WARSAW, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Thursday that his ministry has taken steps to overhaul the country's visa system, following investigations that confirmed irregularities in visa issuance under the previous government.

"Unfortunately, especially between 2018 and 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lost control over the visa system by introducing, at the request of some companies and intermediary agencies, the so-called simplified procedures or priority paths," Sikorski said at a press conference. "These were intended to increase the granting of visas to individuals who should not have received them."

Earlier on Thursday, Marian Banas, director of the Supreme Audit Office, presented a report on the alleged visa scandal under the previous government's Foreign Ministry. He said that investigations uncovered nearly 50 irregularities, including corruption-prone procedures, violations of consular law, and risks to national security.

Sikorski stressed that his Foreign Ministry has already taken steps to fix the visa system, including cooperating to thoroughly investigate the scandal and tightening regulations.

The minister stated that the actions taken have resulted in a significant decrease in the number of visas issued. "A total of 31 percent fewer visas of all categories were granted in the first half of this year compared to the same period of last year. The number of Schengen visas issued dropped to 203,810 from 295,892, while national visas decreased by 34 percent."

Sikorski pointed out that he has issued guidelines for consuls to standardize and organize the processing of student and work visas, and the use of priority paths has been discontinued. Enditem

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