RESIDENCE CARD FOR FOREIGNERS IN POLAND: WHAT IT IS FOR, WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGES AND WHAT GROUNDS AND DOCUMENTS ARE REQUIRED FOR OBTAINING IT?
If you are reading these lines, then you definitely have a desire to work and live in Poland. Or maybe you have already moved and are planning to settle in this country for a long-term stay? We, the Global documents solution team, are happy to help every foreigner in Poland with any kind of documents for legal stay in the country.
SUBMITTING WITH Global documents solution : WHY US ?
✔️Our company is undoubtedly number 1 among firms helping foreigners with legalization. Our 5-year experience and constantly growing ranks of satisfied clients speak for themselves. Reviews of foreigners who have already used our services can be viewed here.
✔️Cooperation with us is completely transparent: we conclude a bilingual contract with you for maximum comfort and give you receipts for all your payments.
✔️Our experienced specialists will help you to fill in and prepare the maximum package of documents for your case from filing to receiving the plastic.
✔️When signing the contract, we analyze your situation and offer the best options to solve all issues specifically for your case. In fact, our service is additionally accompanied by free legal advice.
✔️We, more than anyone else, realize that busy working people simply do not have time to study the intricacies of Polish law on their own. That is why our company saves your precious time and nerves: you will have peace of mind because the execution of your documents is in the hands of reliable professionals.
SERVICE PACKAGES
There are several options for preparing and submitting documents for obtaining a residence permit in Poland:
«START» - We make an electronic reservation for submission of documents and help in filling out the application form. After the reservation there will be an appointed day and time to meet with the inspector, where you need to arrive independently, having prepared all the documentation in advance.
Realization period - from 14 days
Prepayment - 50%
ORDER THE PACKAGE «START»
«SUPPORT» — Includes electronic reservation, joint submission of documents, transfer, and further support in a remote format until receiving a positive decision on the residence permit. After receiving a letter from the inspector, it is necessary to self-submit the documents.
Term of preparation and submission of documents - from 10 days (term of consideration of the case from 6 to 10 months).
ORDER THE «SUPPORT» PACKAGE
«MAXIMUM» — The whole process of obtaining a residence permit is done with the help of our firm. You only need to take fingerprints and sign a power of attorney for our company. Communication with inspectors, delivery of documents, acceleration of the process, collection of additional documentation and other working processes are handled by your personal manager.
Term of preparation and submission of documents - from 10 days (term of consideration of the case from 5 to 8 months)
We are currently running a favorable promotion: In case of ordering within the next 7 days, we are ready to give you a discount of 200 PLN on any of the packages.
ORDER THE «MAXIMUM» PACKAGE
WHAT IS A RESIDENCE CARD (RESIDENCE PERMIT IN POLAND)?
A Polish residence card (or pobytu) is a document that identifies the identity of a foreigner, grants him/her a residence permit in Poland and allows him/her to stay in the country legally and fully legally for a certain period of time.
There are two types of residence cards: temporary residence card (czasowy pobyt) and permanent residence card (stały pobyt).
These cards are issued by the state authority - Urząd Wojewódzki do Spraw Cudzoziemców. The decision to issue each card is signed by the head of the Urząd Wojewódzki do Spraw Cudzoziemców.
Grounds for obtaining a residence card.
This document can be issued to a foreigner on the basis of
- employment in Poland
- studying in Polish educational institutions (universities, police schools),
- running his/her own business in the territory of the country,
- citizenship of any EU country,
- reunification with a family member who already has a residence card,
- family reunification on the basis of marriage to a Polish citizen.
How long is a temporary residence card issued for?
A temporary (hour) residence card can be issued for a maximum period of 3 years.
A permanent residence card is issued for 10 years. If the validity period of the already issued card has come to an end, you need to submit a completely new set of documents to extend it. Even if nothing has changed during this time and you are working or studying in the same place where you were working or studying at the time of the first application, the validity of the card will not be automatically extended.
*You can get a Stalego Pobytu card only if you have Polish roots (Polish card or other documents proving your Polish origin) or 10 years of continuous official stay in Poland. In other situations, you will be issued an hourly residence card.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF A RESIDENCE CARD?
- It is the prospect of obtaining citizenship in the future. If a foreigner stays in Poland legally, pays all the required taxes, thereby benefiting the state by his labor, he always has the opportunity to get a stalego card after his residence card, and then he can get the status of a citizen.
- It is possible to add family members to your residence card and stay in Poland together with them. In this way it is possible to move to Poland with the whole family and the Polish state gives such foreigners every chance to do so.
- You can freely cross the borders of all European countries and travel without the need to open visas. You will be able to stay in the Schengen area for 90 days a year.
- Possibility to buy and register an apartment or a car.
- Receive benefits from the Polish state, such as 500+, Good Start and others. If you have a residence permit, you are entitled to receive state benefits on an equal footing with Polish citizens.
- Banks offer more favorable credit terms to holders of residence cards.
- Employment opportunities without additional work permits. For example, full-time students are issued a card with access to the labor market. This means that the student can work without a work permit, unlike foreigners staying in Poland, for example, on the basis of a visa.
- Saving time and money for opening a visa, as well as transportation costs. Having a residence card, you will be able to cross Polish borders without having to open a Polish visa every time. For example, this is a very topical issue for students: they most often have to spend their summer vacations on the visa application process.
As you can see, there are more than enough advantages of a residence card for foreigners to work and live comfortably in Poland.
WHAT DOCUMENTS DO I NEED TO APPLY FOR A RESIDENCE CARD?
For each direction (from work, from study, family reunification, etc.) on the basis of which you plan to apply for the card, there is a different list of documents. In the list below, we will list the documents required to apply for a residence card for any of the destinations.
- completed application form (vniosek);
- passport;
- insurance contract;
- rental agreement;
- PESEL/NIP number (if available);
- stamp duty payment receipt;
- 4 photographs 3.5 by 4.5 cm.
For each of the grounds for application, you need to show the inspector that you have a place to live (rental agreement), you have money to live on (work contract, bank statement) and you have someone to treat you in case of illness in Poland (insurance contract).
Each foreigner's package of documents for a residence card is considered individually by the Uząd inspector, so at his discretion he may additionally request some documents. Such as, for example, a criminal record certificate or a certified statement of your bank account to prove your income, etc.
The procedure for applying for a residence card and the process of obtaining the card.
- The collected and correctly filled out set of documents is submitted to the Uząd. Among foreigners in Poland, this set of documents is simply called “vniosek”.
- Your application must be accepted and registered in the Uząd. If all the documents are available and correctly filled in, you will receive a red stamp in your passport when you register them.
- After receiving the red stamp your stay in Poland is completely legal during the whole period of waiting for the decision on your residence card.
- After registration, an inspector starts to check all your documents to make sure that they are up to date, consistent with each other, authentic and correct.
- Then your data will be checked by the police, border guards and the Polish security service. Some Uząd (mostly in small towns) check whether the foreigner lives in the place of his/her registration, which is indicated in the documents.
- If your documents are in order and you are not on any black lists, the inspector makes a decision (decizia) to issue a residence card.
- The director of the municipality signs the decision and after a month you receive your plastic residence card.
- Before you receive your plastic card, you will also have to submit your fingerprints.
HOW A PHOTO FOR A RESIDENCE CARD SHOULD LOOK LIKE
One of the elements in the package of documents that is submitted to obtain a residence card is a personal photo. Also, the photo for a visa card may be called a “biometric photo”, which is in fact a regular photo. Registration for a visa card is a very delicate process that does not allow for mistakes, so the photo must also look in accordance with all the requirements.
In what cases the photo can be a reason for refusal:
- Less than 4 photos in the assembled document package
- Clear indication that the photo was taken more than 6 months ago
- Damage, poor sharpness or unnatural print color
- Incorrect photo size
- Applicant's face occupies less than 70% of the space in the photo, not centered
- Unnatural facial expression, extra facial expressions, smiling, squinting eyes,
- Inconsistent complexion, obvious signs of cosmetics application
- Dark or colored background
- Glasses with darkened glasses or glare on the lenses of the face
- Presence of headgear
- Hair falling over the face, with a visible accessory to secure it in place
- Additional highlights, shadows, blotches in the photo
- Red eye effect
With regard to glasses, there may be exceptions for medical reasons, but only if documented.
Headgear as an integral attribute of religion may be present in the presence of an appropriate application and a certificate from the religious community. But the headdress allowed in such a case must not cover the face.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE PURPOSE OF THE RESIDENCE CARD?
If, for example, you have applied for a residence permit from work, but you want to change the purpose of your residence permit from “work” to “family reunification”, there are two options for this change. The change of the purpose (basis) of the visit will be handled differently in each of these two situations:
- when your case is being processed
- when the decision on your case has already been made.
Of course, it is much easier and cheaper to change the purpose when your card case is still pending. In this case, you only need to submit a new “core” card to the UZOND, i.e. replace the documents in which you need to correct the column “purpose of stay”, as well as add photocopies of new documents that justify the change of purpose of stay.
If the decision on the card has already been made or the card is already in your hands, then the application process must start from the beginning: new photos, new fingerprints, new photocopies of all the necessary documents and, of course, a new payment of stamp duty. In essence, you will need to apply for a completely new residence card.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PROCESS A RESIDENCE CARD IN POLAND?
The length of time it takes to process a case for a residence card depends on several factors:
- The number of applications for cards specifically in your region. There are regions that are densely populated by foreigners, so in the Uządas of such cities the terms of consideration of cases will be longer than where there are fewer foreigners.
- Completeness of the package of documents. If something is missing, your case is put “on pause”. The inspector will send you letters that the required documents are not found in the submitted package, or, perhaps, some papers are filled out incorrectly or have lost their relevance. And, accordingly, the duration of consideration of your case increases by the period of writing the letter, its sending, plus the time until you bring the corrected or missing documents.
The case will be “taken off the pause” only when the UZOND accepts the full package of documents for the residence card. At that time the case will be placed in the queue and, of course, at the end of the queue, not at the beginning. And if you do not respond to the letters, then the case will not be considered.
- When your package of documents is accepted, the inspector starts making inquiries to various authorities. You must be checked for criminal records, fines, presence in various lists of undesirable persons (criminals, terrorists). Inquiries are also submitted to the Border Guard Service to find out how long you have been in the country and whether it is legal.
In other words, the inspector delegates further checks of your documents to other people. And such checks, in turn, take time. Especially if already at this stage you have questions such as unpaid fines or unpaid taxes as a result of filling out PIT-37, etc.
Having read all of the above, you will immediately realize that it is impossible to guarantee you a clear timeframe for obtaining a residence card. And if some intermediary firm tells you that within 3 months you will receive the card - then in front of you are either fraudsters who will take money and disappear, or falsifiers of documents.
Our company Global documents solution can guarantee you a trouble-free submission of a complete and correct package of documents for a residence card. Thanks to this, the terms of consideration of your case will be as short as possible.
MAIN REASONS FOR REJECTION OF A RESIDENCE CARD
Very often foreigners receive refusals to apply for a residence card for reasons that can be easily corrected and eliminated in the process of processing the case. But due to various circumstances foreigners do not follow the progress of their case, and then they are surprised to receive a refusal because, for example, they ignored letters from the UUąd, which were sent to the wrong address.
Here are the most common reasons for rejections:
| Reason |
Description |
| 1 |
Incorrectly filled in entry. Different requirements in the contributions of different voivodships. |
| 2 |
Ignoring letters from the UUąd. Letters may not be received due to wrong address or failure to accept third return. |
| 3 |
Incomplete filing package. Missing important documents for filing. |
| 4 |
Failure to meet the deadline for correction or delivery of documents specified by the inspector. |
| 5 |
Errors in the documents prepared by the employer or university. |
| 6 |
The purpose of issuing the residence card does not correspond to the reality. |
| 7 |
False, incorrect or incomplete information about the foreigner has been submitted. |
| 8 |
The foreigner is entered in the SIS database and is prohibited to stay on the territory of Poland. |
| 9 |
The foreigner applies for a residence card while being in Poland illegally at the time of application. |
You can apply for a residence card with Global documents solution: we can guarantee that your documents will be accepted the first time. You will only have to get a positive decisión.
PRICE OF APPLYING FOR A RESIDENCE CARD
The cost of our services for your case is calculated on an individual basis, as the scope of work for each case is different. We need to know which documents you already have for the application for a residence card and which ones will require additional paperwork.
Contact us to calculate the cost of services, order support and management of your case on a residence card by writing in the contact box with our manager.
Are you confused and do not know what to do in your situation or are not sure of the correctness of your planned steps in the paperwork? Sign up for a free legal consultation!
We are grateful for your trust and for choosing our company Global documents solution !
