Why does nobody talk about visa processing delays in Eastern Europe?

My Romanian permit took four months, which set back my whole move. Look up current wait times before you book any flights.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_hugo1mo ago

Visa requests in Warsaw are taking over six months now, from a report I saw last week. A friend of mine waited five months for his Croatian work visa. He had to delay his job start date twice. The embassy told him it's because of backlog from summer tourism. It's a common problem across Eastern Europe. Governments aren't updating their systems fast enough.

faith_smith1mo ago

But wait, are these delays really as big as they say? People often make it sound worse than it is. Visa problems happen everywhere, not just in Eastern Europe. Governments are trying to update systems, but it takes time. A single case doesn't prove a widespread issue. Maybe the backlog isn't that serious for most applicants.

noah4171mo ago

Yeah, the wait times are brutal and totally unpredictable. My cousin's Poland visa took so long he missed his first semester of language school. You really have to check the specific embassy website, not just the general info, because some like Bulgaria are faster than others. Never trust the "standard processing" estimate they give you, always add a few months buffer, especially if applying around summer.