. Those are national D-type visas with different documents, and a tourist-style return reservation is not what they need. A work or study applicant typically shows a one-way plan around the contract or course start date. See the work visa and student visa pages.

For the C visa covered here, such as tourism, a business meeting, a trade fair in Poznań or a family visit, the reservation should be a return within the dates of your leave letter or invitation.

Fitting the reservation to the appointment

Applications must be lodged no later than 15 calendar days before the trip begins, and no earlier than six months. In practical terms leave more room than the minimum.

FDT issues a genuine airline reservation with a PNR that can be checked on the airline's Manage Booking page for up to two weeks. Order it two or three days before your VFS date at the booking page: ₹799 / $10 per passenger for one-way, return or multi-city reservations, delivered by email and WhatsApp in approximately 10 minutes. It is a held booking, not a ticket, and cannot be used to fly. Take the flight wording from the current tourist checklist on the VFS Poland page, and remember that the consulate makes the decision.

Frequently asked questions

When are Poland visa appointments released for Delhi?

At the time of writing, the Polish government's India page says New Delhi slots open once a week, on Wednesday at 11:00, on the VFS website. Recheck that page, as the pattern can change.

Is there still a direct Mumbai to Warsaw flight?

No. LOT ended its Mumbai service in late March 2026 and now flies daily from Delhi. Mumbai travellers connect via Delhi or a European hub.

I live in Bengaluru. Does the embassy in Delhi handle my Polish visa?

No. Karnataka is under the Consulate General of Poland in Mumbai, so the Mumbai appointment release schedule applies to you.

Should I book the reservation before I get a slot?

Better not. Slots can take weeks to secure and a held reservation is verifiable for a limited period. Confirm the appointment first, then order the reservation close to it.

Do I need a return reservation for a Polish work visa?

A work visa is a national D visa with its own checklist. Applicants typically show a one-way plan matched to the start date. Follow the checklist for that category.