The Bieszczadzki Border Guard, responsible for Poland’s south-eastern crossings with Ukraine and Slovakia, reported on 10 July that daily passenger volumes have jumped from 29,600 in May to over 42,000 in the first week of July – a 40 percent surge. The spike is driven by holidaymakers heading to the Adriatic via Slovakia as well as Ukrainians working seasonally in EU resorts. To manage the load, the Guard has added extra passport booths at Medyka and Korczowa, activated mobile biometric stations, and redeployed officers from inland units. Queues however can still exceed two hours at peak times (05:00–09:00 and 17:00–21:00). Truck flows remain capped by Ukrainian customs processing, so exporters are advised to slot border bookings in off-peak windows. The authority has also issued a “summer checklist” in Polish, Ukrainian and English. Travellers must carry proof of vehicle ownership, insurance (Green Card), and – for non-EU nationals – EES-ready biometric passports. Corporate travellers moving between Rzeszów’s aviation cluster and Lviv’s IT parks should allow buffer time; missing a slot can force a detour to the far less-equipped Budomierz crossing 80 km north. Longer-term, Poland plans a €120 million upgrade of Bieszczady crossings co-financed by the EU’s Interreg programme. New e-gates, similar to those installed at Warsaw Chopin, will be piloted in Korczowa in early 2027, promising sub-20-second biometric clearance. Until then, the summer rush serves as a stress-test of current facilities. For HR teams relocating staff between Poland and Ukraine, the message is clear: schedule weekend transfers carefully, use live-queue apps such as Nakordoni, and brief travellers on customs rules for personal electronics which Ukrainian officers have tightened since May.
