FAQ

After receiving the residence permit, you should go to the City or Commune Office appropriate to your place of residence and register. The registration certificate should be submitted to the General Chancellery of the Voivodeship Office or sent to the address: Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship Office in Bydgoszcz, Department of Civil Affairs and Foreigners, ul. Konarskiego 1-3, 85-066 Bydgoszcz. The Residence Card should be ready for collection approximately 3 weeks after the submission of the registration certificate.

You can check that your residence card is ready for collection by writing an email to kartapobytu@bydgoszcz.uw.gov.pl, or
call the hotline 52 349 7461

No, the card will be ordered even if no confirmation of payment is attached to the certificate of registration. Confirmation of fee payment should be presented upon receipt of the residence card.

The language certificate can also be attached once the procedure for granting a long-term resident’s EU residence permit has been initiated.

Currently it is not possible to check the status of the case on-line in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship Office. Due to the protection of personal data, we are not able to provide detailed information by telephone. We will contact you in writing at the address indicated in your application – please remember to inform the office if you change your address.
Moreover, the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivode runs a helpline in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and English at 52 349 7461 – please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the legalization procedure.

If you run a business activity and apply for a temporary residence and work permit – the Voivode will deny to initiate proceedings. In order to obtain a temporary residence permit, you need to submit an application for a temporary residence permit for business activity purpose (even if you own shares in a company established on the territory of Poland and do not perform any function in it).

Before issuing a decision on granting a temporary residence permit, if the circumstances in connection with which the foreigner plans to stay in Poland have changed, the foreigner may submit a written request to change the basis of the decision. Along with the request the documents necessary for granting the authorisation should be attached. A catalogue of documents to be submitted in connection with a specific circumstance is available on the website

If you show that your stays outside Poland were related to:

• performing professional duties for a Polish employer (delegations) or accompanying a spouse or parent on these trips, or
• a special personal situation requiring going outside the territory of Poland, if it did not last longer than 6 months, e.g. treatment abroad, or
• taking part in internships, classes conducted during the course of studies at a Polish university, then despite exceeding the period when you could stay outside Poland, it will not be an obstacle to granting a permit.

– the above mentioned trips will not be included in the break in stay in Poland

On the basis of a residence card issued in Poland, a foreigner may travel in other Schengen countries. Detailed information on crossing the Polish border may be provided by the Border Guard, information number of the Nadwislanski Border Guard Unit:  22 500 33 01.

A visit to the Department must be booked via Electronic visit reservation. Applications – without prior reservation can be made in the General Chancellery of the local Office or by post, but this significantly increases the waiting time for the initiation of the procedure.

It is not possible to “renew” a temporary residence permit. You should apply for subsequent temporary residence permit  or leave Poland before the expiry of the current one.

The foreigner is obliged to inform the Voivode who issued the permit, within 15 working days, that the reason for granting this permit has ceased to exist. A written statement, delivered by mail or in person, is necessary. If a foreigner wishes to stay in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit, he should submit another application for a temporary residence permit within 30 days from the end of the work.
Whereas, a foreigner holding a temporary residence and work permit without a specific employer indicated (e.g. as a graduate of a Polish university), when changing employer, should inform the voivode about it within 15 working days from the end of work and within 30 days submit documents confirming employment with a new employer. Documents must be submitted in writing, through the General Chancellery of the local Office or by post.
In case of failure to meet the above mentioned obligations, the voivode may initiate proceedings to withdraw the temporary residence permit.

A change of address must be notified to the office without delay in writing, either by sending a letter or by submitting a letter to the General Chancellery of the Office. If the data on the residence card is changed, you must apply for its exchange, according to the procedure described on our website.

The stamp in the passport can be obtained after submitting, at the latest on the last day of legal residence, a complete application (i.e. without any formal defects) for a residence permit. This means that in the case of applications submitted, inter alia, through the General Chancellery of the local office or by post, when no fingerprints have been submitted and no passport has been presented, it is possible to obtain a stamp only after the deficiencies have been remedied as requested. The stamp in the passport confirms the legality of the foreigner’s residency in Poland during the procedure of issuing the residence permit, until the final decision in the case is issued. The stamp in the passport does not legalize residence in other Schengen countries and does not entitle to cross borders. On its basis, a foreigner can only leave for his country of origin.

The holder of the Pole’s Card can come to Poland, among others, on the basis of a visa. During his legal residence in Poland he may apply for a permanent residence permit. After obtaining the permanent residence permit, the foreigner is obliged to return the Card of the Pole. Holders of the Card of the Pole can take up employment in Poland without the need to obtain an additional permit.

A residence card issued by another Schengen state country entitles you to stay for tourism purposes in other Schengen member states (including Poland) for a period not exceeding 90 days in each 180-day period. The residence card itself does not entitle you to work.

You can work as long as you were entitled to work immediately before submitting the application – that is, you had a temporary residence and work permit or work permit, and after submitting the application you will work on the conditions that were indicated in the permit.

If you did not have the right to work in Poland before submitting your application, you will be able to work provided that you obtain a work permit or a declaration on entrusting the work.

No, a work permit does not legalise the foreigner’s residence. Submission of an application does not legalise the foreigner’s work either, it does so only a work permit.

A foreigner may apply for a residence and work permit, or an employer for a work permit for a foreigner.

The work permit itself does not entitle to stay in the territory of Poland.

If, on the day the application was submitted, you could work on the basis of a registered declaration on entrusting the work or a work permit from the employer with whom you work, in the same position, and you submitted your application for a residence permit while in Poland legally and there are no formal deficiencies – you can work during the proceedings for granting the residence permit. If you do not meet the above conditions, you may work provided that you have a work permit or a registered declaration on entrusting the work.

Submit an application for a work permit for a foreigner in the territory of the Poland together with the relevant attachments. If you want to employ a citizen of Ukraine for a short period of time, you can do so on the basis of a declaration of entrusting work, which is registered by the poviat labour offices. In the case of employing a foreigner in agriculture, horticulture, tourism, submit an application for a seasonal work permit to the Poviat Labour Office.

You can work legally because temporary residence and work permits entitle you to stay and work legally under the conditions indicated therein. The work permit procedure will be discontinued. The payment for the application for a work permit is not refundable.

No more than 6 months within the next 12 months.

Not, if your application is free of formal defects and you have a legalised stay, e.g. a stamp in your passport or a valid visa.
Work must be carried out at the employer and in the position indicated in the decision. Otherwise, the work will be illegal.

It is not required to issue a new work permit if the entrusting entity has changed its registered office or place of residence, name or legal form, the workplace or its part has been taken over by another employer, the plant or its part has been transferred to another employer or a civil law contract concluded with a foreigner has been replaced by an employment contract. However, remember to inform the Voivode issuing the permit in writing about this fact within 7 days from the occurrence of this circumstance.

Work that requires a seasonal work permit. The work most often carried out in agriculture, forestry and fishing, as well as accommodation and food service activities. The list of activities considered as seasonal work is defined in the Regulation (link is external) of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy on the subclasses of activities according to the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD), in which seasonal work permits for foreigners are issued. The seasonal work permit is issued for a period not exceeding 9 months within a calendar year by the locally competent district staroste.

Yes, if he has a work permit. An exception is a residence card issued in connection with circumstances requiring a short stay in Poland, due to an important national interest, appearance before a public authority or an exceptional personal situation.

Legalize his work through a work permit, a declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner or a new residence card (residence and work permit).

An application for extension of a work permit must be submitted not earlier than within 90 days and not later than within 30 days before the expiry of the validity of the permit.

No.

Yes.

Within 3 days of losing the document, please inform the voivode who issued your residence card about this fact. Report the theft / loss of the card also to the nearest Police Station. To obtain a new card, apply for an exchange/issue a residence card.

The residence card can be issued without the registered address. When submitting an application or after receiving the decision, make a written statement that you are requesting a card without a registered address. If you want the registered address to be included on the residence card, please submit a confirmation of residence for permanent or temporary residence lasting over 2 months.

The child’s parent or legal guardian. The child from whom the fingerprints were taken at the time of application must be present at the reception of the card (child over 13 years old).

When a residence card has been issued to a minor under 13 years of age by the date of its receipt, the card shall be collected by his legal representative or guardian.

No, the card is received in person. When you collect your residence card, your fingerprints stored on the card are verified.

The financial assistance is granted on the date of the decision to grant the financial assistance. The decision defines the amount of the benefit, i.e. the amount granted, the number of months for which the benefit was granted, the family members covered by the benefit and the district governor competent to pay the benefit. However, this does not mean paying the money the next day. If you do not lodge an appeal against the decision within 14 days of its receipt, it will become final and will be passed on to the staroste indicated in the decision. Then the staroste will apply to the voivode for a grant for the payment of funds for you. After receiving the decision, you should contact the staroste indicated in the decision and specify the method of payment, i.e. cash at the staroste’s cashier’s office or by bank transfer to your account.

The financial assistance will be determined in the amount of:

during the first 3 months – the equivalent of 50% of the minimum remuneration for work in force in the year of submission of the application – for the applicant and his spouse and the equivalent of 50% of that amount for each minor child remaining under the parental authority of the applicant or his spouse,

in the period from 4 to 9 months – respectively 60% of the above-mentioned amounts.

In 2020, the minimum salary is PLN 2,600 .

Example: The applicant is a foreigner who on 2 January 2020, has submitted an application for permanent residence and in the application for financial assistance indicated that they are staying with him on the territory of the Republic of Poland: wife and child at the age of 7. The financial assistance will be calculated as follows:

applicant: 3×1300 + 6×780=8580

wife: 3×1300 + 6×780=8580

child: 3×650 + 6×390=4290

Total: 8580×2 + 4290 = 21450

Yes. The financial assistance is granted to the applicant and his family members who are staying with him in Poland. Applicant’s family members who are not staying with him in Poland cannot be covered by the financial assistance.

The financial assistance may be granted at the foreigner’s request for a period up to 9 months. Funds for financial assistance may be paid out only in a given calendar year. This means that a decision to grant a benefit issued in August may cover 5 months – from August to December. You can apply for a benefit for the remaining 4 months by submitting another application, which we will consider in the following calendar year.

Funds for the payment of financial assistance for holders of the Pole’s Card may be paid out in a given calendar year. This means that the decision to grant the financial assistance to the holder of the Card of the Pole issued in 2019 may apply only to the months remaining until the end of 2019. (e.g. a decision issued in August could cover 5 months – from August to December, a decision issued in October could cover 3 months – from October to December). In order to receive the remaining amount of the benefit, you should submit another application for the assistance. We can consider your application in the following calendar year (If you received the benefit in 2019, we can only consider next application in 2020).

You must show that you have a stable regular income for the three years immediately preceding your application, or two years if you are in Poland under the EU Blue Card. Remember that as of the date of issuing the decision on the long-term resident’s residence in the EU, you must also prove that you have such income.

If you document that your stays outside Poland were related to:

• performing professional duties for a Polish employer (delegations) or accompanying a spouse or parent on these trips, or
• a special personal situation requiring going outside the territory of Poland, if it did not last longer than 6 months, e.g. treatment abroad, or
• taking part in internships, classes conducted during the course of studies at a Polish university, then despite exceeding the period when you could stay outside Poland, it will not be an obstacle to granting a permit.