Temporary residence permit in Poland 2026: how to apply in MOS

What the permit and the card are

A temporary residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy) lets you live in Poland for as long as your purpose needs, up to 3 years (art. 98 ust. 2 of the Foreigners Act). Your reason must justify a stay of more than 3 months (art. 98 ust. 1). The voivode (wojewoda) for the place where you stay decides (art. 104 ust. 1).

With the permit you get a residence card, the karta pobytu, without applying for it (art. 229 ust. 2, art. 240). It is valid as long as the permit (art. 243 ust. 1 pkt 1) and, with your passport, lets you cross the Polish border without a visa (art. 242).

The main grounds

Each has its own conditions, in the article named:

• work: zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę, the "single permit" (art. 114);
• highly qualified work: the EU Blue Card (art. 127);
• your own business (art. 142);
• studies at a university (art. 144);
• scientific research (art. 151);
• family: the spouse of a Polish citizen (art. 158), joining a family member who lives in Poland on certain permits (art. 159), other family cases (art. 160);
• other circumstances (art. 186 and 187). For example, a Belarusian who was in Poland on a humanitarian national visa right before applying can get a one-time 3-year permit, with no fees for it or the card (art. 186 ust. 1 pkt 9, art. 190 pkt 5, art. 236 ust. 1 pkt 1b; Dz.U. 2022 poz. 1335; stamp duty act, annex, part III item 2).

When and where to apply

• Apply while your stay in Poland is legal, at the latest on its last day (art. 105 ust. 1). An application made during an illegal stay is refused (art. 100 ust. 1 pkt 9).
• Be in Poland on that day. If you are abroad, the voivode refuses to start the case (art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 10).
• Start early. For work, studies, internships and volunteering, the employer or school first fills in its part in MOS (art. 106 ust. 2, 5 and 7), and only then can you sign (MOS).
• If MOS fails on your last day, apply no later than 3 working days after it is fixed. It then counts as filed on the first day of the failure (art. 225c ust. 1).

How to apply from 27 April 2026

Since 27 April 2026 you can apply only online, through MOS (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl), run by the Head of the Office for Foreigners (art. 106c ust. 1, art. 225a ust. 1; M.P. 2026 poz. 370). A paper application is left unexamined (art. 106c ust. 5).

1. A way to sign: a trusted signature (podpis zaufany, through Profil Zaufany) or a qualified electronic signature. You sign yourself (art. 106d ust. 3). MOS says Profil Zaufany is free, and some banks set it up.
2. An account in MOS: log in through login.gov.pl (art. 225b ust. 1–2; MOS). The account data the law lists include your PESEL number (art. 225b ust. 3).
3. The form, in Polish (art. 8 ust. 1), with a current photo (JPG, says MOS) and a scan of all pages of your valid passport (art. 106d ust. 1). Other documents are optional now (art. 106d ust. 2); in another language, they need a sworn translation (art. 8 ust. 2).
4. The attachment your purpose needs. For work, studies, internships and volunteering, MOS e-mails a link to the employer or school you name, and they fill in and sign their part (art. 106c ust. 3, art. 106d ust. 4).
5. The stamp duty, paid, with the proof attached (see "What it costs").
6. Sign and send. It counts as filed only once it is signed and you receive the official confirmation of receipt, the UPO (art. 106d ust. 5–6). Keep it.

The voivode's office must help you open the account and apply (art. 225b ust. 4, art. 106d ust. 7).

The visit for fingerprints

After you apply, the voivode summons you to come in person, at least 7 days after the letter reaches you, to show your passport and give fingerprints and a signature specimen (art. 106e ust. 1).

• A child under 6 is not summoned: the parent who applied shows the child's passport (art. 106h ust. 1–2). Nor is someone too ill or disabled to come, with a specialist's certificate issued no earlier than 3 months before applying (art. 106h ust. 1).
• If you do not come, or come but do not give fingerprints, the signature or your passport, the voivode discontinues (umarza) your case (art. 106i ust. 1), and the stamp duty is lost (art. 113c).
• If you cannot come that day, contact the office before the date and ask for another one. The law does not say the office must agree, so get free legal help.
• After the certificate (below), MOS does not handle your case (MOS), so letters come the usual way. Tell the office if you move: a letter sent to your old address counts as delivered (art. 41 k.p.a.).

What it costs

The stamp duty (opłata skarbowa) for the permit, from the annex to the stamp duty act, part III:

Permit	Stamp duty
work (art. 114) or EU Blue Card (art. 127)	440 zł (item 2b)
most others: studies, research, family, business	340 zł (item 2)
seasonal work (art. 185a)	170 zł (item 2c)

• You owe it when you apply (art. 6 ust. 1 pkt 3 and ust. 2 of the stamp duty act), to the city where the voivode's office has its seat (art. 8 ust. 1, art. 12 ust. 2 pkt 1). MOS lists the accounts. If you have not paid, the voivode gives you 7 to 14 days, then returns the application (art. 261 § 1–2 k.p.a.).
• After a refusal or a discontinued case, you do not get it back (art. 113c of the Foreigners Act, for applications from 5 March 2026: art. 29 of Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203).
• The card costs 100 zł, paid before it is issued (§ 2 pkt 1 lit. a of Dz.U. 2022 poz. 1583; art. 235 ust. 1). It is 50% less for people in a difficult financial situation, secondary-school and university students, and children under 16 (art. 237).

Your stay while you wait

If you applied in time and the form has no formal gaps (or you fixed them in time), your stay is legal from the day you applied until the decision becomes final (art. 108 ust. 1 pkt 2). Not if the case is suspended at your own request (art. 108 ust. 2).

There is no passport stamp any more. The voivode issues a free certificate that you applied (zaświadczenie), with a QR code (art. 108 ust. 1 pkt 1, ust. 3 and 5), through MOS or at your visit (art. 108 ust. 6–7). Until then, your UPO shows when you applied.

The certificate is not a visa. MOS says you cannot use it to travel abroad or to come back: to return, you need a visa or visa-free entry. Trips can also slow your case. If you leave Poland, name someone in Poland to receive your letters, or they stay in the file and count as delivered (art. 9 ust. 3 of the Foreigners Act, art. 40 § 4–5 k.p.a.).

How long it takes

The voivode has 60 days to decide (art. 112a ust. 1), counted from the later of two days: the day your application is free of formal gaps (or they are fixed), and the day you send the documents the voivode asked for, or the time for them (at least 14 days) runs out (art. 112a ust. 2 pkt 2–3, art. 106f). For applications from 27 April 2026, the day you came in person no longer counts (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794, art. 1 pkt 15).

Until 4 March 2027, art. 100d of the act on help for citizens of Ukraine pauses these deadlines in voivodes' residence cases, whatever your citizenship: the 60 days do not start, and a running term stops (art. 100d ust. 1). The voivode need not tell you about the delay either (art. 100d ust. 3 pkt 1).

On appeal, the Head of the Office for Foreigners has 90 days (art. 112a ust. 4). The pause does not cover that stage.

If you applied before 27 April 2026

Your case keeps the old rules (art. 12 of Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794): a stamp in your passport, and the 60 days also wait for the day you applied or appeared in person. The pause until 4 March 2027 covers your case too.

The decision and the card

The voivode decides by an administrative decision (art. 104 ust. 1). If you get the permit, the same voivode issues your first card on its own (art. 229 ust. 2, art. 245 ust. 1), once you pay 100 zł. Collect it in person and show your valid passport (art. 248 ust. 1 and 4). Without one, another identity document may do in a particularly justified case (art. 248 ust. 5). A parent collects the card of a child under 13 (art. 248 ust. 2).

If the reason for your permit ends, tell the voivode within 15 working days (art. 113 ust. 1).

If you hold UKR status

• Temporary protection normally means the voivode refuses to start a temporary residence case (art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 4). For UKR status holders this does not apply to 5 permits: work (art. 114), Blue Card (art. 127), business (art. 142), family of a Polish citizen (art. 158) and family reunification (art. 159) (art. 45 ust. 1 of the act of 23 January 2026, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203).
• For these 5 there is no fingerprint visit: the voivode takes your fingerprints from the state register. You still give a signature specimen (art. 45 ust. 3 and 5).
• Once you get the permit, your temporary protection ends (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 of the act on granting protection to foreigners).
• If you apply for the CUKR card (art. 42c of the act on help for citizens of Ukraine), any temporary residence case of yours still open ends by law (art. 42i).

If you are refused

You can appeal (odwołanie) within 14 days of delivery, to the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców), through the voivode who decided (art. 127 § 2 and art. 129 § 1–2 k.p.a.; art. 22 ust. 2 of the Foreigners Act). Not through MOS: by post, at the office, or to the voivode's e-Doręczenia address (MOS; art. 63 § 1 k.p.a.). Another guide covers it.

If the office is late

You can send a ponaglenie to the Head of the Office for Foreigners, through the voivode (art. 37 § 1 and § 3 pkt 1 k.p.a.).

Until 4 March 2027, art. 100d means the voivode does not have to act on it (art. 100d ust. 3–4). It still counts: you need it before you can complain to an administrative court (art. 53 § 2b p.p.s.a.), and in 2026 some of those courts ordered voivodes to decide anyway. On appeal, the pause does not apply.

Respubliko writes the ponaglenie in Polish from your answers; you check, sign and send it yourself. Another guide covers it.