ZUS stopped or refused your 800+: you have 14 days

Which decisions you can appeal

ZUS issues a decision when it refuses 800+, ends or changes your right to it, or asks you to pay it back (art. 13a ust. 4 of the 800+ act). You can appeal any of these. When ZUS grants 800+, it puts information on your profile, not a decision (art. 13a ust. 1–2).

If ZUS only stopped the payment because it doubts that you meet the conditions (art. 1 ust. 2f), that is not a decision yet, and there is nothing to appeal. Send ZUS what proves the conditions, through your profile. If ZUS then takes too long, you can send a ponaglenie (see below).

When the 14 days start

You have 14 days from delivery of the decision (art. 129 § 2 k.p.a.). ZUS delivers decisions only to your ZUS profile (art. 13a ust. 5). A decision counts as delivered when you open it, or 14 days after ZUS put it on your profile if you do not open it (art. 13a ust. 6). So check your profile often: the time can start without you knowing.

The end of the decision (the pouczenie) says how to appeal. Read it.

Where the appeal goes

To the President of ZUS (Prezes Zakładu Ubezpieczeń Społecznych), through the ZUS unit that issued the decision (art. 28 ust. 1 of the 800+ act; art. 127 and 129 § 1 k.p.a.).

Not to a court. The court appeal within a month (art. 83 ust. 2 of the social insurance act; art. 477⁹ § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure) is for other ZUS matters, such as a pension or sick pay. For 800+ it is the wrong route.

How to send it

Only through your ZUS profile (PUE/eZUS). For 800+, the law accepts letters to ZUS in no other way: not by post, not by e-Doręczenia, not by email (art. 13a ust. 7).

1. Log in to PUE/eZUS.
2. In the 800+ section, open your application's details and choose to appeal the decision.
3. Paste the text of your letter.
4. Sign it with your PUE profile or Profil Zaufany, and send it.
5. Keep the confirmation.

What to write

• the decision's number and date, and the day you got it;
• what you disagree with;
• the facts, with proof:
  • the parent worked in Poland in the month before (art. 1 ust. 2a): a contract, payslips;
  • the child goes to school or preschool (art. 1 ust. 2d): a certificate from the school, if the register does not show it;
  • you and the child live in Poland (art. 1 ust. 2f): a rental contract, your registered address, the school;
• your request: that the decision be overturned and 800+ paid.

The work condition does not apply when the child is a Polish citizen, has a disability certificate, or is under a guardian named by the authorities of the country of origin (art. 1 ust. 2a).

Respubliko writes this letter in Polish from your answers. You check it, sign it and send it yourself.

The 2026 rules ZUS checks

Since 1 February 2026, most foreigners from outside the EU get 800+ for a month only if (art. 1 ust. 2a–2g):

• the parent worked in Poland in the month before;
• the child's schooling is confirmed in SIO, the education register;
• the parent and the child live in Poland. ZUS checks this with Border Guard data, and stops the payment when in doubt.

If you hold a PESEL with UKR status, ZUS can ask you to come in person within 3 working days (art. 23 ust. 3b). Go. If you do not, ZUS leaves your application unexamined or stops the payment (art. 23 ust. 3c–3d). If you come late, payment starts again from the next month (art. 23 ust. 3e).

If ZUS has not decided at all

For the benefit year that starts on 1 June (art. 18 ust. 1), ZUS must decide and pay by fixed dates (art. 21 ust. 4–5c of the 800+ act):

Application filed	ZUS decides and pays by
by 30 April	30 June
in May	31 July
in June	31 August
in July	30 September
in August	31 October

For an application filed later, the general rule applies: a month, or two months in a complex case (art. 35 k.p.a.). If ZUS is late, you can send a ponaglenie to the President of ZUS, through ZUS and through your profile (art. 37 k.p.a.).

After the appeal

The President of ZUS decides. If you disagree, you can complain to the voivodeship administrative court (WSA) for where you live, within 30 days of delivery of that decision, through the President of ZUS (art. 53 § 1 and 54 § 1 p.p.s.a.; art. 28 ust. 3 of the 800+ act). We do not write that complaint yet. Free legal help can.

Dobry Start and Aktywny Rodzic

The same rules on the channel apply: letters only through your ZUS profile, and 14 days to appeal a decision. For Aktywny Rodzic and for Dobry Start the appeal also goes to the President of ZUS (for Dobry Start, art. 187a ust. 2d of the act on family support).