Poland extends Schengen border checks until April 2027

Poland will keep passport checks at its internal Schengen borders with Germany and Lithuania in place until 2 April 2027. The Interior Ministry announced the latest six-month extension on 2 September 2026, days before the current controls were due to expire on 1 October. For anyone travelling on the Warsaw–Berlin corridor by road, rail or coach, or crossing between Lithuania and Poland, document checks remain in force for the rest of the year and into next spring.

Which borders are affected?

The controls cover two of Poland’s internal Schengen frontiers: the border with Germany and the border with Lithuania. Poland notified the European Commission of 52 road, rail and river crossing points on the German frontier, and 13 checkpoints on the Lithuanian side.

These are internal Schengen borders, not the external EU frontier. That matters for travellers: a stop at the Polish-German border is a document check, not an EES biometric registration. No fingerprints are taken, no facial scan, and nothing is logged to the EU’s Entry/Exit System. EES only applies when you first enter or leave the Schengen area from a country outside it.

Poland’s borders with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and other Schengen neighbours are not covered by this notification. Road travel on those routes is unaffected by these specific controls. Germany’s own checks cover the German side of the same Polish-German border and run until 15 March 2027, so both sides of that frontier have active controls.

What does a check actually involve?

Officers ask for a passport or, for EU citizens, a national identity card. The check is brief for most travellers. On main motorway crossings it can take a few minutes; on international trains between Warsaw and Berlin it happens on board, without a station stop, as officers walk through the carriages.

A phone photograph of your travel document is not accepted. Carry the physical document. Delays at peak times on the busiest road crossings can reach 20 to 40 minutes, so drivers doing the Warsaw–Berlin run in a day should build in extra time.

Why is Poland running these checks?

Poland reinstated border controls in July 2025 in response to irregular migration along the Belarus–Lithuania route. The pattern the Interior Ministry has described consistently is this: people entering the EU from Belarus travel through Lithuania into Poland, then try to reach Germany or further west. Poland argues that checking the Lithuanian border disrupts that secondary movement, and that checking the German border prevents departures the system has missed.

Since the controls began, the ministry says nearly 2,300 people have been denied entry, more than 1,300 have been returned under readmission procedures, and 130 people have been detained on suspicion of helping others cross illegally.

The European Commission has pushed back. Formal opinions issued in June 2026, as part of a review of nine countries running internal Schengen checks, questioned whether renewed six-month notifications still meet the Schengen Borders Code requirement that controls address a current and foreseeable threat, not a standing one. Poland, like Germany, Austria and France, has continued regardless.

How long can this go on?

Under the Schengen rules, temporary internal border controls addressing a serious threat can run for an initial six-month period, then be renewed in further six-month blocks up to a maximum of two years in total. Poland first introduced these controls in July 2025. The April 2027 end date is within that two-year ceiling. Any extension beyond April 2027 would require a different legal basis.

Does this affect my Schengen day count?

No. Crossing between Poland and Germany, or between Lithuania and Poland, does not create an EES entry or exit event and does not affect your 90 days in any 180-day period. The day count runs from your arrival at the external Schengen frontier to your departure back across it. A road trip from Warsaw to Berlin and back is counted as uninterrupted time inside Schengen, not as two separate trips.

What about ETIAS?

ETIAS is not live yet and is not needed for any current trip. No action is required yet. Applications are not open.When it does launch, an approved ETIAS authorisation will cover the whole Schengen area, including Poland, in a single document. Poland’s internal border controls are separate from ETIAS entirely: ETIAS is an advance travel authorisation, checked before boarding, not a physical border inspection. You can track the current status at the ETIAS status page.

Practical checklist for travellers

• Carry your physical passport. A digital copy or phone photo is not sufficient. EU citizens can use a national identity card.
• Allow extra time on road crossings. The Warsaw-Berlin motorway route and crossings near Frankfurt an der Oder tend to be the busiest. Add 30 to 45 minutes to your journey estimate at peak times.
• Trains carry document checks on board. International services on the Warsaw-Berlin and Vilnius-Warsaw routes may have checks during the journey. Have your passport accessible.
• No biometrics at these crossings. Fingerprints and facial scans only happen at the external Schengen frontier. If this is your first visit to the Schengen area since 12 October 2025, you will complete biometric enrolment at your port of entry into Schengen, not at any subsequent internal border. Crossing Poland’s internal borders creates no EES record.
• End date: 2 April 2027. The controls are in force until then, barring an earlier lifting or a further renewal notification.