Appeal an administrative decision in Poland: 14 days, how and where

Which decisions you can appeal

If a decision (decyzja) issued in the first instance concerns you, you can appeal it once, to one higher authority (art. 127 § 1 k.p.a.). The decision ends with a pouczenie: a note that says whether you can appeal, how and by when (art. 107 § 1 pkt 7). Trust the pouczenie. Other laws can set other terms (art. 129 § 3). If the pouczenie is wrong and you followed it, that cannot harm you (art. 112).

If a minister or a local government appeals board (SKO) decided in the first instance, there is no odwołanie. You ask the same body to look at the case again, with a wniosek o ponowne rozpatrzenie sprawy. The rules for appeals apply to it (art. 127 § 3). You can also go straight to the administrative court instead (art. 52 § 3 p.p.s.a.), except against the foreign minister or a consul in Foreigners Act cases.

If the office has not decided at all, the letter you need is a ponaglenie instead (art. 37 k.p.a.).

You have 14 days from delivery

The appeal is due within 14 days of the day the decision was delivered to you (art. 129 § 2 k.p.a.). The day of delivery does not count. If the last day is a Saturday or a public holiday, the term ends on the next working day (art. 57 § 1 and § 4).

A late appeal is not examined: the appeal body only rules that it is late (art. 134).

When a decision counts as delivered

Electronically. If your e-Doręczenia address is in the official database, the office delivers there, unless it hands the decision over at its premises or uses an account in its own online system (art. 39 § 1 and art. 39¹). It counts as delivered when you open it. If you do not open it, it counts as delivered on the day after 14 days have passed since it arrived (art. 39⁴ k.p.a.; art. 41 ust. 1 and art. 42 of the e-Delivery Act).

By post. Otherwise the decision comes on paper (art. 39 § 2–3). If you are out, an adult member of your household, a neighbour or the building caretaker can take it for you, if they agree to pass it on (art. 43). If not, the post office keeps the letter for 14 days and leaves a notice (awizo). If you do not collect it within 7 days, you get a second notice (art. 44 § 1–3). If you never collect it, it still counts as delivered on the last of those 14 days (art. 44 § 4). Your 14 days to appeal run from then, even though you never saw the letter.

If you refuse to take the letter, it counts as delivered on the day you refused (art. 47). If you moved during the case and did not tell the office, a letter sent to your old address counts (art. 41).

Where the appeal goes

To the higher authority (art. 127 § 2 and art. 17 k.p.a.):

• a decision of a mayor (wójt, burmistrz, prezydent miasta), a starosta or a voivodeship marshal: the local government appeals board, samorządowe kolegium odwoławcze (SKO), unless a special law names another body (art. 17 pkt 1, art. 5 § 2 pkt 6);
• a decision of a voivode: the minister responsible for the matter (art. 17 pkt 2);
• other offices: their superior body or the competent minister (art. 17 pkt 3).

The pouczenie names the appeal body. Use the name it gives.

But you do not send it there. You address it to the appeal body and file it through the office that issued the decision (art. 129 § 1). That office must send it on with the case files within 7 days (art. 133).

What to write

You do not need a legal argument. It is enough that the letter shows you disagree with the decision (art. 128). Reasons and documents still help. The letter gives:

• your name, address and signature (art. 63 § 2–3);
• which decision you appeal: its number, date and office, and the day you got it;
• that you appeal it, and what you ask for: that it be overturned or changed;
• why, in your own words, with copies of any documents.

You can also ask the appeal body to take more evidence (art. 136 § 1). Before you write, you can read the case file at the office and make copies (art. 73 § 1). If your letter lacks something the law requires, the office must ask you to fix it, giving you at least 7 days (art. 64 § 2).

Respubliko writes this letter in Polish from your answers. You check it, sign it and send it yourself. We never file anything for you.

How to file it

• By post, best by registered letter. If you post it at Poczta Polska before the term ends, it is on time (art. 57 § 5 pkt 2). Poczta Polska is the designated operator for 2026–2035 (UKE). With a courier or another operator, the letter must reach the office before the term ends.
• In person at the office that issued the decision, on paper or by saying it to an official, who writes it down (art. 63 § 1). You can ask the office to confirm that it received your appeal (art. 63 § 4).
• Electronically, only to the office's e-Doręczenia address or through its own online system (art. 63 § 1). Sent to e-Doręczenia, it is on time if you got the proof of receipt (dowód otrzymania) before the term ended (art. 57 § 5 pkt 1).
• Not through ePUAP, and not by ordinary e-mail. ePUAP counted as e-Doręczenia only until 31 December 2025 (art. 147 ust. 2 of the e-Delivery Act). An appeal sent to an office's e-mail address is left unexamined (art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.).
• From abroad, at a Polish consulate (art. 57 § 5 pkt 3).

If you send it in time to the wrong office, it still counts as on time, and that office must pass it on (art. 65 § 1–2). Keep the proof: the posting receipt, a copy stamped by the office, or the dowód otrzymania.

Filing an odwołanie costs nothing (stamp duty act, art. 1 and the annex, part I, item 53).

While you wait

• The decision is not carried out while the term runs, and an appeal filed on time holds it back (art. 130 § 1–2). This does not apply if the decision is immediately enforceable (rygor natychmiastowej wykonalności) or the law makes it so (art. 130 § 3). Then you can ask the appeal body to stop the execution (art. 135).
• Do not sign a waiver of the appeal (zrzeczenie się odwołania) unless you are sure. Once the last party waives, the decision becomes final (art. 127a).
• If the office that decided agrees with your appeal in full, it can issue a new decision itself (art. 132). You can appeal that one too (art. 132 § 3).
• The appeal body should decide within a month of receiving the appeal (art. 35 § 3). If it is late, you can send a ponaglenie (art. 37).

What the appeal body can decide

It can keep the decision, change it, overturn it and end the case, or send the case back to the first office (art. 138 § 1–2). It cannot change the decision to your disadvantage, unless the decision grossly breaks the law or the public interest (art. 139).

If you missed the 14 days

Ask for the term to be restored (prośba o przywrócenie terminu). You must show that the delay was not your fault. Send the request within 7 days of the day the obstacle ended, with the appeal itself (art. 58 § 1–2). This 7-day term cannot be restored (art. 58 § 3). The appeal body decides (art. 59 § 2). Meanwhile you can ask it to hold back the decision (art. 60). Ask free legal help: this needs care.

After the appeal: the court

If you disagree with the appeal decision, you can complain (skarga) to the voivodeship administrative court (WSA) within 30 days of its delivery, through the body that issued it (art. 53 § 1 and art. 54 § 1 p.p.s.a.). You must appeal first: the court hears a complaint only once the appeal route is used (art. 52 § 1–2). The appeal decision must tell you about the complaint, the court fee and how to ask to be exempt (art. 107 § 1 pkt 9 k.p.a.). We do not write the complaint. Free legal help can.

Different rules: check these first

• Taxes. Tax matters follow the Tax Ordinance, not the k.p.a. (art. 3 § 1 pkt 2 k.p.a.). The appeal is also due within 14 days and goes through the office that decided, but it must state your objections, what you ask for and the evidence (art. 220, 222 and 223 of the Tax Ordinance). Saying that you disagree is not enough.
• ZUS: pensions, sick pay, contributions. The appeal goes to a court (art. 83 ust. 2 of the social insurance act): within one month of delivery, in writing, at the ZUS unit that decided (art. 477⁹ § 1 k.p.c.). For 800+ the route is different: an odwołanie to the President of ZUS (art. 28 ust. 1 of the 800+ act).
• Border Guard decisions. The Foreigners Act gives only 7 days to appeal some decisions of the Border Guard, such as a decision obliging you to return (art. 321 ust. 2). A voivode's refusal of a residence permit is not a return decision: there the 14 days apply.
• International protection. The appeal goes to the Refugee Board, Rada do Spraw Uchodźców (art. 89p ust. 1 of the protection act). It is due within 14 days, but within 7 days in the accelerated procedure (art. 39 ust. 2 pkt 3). Do not wait: ask free legal help at once.