Important information for students/trainees interrupting their mobility
Dear Student/Trainee,
If you have decided/ or will decide to interrupt your Erasmus+ mobility and come back to Poland (or your home country), below you will find very important information for you:
CASE 1 – procedure of resignation from a mobility and application for the force major
CASE 2 – return to Poland (program #LOTdoDomu)
CASE 3 – doing online classes/traineeship at your host institution
CASE 1 – procedure of resignation from a mobility and application for the force major
In accordance with the principles of the Erasmus + Program, mobility that lasts less than 90 days (in the case of mobility for studies) and 60 days (in the case of mobility for traineeship) is non-qualified mobility, which means that the entire grant paid for the implementation of such mobility is refundable (student needs to return the grant they received for mobility). If the shortening / interruption of mobility is associated with the so-called “Force majeure”, i.e. a sudden situation independent of the scholarship holder (such a situation may be the current state of emergency in connection with the COVID-19 epidemic), the scholarship holder may apply for recognition of the aforementioned “force majeure” to the National Agency. If the National Agency recognizes force majeure then it will indicate which part of the grant will be refundable and which will not. Such an application is submitted by a student / trainee via the Erasmus + Office.
1. If you intend to interrupt your mobility, please inform us first.
To stop mobility and apply for force majeure you will need to provide relevant documents.
2. Before leaving the host university / institution, be sure to contact them and inform the appropriate persons (coordinator, Erasmus + office etc.) that you are interrupting your mobility and are returning to the country. If you haven’t done it yet and have already left your partner university, contact them and inform them of your decision immediately, also inform them when you left their university.This is necessary because one of the required documents that you must provide to us is Confirmation of Stay (confirmation of dates of you spent at the host institution). The partner university must confirm the period of your stay, even if your mobility lasted less than 90/60 days.
In your statement of discontinuation of mobility and a request for recognition of force majeure, which you will provide to us, besides Confirmation of Stay, you will also need to put the following information: provide a reason for resignation / interruption and provide a preliminary calculation of the costs incurred that cannot be recovered (and attach copies of documents confirming that you covered these expenses, e.g. purchased return flight tickets, confirmation of payment of the dormitory by the end of the semester with the information on the inability to return the paid money (from the university) etc.). Please note that mobility participants are required to ensure that the airline at which the booking was made allows for the possibility of recovering the amount paid for the ticket. If such information is not available on the airline’s website or it informs you about the impossibility of recovering the cost of the ticket (as is the case with so-called low-cost airlines), please include this information in your statement, e.g. in the form of a print screen from the airlines’ website with such information, or as an email from the carrier confirming that reimbursement of tickets is not possible (add this documents to your statement eg. as separate attachments).
NOTE: Both the Statement (template in the attachment) and the document Confirmation of Stay must be delivered to the Erasmus + Office in the original (attachments to the statements may be a copy). Due to this situation, we will accept the scans of the above-mentioned documents and in this form we will send them to the National Agency. However, it is required to provide the original documents to our office as soon as possible (you can send them by post to our office’s address).
(If you will not apply for a force major to the National Agency, you would be obliged to return the whole amount of grant you received before your mobility).
CASE 2 – return to Poland (program #LOTdoDomu)
The Government of the Republic of Poland, wants to allow their citizens abroad to return to the country, launched special options, which can be found at https://www.lot.com/pl/pl/lot-do-domu (action #LOTdoDomu). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched a special hotline where you can get information on the possibility of returning to the country +48 22 523 8880. Information on the website of the Office of the President of the RM: https://www.premier.gov.pl/ states that Polish citizens and foreigners who are spouses, children of Poles, have a Polish Card, have a work permit or the right to reside in Poland are able to use the opportunity of the action #LotDoDomu . If you are not in the above group, please fill out the questionnaire presenting your situation as well or call the helpline in order to obtain information on whether you can use the option provided by the Government of the Republic of Poland or contact the Polish diplomatic mission.
Available flights you can find and book here: https://www.lot.com/pl/pl/lot-do-domu
(The list of available flights will be successively updated. Travelers will pay a flat rate for returning to Poland on special flights organized by LOT. Its amount will depend on the direction from which the flight will be operated: PLN 400 – 800 within Europe and PLN 1,600 – 2,400 for long-haul flights. The remaining amount will be paid by the Polish government).
CASE 3 – doing online classes/traineeship at your host institution
Can a student / trainee who returns from abroad to Poland and remotely continues his education / traineeship (online) in Poland receive an Erasmus scholarship?
No. The scholarship is intended to cover the cost of living while abroad. If the student / apprentice returns to the country before the end of the minimum duration of mobility, then his situation will meet the definition of “force majeure”. Erasmus scholarship is never paid after returning to the country due to the purpose of its receipt (covering part of the cost of staying abroad).
So it is not possible to return to the country and continue to implement mobility remotely. If you decided / decide to return to the country, this means that you stopped the mobility, and if the mobility lasted less than 90/60 days, then it means the return of the grant. In this situation you can apply to NA to be recognized as a force majeure then the procedure described in CASE 1 applies.