These lasted until around 1929 when hard covered blue-jacket passports were designed and printed on good quality watermarked paper.

The effect of the rigorous passport policy was the practical disappearance of tourist travel from Poland: in 1938 citizens leaving the country for tourist purposes numbered approximately 90,000; there were only 181 such people in 1950, not counting party, union, and industry delegations, mainly to Warsaw Pact countries.

Before each trip, a Polish citizen had to complete the application and go to a Biuro Paszportów attached to a local command of the Milicja Obywatelska.

From 1972, thanks to an agreement with East Germany, it was possible to go to the latter country only on the basis of a stamp embedded in the ID card issued by any Milicja Obywatelska command.

[9] After the fall of communism in Poland, the first post-communist passport design was introduced on 1 January 1992, featuring a navy blue cover.

The Polish passports issued since 2006 are burgundy, with the words "UNIA EUROPEJSKA" (EUROPEAN UNION) and "RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA" (REPUBLIC OF POLAND) inscribed at the top of the front cover.

The Polish white eagle is emblazoned in the centre of the cover, and below this the words "PASZPORT", "PASSPORT" are to be found.

The European Union requires fingerprint data to be stored on the member state's passports at latest in June 2009.

The data page/information page is printed in Polish and English, whilst translation of this information into other official languages of the European Union can be found elsewhere in the document.

Polish citizens enjoy freedom of movement in the European Economic Area and can travel around the EEA as of right.