Polish travel document for foreigners: Belarusians apply by 31 Dec

What the document is

The polski dokument podróży dla cudzoziemca (Polish travel document for a foreigner) is for a foreigner who has no valid passport. While it is valid, you can cross the border with it many times (art. 253 ust. 1 of the Foreigners Act). It is valid for one year from the day it is issued (art. 253 ust. 2).

It is not a residence permit and does not give you one: you must already have one of the statuses below.

The general rule (art. 252)

The voivode issues it when both are true (art. 252):

• your passport was lost, destroyed or has expired, and you cannot get a new one;
• you have permanent residence, EU long-term residence, subsidiary protection, humanitarian stay (zgoda na pobyt ze względów humanitarnych), or a temporary residence permit under art. 186 ust. 1 pkt 9. That permit is only for citizens of Belarus who came on a national visa issued for humanitarian reasons, state interest or international obligations (art. 60 ust. 1 pkt 23; Dz.U. 2022 poz. 1335).

You show with documents that you cannot get a new passport (art. 231 ust. 2 pkt 2). Even with the Polish document, you must keep trying to get your own passport (art. 254).

Citizens of Belarus: the easier rule, to 31 December 2026

Art. 252a is for citizens of Belarus (§ 2 of the regulation Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1247). All three must be true (art. 252a ust. 1):

1. your passport was lost, destroyed or has expired, or you never had one;
2. you have permanent residence, EU long-term residence, any temporary residence permit, subsidiary protection or humanitarian stay;
3. you file the application by 31 December 2026 (§ 3 of that regulation, as changed by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 800).

What is easier than under art. 252:

• You do not have to show that you cannot get a Belarusian passport.
• Any temporary residence permit counts, whatever it was granted for.
• You do not have to keep trying to get a Belarusian passport (art. 254).

Under both rules the law says the document "is issued" (wydaje się) when the conditions are met, not that it "may be issued".

The date. What counts is the day you file, not the day the voivode decides (art. 252a ust. 1 pkt 3). The period began on 1 July 2023. Its end has been moved six times, each time by six months, most recently by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 800, published on 18 June 2026. Each new date came out only 2 to 16 days before the old one ran out. It may be moved again, or it may not. If it is not, from 1 January 2027 only art. 252 is left: you would have to show that you cannot get a new passport, and a temporary permit would count only under art. 186 ust. 1 pkt 9. Some office pages still show an older date; the regulation in force says 31 December 2026.

Check before you apply:

• If your Belarusian passport is still valid, neither rule applies.
• You must already have the permit or protection. While you wait for your first permit, you do not have one yet.
• If your permit has expired and you are waiting for the next one, the law is not clear: it speaks of a permit that "was granted" (udzielono), while the form asks which permit you hold. Ask the voivode's office or free legal help first.
• If you post the form, the law does not say whether the day you post it or the day it arrives counts for 31 December. Do not wait for the last days.

Refugee status: a different document

With refugee status, you get the travel document under the Geneva Convention instead, from the Head of the Office for Foreigners. It is valid for 2 years (art. 89i ust. 1 and 3, art. 89n ust. 1 of the act on granting protection to foreigners). A new one is issued on application, after your biometric data are taken (art. 89m).

Temporary protection (UKR status) and tolerated stay are on neither list.

How to apply

Where: to the voivode for the place where you stay (art. 257 ust. 1). Not through MOS: that online system is for residence-permit applications (art. 225a ust. 1) and has none for this document.

The form: the application is the official form (art. 231 ust. 1), the model in annex 10 to the regulation on documents issued to foreigners. Fill it in in Polish. Citizens of Belarus applying under art. 252a fill in part D2. Voivode offices publish the form on their websites. In Warsaw, the Mazowiecki office asks you to fill it in on its inPOL portal and print it.

With the form:

• 2 colour photos, 35 × 45 mm, taken in the last 6 months (§ 3 of that regulation);
• show a document that proves who you are. Without a valid passport you may show another identity document (art. 231 ust. 2–3), such as your residence card, which confirms your identity in Poland (art. 242);
• documents that confirm what you write (art. 231 ust. 2 pkt 2): your permit or protection, your old passport if you have it, and, under art. 252, proof that you cannot get a new one;
• proof of payment, if you pay a fee (below).

No fingerprints are taken: the law takes them for the residence card (art. 246), and this document holds only your data, photo and signature (art. 255).

How to file: on paper, in person at the voivode's office or by post (the Mazowiecki and Lubuskie offices say both work). The office may then call you in to show the originals. Not by email: an application sent to an office's email address is left unexamined (art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.). If something is missing, the office asks you to fix it within at least 7 days; if you do not, it leaves the application unexamined (art. 64 § 2 k.p.a.).

The fee

• Citizens of Belarus pay nothing for the document to be issued, under either rule (art. 236 ust. 1 pkt 7; § 1 of the regulation Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1244). That regulation has no end date.
• Everyone else pays 350 zł (§ 2 pkt 1 lit. b of the regulation on fees, Dz.U. 2022 poz. 1583), or half, 175 zł, if you are in a hard financial situation, in Poland to study at a secondary school or university, or under 16 (art. 237). You pay when you file, at the office's cash desk or into its bank account (§ 3).
• An exchange (after a loss, damage or a change in your data, art. 256) costs 350 zł for everyone, citizens of Belarus included: their exemption covers issuing only. After a loss or destruction that was your fault, it costs 700 zł, and 1,050 zł the next time (§ 5).

How long it takes, and collecting it

The voivode should deal with it within one month, or two in a particularly complicated case (art. 35 § 3 k.p.a.). If it is late, it must tell you why and give a new date (art. 36 § 1). You can then send a ponaglenie to the Head of the Office for Foreigners, through the voivode (art. 37 § 1 and § 3 pkt 1). Not before the time is up: an early one is left unexamined (art. 37 § 3a). The pause on voivodes' deadlines until 4 March 2027 (art. 100d of the Ukraine special act) lists residence-permit cases only, not this document.

You collect the document in person (art. 282 with art. 248 ust. 1). For a child under 13, a parent or guardian collects it; for applications from 27 April 2026, a child who was 6 or older when the application was filed must come too (art. 248 ust. 2–2a).

If the voivode refuses

A refusal is a decision (art. 257 ust. 2). You can appeal (odwołanie) within 14 days of delivery (art. 129 § 2 k.p.a.) to the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców), sent through the voivode who refused (art. 129 § 1 k.p.a.; art. 22 ust. 2 of the Foreigners Act). It is enough to say that you disagree (art. 128 k.p.a.), but say why if you can. The end of the decision (the pouczenie) says how.

File the appeal or a ponaglenie on paper, in person or by post, or electronically to the office's e-Doręczenia address, not by plain email (art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.). An appeal posted at Poczta Polska by the last day is on time (art. 57 § 5 pkt 2).

If the Head also refuses, you can complain to the voivodeship administrative court in Warsaw within 30 days of delivery, through the Head (art. 13 § 2, 53 § 1 and 54 § 1 p.p.s.a.). We do not write that complaint. Free legal help can.

What Respubliko writes

From your answers, Respubliko writes in Polish: the letter that goes with your form, naming art. 252a or 252 and the conditions you meet (the form lists such a written justification, uzasadnienie, as its first attachment); a ponaglenie if the voivode is late; or an appeal if it refused. You check it, sign it and file it yourself. The form itself you fill in and sign by hand.

After you get it

• It is valid for one year. For the next one you apply again; for citizens of Belarus that new issue is free too.
• If you lose it or it is damaged, tell the voivode who issued it within 3 days (art. 232 ust. 1). You get a free certificate, valid until the exchange but for 2 months at most (art. 232 ust. 2–3). Apply for the exchange within 14 days (art. 230 ust. 1).
• Return it within 14 days if you get your own passport or Polish citizenship, or once a decision taking away your permit or protection is final (art. 258).