German border police have refused entry to Ukrainian citizens who legally work in Poland when they try to make short business trips into Germany, issuing removal orders after checks that treat Polish work authorization as insufficient.
The refusals have hit travelers crossing at Poland–Germany land borders and flying from major Polish airports such as Warsaw Chopin and Kraków-Balice, disrupting routine client meetings and site visits.
Ukrainian workers and employers have described an enforcement pattern in which officers demand proof tied to Germany itself, even when travelers hold EU temporary protection status and lawful jobs in Poland.
The checks come as Germany tightens migration enforcement and conducts more intensive controls on routes used for frequent cross-border travel between Poland and Germany, a corridor used by many Ukrainian workers based in Poland.
Across the European Union, policymakers have pushed to raise returns and speed removals, pairing stricter procedures with wider use of detention and faster processing for certain categories of cases.
EU deportation rates rose from 19% in 2023 to 27% in the first three quarters of 2025, the highest since 2019, driven by reforms led by EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner. “The deportation rate has increased from 19% in 2023 to 27% in 2025,” Brunner said.
Germany, under Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, has enforced stricter internal checks and ended border exemptions that some travelers expected to follow EU reforms, increasing scrutiny at Poland-Germany crossings.
At the border, officers focus on whether a traveler has a lawful basis for the stated activity in Germany and whether the purpose and duration match what they can document in the moment.
For Ukrainian workers employed in Poland, that can become a decisive problem because having a lawful job in Poland does not automatically create a lawful basis for work-related activities in Germany.
German authorities have required evidence of employment solely in Germany or full compliance with German residence rules, and have rejected Polish work permits as enough for entry even when the planned visit lasts only a short time.
Possible outcomes have included denial of entry, immediate removal or a deportation order, and entry bans that can prevent future travel through the Schengen area.
The impact has fallen most heavily on Poland-based Ukrainian workers making short assignments, site visits, or client meetings in Germany, where routine business travel can be reclassified during questioning as work that needs German authorization.
Employers and travelers have reported recurring documentation gaps during checks, including missing assignment letters, unclear employer or host details, no itinerary, inadequate proof of return, and confusion about what business activities are allowed.
Scrutiny has extended beyond external EU entry points, with checks reported at internal borders and on flights, leaving travelers little time to clarify paperwork after an officer decides the documents do not match the planned activity.
The enforcement push comes alongside the EU’s Temporary Protection framework for Ukrainians, which covers residence and work rights and extends EU-wide until March 4, 2027 after interior ministers reaffirmed it on June 13, 2025, including Poland’s Tomasz Siemoniak.
Even with temporary protection, Germany has applied national entry and labor rules to work-related travel, drawing a line between permission to live and work in one member state and permission to carry out work-linked activity in another.
EU measures tied to removals have included detention up to 24 months for those with deportation orders considered at flight risk, accelerated removals from “safe” transit countries, and collective deportations to third countries rather than only to a person’s country of origin.
One EU list cited Kosovo as a “safe” transit country while noting that Ukraine is exempt, reflecting how the bloc’s faster-track approach can still reshape how member states handle cases at the border.
In Poland, enforcement has also tightened, with authorities reporting 1,150 Ukrainians forcibly deported in 2025, double 2024’s total, mainly for illegal stay or violations, and re-entry bans ranging from 6 months to 10 years.
Poland has operated simplified rules for Ukrainian employment that expire March 4, 2026, and upcoming rules after that date mandate new CUKR residence cards and work notifications, which employers and workers say will add compliance pressure for people rotating across borders.
Those changes matter for Ukrainian workers who live and work in Poland but travel into Germany for short professional reasons, because paperwork gaps can become easier to spot during checks and can trigger removal decisions that also carry re-entry bans.
Travelers have reported that missing basic supporting documents can escalate quickly into harsh consequences, including 5-year Schengen bans, leaving workers stranded and companies scrambling to reschedule meetings and assignments.
Businesses using Poland-based Ukrainian workers for German client work have begun adding buffer time for border procedures and coordinating closely with German hosts to align invitations and supporting documents with the stated purpose of travel.
The situation has unfolded as more than 4.2+ million Ukrainians remain under temporary protection, with the largest numbers in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, keeping cross-border work and travel rules in sharp focus in early 2026.
EU lawmakers approved “safe country” deportation rules on February 10, 2026 by a 429-192 MEP vote, requiring Poland to align by June 30, 2026, a timeline that workers and employers say increases the need for precise documentation on short trips.
Ukraine’s Oleksiy Chernyshov has urged post-war returns for economic recovery, while Ukrainian workers in Poland and their employers continue to weigh the risks of routine business travel into Germany under stricter checks.
Ukrainian Workers from Poland Face Deportation in Germany
German authorities are intensifying border checks, specifically targeting Ukrainian workers based in Poland who enter Germany for business. Officials argue that Polish work authorization does not cover professional activities in Germany, leading to immediate removals and Schengen entry bans. This shift reflects a larger EU trend toward stricter migration enforcement and higher deportation targets, placing significant compliance pressure on cross-border employers and employees.
