Permanent residence in Poland: requirements and how to apply (2026)

What it gives you

A permanent residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt stały) has no end date (art. 195 ust. 1 of the Foreigners Act). Your karta pobytu (residence card) is valid for 10 years, and so is each new one (art. 243); ask for the next one at least 30 days before it expires (art. 230 ust. 2).

• You can work without a work permit (art. 3 ust. 1 pkt 6 of the act on employing foreigners).
• The permit can be withdrawn, for example if you leave Poland for more than 6 years (art. 199 ust. 1 pkt 5), or, if you got it as a spouse, if you divorce within 2 years (art. 199 ust. 3).
• Temporary protection (UKR status) ends on the day you get permanent residence (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 of the protection act).

Who can get it

Only people who fit one of these grounds (art. 195 ust. 1):

• pkt 1: a child of a foreigner with permanent or EU long-term residence, under that parent’s authority, born after the parent got the permit, or while the parent had a temporary permit, refugee status, subsidiary protection, a humanitarian or a tolerated stay.
• pkt 2: a child of a Polish citizen, under that parent’s authority.
• pkt 3: a person of Polish origin who intends to settle in Poland for good: you declare Polish nationality, at least one parent or grandparent, or two great-grandparents, were of Polish nationality, and you show your link with Polishness (art. 195 ust. 2; art. 5 ust. 1 of the repatriation act).
• pkt 4: the spouse of a Polish citizen, in a marriage recognised in Polish law that has lasted at least 3 years before you apply, who right before applying lived in Poland without a break for at least 2 years on a temporary permit for this marriage, or with refugee status, subsidiary protection or a humanitarian stay.
• pkt 5: a victim of human trafficking who, right before applying, held the temporary permit for victims for at least 1 year, helped the prosecution in the trafficking case and has good reason to fear going back.
• pkt 6: a person who, right before applying, lived in Poland without a break for at least 5 years with refugee status, subsidiary protection or a humanitarian stay; or 10 years on a tolerated stay under art. 351 pkt 1 or 3; or 4 years on a residence and work permit for a job the economy needs (art. 114 ust. 1a), with a stable and regular income. MOS says no such permits have been granted yet.
• pkt 8: a person granted asylum in Poland.
• pkt 9: a holder of a valid Karta Polaka who intends to settle in Poland for good. No earlier stay is required. You get the residence card after you hand back the Karta Polaka (art. 229 ust. 7).
• pkt 10: some UK citizens who were posted workers in Poland until 31 December 2020.

For refugees and subsidiary protection, the time of the protection procedure counts (art. 195 ust. 3). "Without a break" means no trip abroad over 6 months and no more than 10 months abroad in total in the period that counts, apart from some reasons, such as work abroad for an employer based in Poland (art. 195 ust. 4).

The voivode will not open the case if, on the day you apply, you are outside Poland, in Poland illegally or only on certain visas or permits, detained or in prison, or obliged to leave (art. 196 ust. 1), with some exceptions (art. 196 ust. 2–4).

How to apply: only in MOS

Since 27 April 2026 you apply only online, in MOS (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl). An application sent any other way is not examined (art. 203c). If you applied on paper before 27 April 2026, the old rules still apply to your case (art. 12 of Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794; M.P. 2026 poz. 370).

Apply by the last day of your legal stay (art. 202 ust. 1). This deadline does not apply to children in pkt 2, or to minor children in pkt 1 born in Poland (art. 202 ust. 3). If MOS is down that day, apply by the 3rd working day after it is fixed (art. 225c). Your case goes to the voivode of the region where you stay (art. 201 ust. 1).

1. Set up a MOS account. You log in through login.gov.pl, for example with a Profil Zaufany (MOS). The account asks for your PESEL number (art. 225b ust. 3).
2. Fill in the form in Polish, with your reasons and a statement that the data are true (art. 203).
3. Attach a recent photo and a scan of every page of your valid passport (art. 203d ust. 1). You may add your documents and proof of the fee. If you have no passport and cannot get one, another identity document may be accepted in a particularly justified case (art. 203a ust. 2).
4. Sign with a trusted signature (podpis zaufany) or a qualified electronic signature (art. 203d ust. 3). For a child, a parent applies and signs (art. 202 ust. 2).
5. Send it and keep the receipt (UPO). Without the UPO, the application is not filed (art. 203d ust. 5).

The voivode’s office must help you set up the account and file (art. 225b ust. 4; art. 203d ust. 6).

The visit: fingerprints

The voivode then calls you in, at least 7 days after the call is delivered, to show your passport and give fingerprints and a signature sample (art. 203e ust. 1). Children under 6, and people who cannot come because of illness or disability (with a specialist’s certificate), are not called in (art. 203h ust. 1).

If you do not come, or do not give fingerprints or show your passport, the voivode ends (umarza) the case (art. 203i ust. 1). The Foreigners Act does not say how to move the date: if you cannot come, write to the office before it, and get free legal help. You can appeal that decision within 14 days (art. 129 § 2 k.p.a.). Once it is final, if you have no other right to stay, you must leave within 30 days (art. 299 ust. 6 and 8).

You also get a call to send the documents that prove your ground, with at least 14 days to do it (art. 203f).

The fee

• 640 zł stamp duty (opłata skarbowa), paid when you apply, to the account or cash desk of the city where the voivode has its seat (stamp duty act, art. 6, 8, 12 and annex part III item 3; MOS).
• No fee for a Karta Polaka holder who intends to settle, an asylum holder, a repatriate’s close family member, a UK citizen under pkt 10 (same item), or a person who shows a certificate of social assistance received because of poverty (art. 7 pkt 5).
• If you do not pay, you get 7 to 14 days, then the application is returned (art. 261 k.p.a.).
• For applications from 5 March 2026, the fee is not refunded after a refusal or an ended case (art. 207b of the Foreigners Act).
• The card costs 100 zł (§ 2 of the card fee regulation), half for example for children under 16 (art. 237).

Your stay while you wait

If you applied during your legal stay and the application has no formal defects (or you fixed them in time), your stay is legal until the decision is final, so also during an appeal (art. 206 ust. 1 pkt 2). Since 27 April 2026, instead of a passport stamp, you get a free certificate (zaświadczenie) in MOS (art. 206 ust. 1 pkt 1, ust. 5–6). MOS says it is not a travel document.

How long it takes

The voivode must decide within 6 months (art. 210 ust. 1). For applications from 27 April 2026, they start on the later of two days: when the application is free of formal defects (or fixed), and when you sent the documents asked for, or the time for them ran out (art. 210 ust. 2).

Until 4 March 2027 this term does not run in the voivode’s cases, whatever your citizenship, and the voivode does not have to tell you about a delay (art. 100d ust. 1 and 3 of the Ukraine special act). The appeal stage is not paused: it has 90 days (art. 210 ust. 3).

If it takes too long

You can send a ponaglenie, a formal complaint about the delay, to the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców), through the voivode, with reasons (art. 37 § 2–3 k.p.a.). During the pause the office does not have to act on it, and might not pass it on. It still counts: you need it before you can complain to an administrative court (art. 53 § 2b p.p.s.a.). Art. 100d ust. 4 limits such complaints during the pause, so get free legal help before going to court.

Send it on paper, by post or at the office, or online to the voivode’s e-Doręczenia address; not by e-mail (art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.), and not in MOS. Respubliko writes the ponaglenie in Polish from your answers. You check it, sign it and send it yourself.

If you are refused

You can appeal (odwołanie) within 14 days of delivery, to the Head of the Office for Foreigners, through the voivode (art. 127 and 129 k.p.a.; art. 22 ust. 2 of the Foreigners Act). It needs no detailed reasons (art. 128 k.p.a.) and is not filed in MOS. If a refusal becomes final and you have no other right to stay, you must leave within 30 days (art. 299 ust. 6 and 8).