UKR status in PESEL: until when, and how you can lose it

What UKR status is

UKR status is a mark in the PESEL register. It shows that you have temporary protection in Poland (art. 8 pkt 24a lit. d of the population records act; art. 110a ust. 1 of the Act on granting protection to foreigners, here "the protection act"). Temporary protection is the EU scheme for people who had to leave Ukraine because of the war.

Since 5 March 2026 these rules are in the protection act, not in the Ukraine special act. If you had UKR status on that day, your legal stay simply continued on the new basis (art. 24 ust. 1 pkt 2 and art. 54 of the winding-down act, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203). You did not have to apply for anything.

What it gives you now

• Legal stay from the day you entered Poland, for as long as the EU decision on temporary protection is in force (art. 106 ust. 1 of the protection act). In July 2026 the EU extended it to 4 March 2028 (Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912, art. 1).
• Work without a work permit (art. 116 ust. 1).
• Travel: with your passport, the Dokument ochrony czasowej in the mObywatel app (formerly Diia.pl) lets you cross the Polish border many times without a visa (art. 110d ust. 9). Mind the 30 days below.
• Health care: free public care with UKR status now covers only children under 18, pregnancy and birth, victims of torture or rape, and people in collective accommodation; everyone gets emergency care (art. 112c ust. 1 and 3).
• 800+: UKR status is one of the bases for it, with its own conditions (art. 1 ust. 2 pkt 2 lit. ca of the 800+ act). See the related guides below.

You may still read "legal stay until 4 March 2027" on some official pages. They were written before the EU extension. The law ties your stay to the EU date. Other rules do end on 4 March 2027: see below.

How to check your status

• mObywatel: when your status changes, the Dokument ochrony czasowej is cancelled (art. 110d ust. 10 pkt 1).
• Online: the gov.pl service Sprawdź dane swoje lub swojego dziecka w rejestrze PESEL shows your data in the register, including your status (art. 45 ust. 1 and art. 8 pkt 24a of the population records act). You log in with a profil zaufany (trusted profile); since 2026 the service also needs an e-Doręczenia address (gov.pl).
• In person: any gmina office (urząd gminy) can check your status and explain it.

How you lose it

Your temporary protection, and with it UKR status, ends on the day one of these happens (art. 109b ust. 1–2 of the protection act):

• you leave Poland for more than 30 days. Any trip counts, also to Ukraine or another EU country (the MOS portal of the Office for Foreigners);
• you get temporary protection in another EU country;
• you apply for international protection (asylum) in Poland. Temporary protection can come back when that case ends without protection (art. 109b ust. 3);
• you are granted a residence permit (temporary, permanent or EU long-term), refugee status, subsidiary protection, a tolerated stay or a humanitarian stay;
• you give it up in writing at a gmina office;
• you become a citizen of Poland or of another EU country.

The Head of the Office for Foreigners can also exclude a person, for example on security grounds (art. 109).

The passport check. If your PESEL with UKR status was given only on your own declaration, you had to show a valid passport at a gmina office by 31 August 2026. If you did not, your status was changed to NUE on 1 September 2026, and you lost your legal stay on this basis (art. 25 of the winding-down act). If this happened to you, talk to free legal help soon.

If your passport has expired, or your PESEL was given on the basis of a Karta Polaka, another photo ID or a birth certificate, the law asks you to show a valid passport at any gmina office within 60 days of the day the passport was issued (art. 26 of the winding-down act). Do it: a CUKR application counts as filed only if the register shows a valid passport (art. 42g ust. 1–2 of the special act).

If you lost it

• Your stay is no longer legal on this basis. You need another right to stay.
• The rights above end, including work without a permit.
• You can get UKR status again. Apply in person at a gmina office, with a valid passport, within 30 days of crossing the border (art. 110a ust. 2 of the protection act; art. 44a ust. 3 and 13 of the population records act). The new status counts from the day you came back (art. 44b ust. 1).
• Since 31 July 2026, the EU gives temporary protection only to people who met their military obligations in Ukraine, with proof where needed. This does not apply to people who had temporary protection in Poland on 30 July 2026 and keep it without a break (art. 2 of Decision 2026/1912). Proof can be a legal exit from Ukraine or an official document, for example in the Reserv+ app (recital 18).

What ends on 4 March 2027

These dates are in Polish law. They are separate from your UKR stay.

• The CUKR date. If you apply for the CUKR card by 4 March 2027, your stay stays legal until your case ends (art. 42x of the special act). The Office for Foreigners (UdSC) gives the same day as the last day to apply.
• The pause for voivodes. Until 4 March 2027, the voivode's time limits do not run in cases on temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident permits (art. 100d of the special act).
• Old documents extended by law. For citizens of Ukraine, national visas, temporary residence permits, residence cards, Polish identity documents for foreigners and tolerated-stay documents that ended on or after 24 February 2022 count as extended to 4 March 2027. So do stays on a Schengen visa or without a visa (art. 42 ust. 3a, 5a, 8 and 11). An extended card or national visa does not let you cross the border (art. 42 ust. 3a and 10). This matters if you are in Poland on such a document, not on UKR status.

Not decided yet. No law has moved these dates (checked on 12 October 2026). They may be moved, or not. What happens after 4 March 2028 is not decided either.

How to stay longer

The same EU decision asks countries to help people move to other legal statuses (recital 21). These are the routes.

The CUKR card (karta pobytu CUKR). You can get it if you had UKR status on 4 June 2025, have it on the day you apply, and have had it for at least 365 days without a break (art. 42c of the special act). The 365 days can be any unbroken period (MOS). You apply online only, in MOS (art. 42f ust. 1 and 7). The office has 180 days to decide (art. 42l); whether the art. 100d pause also stops these days is not settled. When you collect the card, your protection becomes a temporary residence permit until the card expires, 3 years after it was issued (art. 42p ust. 1, art. 42r ust. 1). Careful: applying ends any temporary residence case you already have pending (art. 42i).

A temporary residence permit under the Foreigners Act. With UKR status you can apply for five kinds: for work, for highly qualified work, for a business, as a family member of a Polish citizen, and to join a family member living in Poland (art. 45 ust. 1 of the winding-down act). For other kinds, the office refuses to open the case while you have temporary protection (art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 4 of the Foreigners Act). Apply online in MOS (art. 106c ust. 1), at the latest on the last day of your legal stay (art. 105 ust. 1). If you apply in time and the application is complete, your stay is legal until the decision is final (art. 108 ust. 1 pkt 2). Applying does not end your protection; getting the permit does (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 of the protection act).

Permanent residence, for example if you have Polish origin or a valid Karta Polaka, or are the child of a Polish citizen (art. 195 ust. 1 pkt 2, 3 and 9 of the Foreigners Act). Temporary protection does not stop this case from opening (art. 196 ust. 1). You apply online in MOS (art. 203c ust. 1).

Decisions can take a long time. Do not wait for the last weeks.

If temporary protection ends for everyone

The law already says what happens then. If you have no other right to stay, you must leave Poland within 30 days, and your stay in those 30 days is legal (art. 299 ust. 6a, 7 and 8 of the Foreigners Act). That is why a longer route is worth planning now.

Where to get free help

• Your status in the register: any gmina office.
• Your residence case: the foreigners department of your voivode's office.
• Free legal advice: the organisations listed on this page, and the state's free legal aid points (nieodpłatna pomoc prawna), which work in every county (gov.pl).

Respubliko cannot apply for you or change your status. You make the applications above yourself, in MOS or at a gmina office.