CUKR residence card: who can apply, how, and the 180 days

What the card is

The CUKR card is a karta pobytu (residence card) for citizens of Ukraine with temporary protection in Poland (art. 42c of the Ukraine special act). It carries the note "Poprzednio posiadacz ochrony czasowej", "previously holder of temporary protection" (art. 42m). "CUKR" is the status your PESEL record gets (art. 8 pkt 24a lit. e of the population register act).

When you collect the card, your temporary protection becomes a temporary residence permit, by law, until the card expires (art. 42r ust. 1). The card is valid for 3 years from the day it is issued (art. 42p ust. 1): the day it is printed, not the day you collect it, says the Office for Foreigners (UdSC).

With the card you can work without a work permit (art. 42v), run a business on the same terms as Polish citizens (art. 42w), and cross the border without a visa, with a valid passport (art. 242 of the Foreigners Act). The UdSC says you can stay in other Schengen countries for up to 90 days in any 180.

The card replaces UKR status: temporary protection ends when you get a temporary residence permit (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 lit. c of the protection act), and with it the help given only to people with UKR status (art. 112a–112c). The card cannot be renewed; to stay longer, you need a permit under the general rules (MOS portal).

Who can get it

All of these must be true (art. 42c):

• you are a citizen of Ukraine, and your stay is legal because of temporary protection (art. 106 of the protection act);
• you had UKR status on 4 June 2025;
• you have UKR status on the day you apply;
• you held UKR status for at least 365 days in a row: any 365 days, not only the last ones, says the MOS portal.

Keep UKR status until you collect the card: the UdSC says you need it when the card is issued. More than 30 days abroad ends temporary protection (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 2).

A child born in Poland can get the card if the child's stay is legal because of temporary protection, the child has UKR status when you apply, and the mother has already been issued a CUKR card (art. 42d). The child's card is valid as long as the mother's (art. 42p ust. 2).

You cannot get the card if you were granted a temporary residence permit: your temporary protection ended then (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 lit. c). Nor if your PESEL UKR was given on a declaration and you did not confirm your identity with a valid passport by 31 August 2026: on 1 September 2026 your status became NUE, and you lost temporary protection (art. 25 of the act of 23 January 2026, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203).

The voivode (wojewoda) also refuses the card if you are on the list of foreigners whose stay is undesirable or in the Schengen Information System for refusal of entry, if state security or public order requires it, or if you did not pay the fees (art. 42e ust. 1).

The UdSC says some family members who are not citizens of Ukraine can also apply. The current text of the law names only citizens of Ukraine. If this is you, ask free legal help first.

How and when to apply

You can apply from 4 May 2026 (M.P. 2026 poz. 371). Apply by 4 March 2027: the law protects your stay while you wait only if you apply by that day (art. 42x), and the UdSC gives it as the last day.

1. Check your data. The application counts as filed only if the PESEL register shows a valid passport, and the register of temporary-protection holders has your fingerprints and signature (art. 42g ust. 1–2). If not, MOS will not let you send it (UdSC). Take your passport to any municipality office (urząd gminy) to add what is missing (art. 44c ust. 6 of the population register act).
2. Pay two fees first: 100 zł for the card, to the voivode's office, and 340 zł stamp duty, to the city where the voivode has its seat (art. 42n and 42s; Dz.U. 2026 poz. 530). That is 440 zł; there is no reduced fee (UdSC). If you do not pay, the card is refused, without a reminder (art. 42e ust. 1 pkt 5–6 and ust. 3).
3. Open an account in the new MOS (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl). An old MOS account does not work (UdSC).
4. Fill in the form in Polish. Attach a digital photo taken in the last 6 months and both payment confirmations (art. 42f ust. 3; Dz.U. 2026 poz. 530).
5. Sign it yourself with a trusted profile (profil zaufany) or a qualified electronic signature (art. 42f ust. 5). For a child, a parent or guardian applies (art. 42f ust. 4).
6. Send it and keep the UPO, the official receipt (UdSC).

Only through MOS. An application sent any other way, on paper, by email or by e-Doręczenia, is left unexamined (art. 42f ust. 1 and 7). You do not go to the office to apply: your fingerprints and signature come from the register (art. 42h).

Which voivode: the one for the place where you stay on the day you apply. It does not change if you move (art. 42o ust. 1–2), but tell the office your new address (art. 41 k.p.a.).

Check that you qualify first. A temporary residence permit case that you started ends by law on the day you apply for CUKR (art. 42i). If the card is then refused, you have no case left, and the 340 zł is not refunded (art. 42s ust. 3).

While you wait

Applying does not end your UKR status; you lose it when you collect the card (UdSC). Until then, the temporary-protection rules apply, including the 30 days abroad.

If you applied by 4 March 2027, your stay is legal until you collect the card, until the card is cancelled because you did not collect it, or until a refusal becomes final (art. 42x).

Temporary protection itself now runs to 4 March 2028 (Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912). The CUKR date in Polish law is still 4 March 2027. The by-law extension of old documents to 4 March 2027 (art. 42 ust. 8) is a different rule and does not cover a CUKR application.

The 180 days

The voivode must issue or refuse the card within 180 days of the day you filed a complete, signed application (art. 42l, with art. 42g ust. 1–2).

• Count from the day after you applied (art. 57 § 1 k.p.a.). If the last day is a Saturday or a public holiday, the term ends on the next working day (art. 57 § 4).
• Periods of suspension, and delays you cause, do not count (art. 35 § 5 k.p.a.).
• The first applications were possible on 4 May 2026. For them, day 180 is Saturday 31 October 2026, so the term ends on Monday 2 November 2026.

The UdSC says waiting times may differ between voivodeships.

If there is no decision after 180 days

The law is not settled here. Until 4 March 2027, art. 100d of the special act pauses the voivodes' deadlines in cases about temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident permits (art. 100d ust. 1). A CUKR case is about issuing a card. But the card brings a temporary residence permit (art. 42r ust. 1), and its stamp duty is "for granting a temporary residence permit" (art. 42s ust. 1). So it is not clear whether the pause also stops the 180 days. We will update this page when it is clear.

• If the pause does not apply, the usual step is a ponaglenie (a formal complaint about delay) to the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców), the higher body (art. 42o ust. 4), sent through the voivode who has your case (art. 37 § 1 pkt 1 and § 3 pkt 1 k.p.a.). Sent before the 180 days end, it is left unexamined (art. 37 § 3a). After it, you can complain to the administrative court (art. 53 § 2b p.p.s.a.).
• If the pause applies, the 180 days do not run until 4 March 2027, and the rules on delay do not apply until then (art. 100d ust. 1, 3 and 4).

Talk to free legal help before you act.

If the card is refused

A refusal is a decision (art. 42o ust. 3). Its end, the pouczenie, says how to appeal.

• You have 14 days from delivery to send an odwołanie (appeal) (art. 129 § 2 k.p.a.).
• It goes to the Head of the Office for Foreigners (art. 42o ust. 4), through the voivode who refused (art. 129 § 1 k.p.a.).
• Send it on paper, by post or at the office, or to the voivode's e-Doręczenia address (art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.); not by email, and not through MOS (MOS portal). It is on time if, before the deadline, you post it at a post office of the designated postal operator, or send it by e-Doręczenia and get the proof of receipt (dowód otrzymania) (art. 57 § 5 k.p.a.).
• Write the decision's number and date, that you appeal, and why you meet the conditions. Showing that you disagree is enough (art. 128 k.p.a.).
• If you applied by 4 March 2027, your stay stays legal until the refusal is final (art. 42x). A decision you can still appeal is not final (art. 16 § 1 k.p.a.).
• If the only reason was an unpaid fee, you can apply again (UdSC).

The Head's decision is final. You can take it to the administrative court in Warsaw, where the Head has its seat, within 30 days of delivery, through the Head (art. 13 § 2, 53 § 1 and 54 § 1 p.p.s.a.). The art. 42x protection of your stay ends when the refusal is final, so get free legal help at once.

After you get the card

• Collect it in person with a valid passport (art. 248 ust. 1 and 4 of the Foreigners Act), within 60 days of the office's notice, or the card is cancelled and the fees are not refunded (art. 42r ust. 2).
• Tell the voivode who issued it about every change of where you stay, within 15 working days (art. 42u).
• The voivode withdraws the permit if you leave Poland for at least 6 months, if state security or public order requires it, or if you are listed as undesirable (art. 42t).

What we can't do

Respubliko cannot write a CUKR ponaglenie or appeal yet. The application is a MOS form that only you can sign. The organisations on this page help for free.