HOW TO GET A RESIDENCE CARD IN 2021: A LIST OF DOCUMENTS, A SAMPLE

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The ultimate goal of most migrants who have moved to Poland is to obtain a Polish passport. However, most of the basic civil rights on the territory of the republic can be enjoyed without it - with only a permit for temporary or permanent residence. This permission is confirmed by a residence card, which has several types and forms. We propose to figure out how to get a Residence Card in 2021, consider in what cases and to whom it is issued, what rights it gives and what steps will need to be taken to obtain it.

Karta pobytu: what it is and what it is

Karta pobytu is a document issued by the Polish authorities that certifies the identity of its owner during his stay in Poland. Together with a passport, this document confirms the right to temporary or permanent residence and allows you to repeatedly cross the Polish border without obtaining an additional visa.

A residence card is an ordinary plastic card that contains all the personal and biometric data necessary for the identification of a foreigner, his black and white photo, as well as a list of other information.

The Card of Residence indicates:

registration address and place of residence (zameldowanie);
social security number, if assigned (PESEL);
the presence or absence of access to the labor market (dostep do rynku pracy);
the validity period of the document and the authority that issued it;
other notes, such as a reference to the EU Blue Card (Niebieska Karta UE) or international protection granted (ochrona międzynarodowa przyznana przez).

Among other things, the card contains the basis on which the foreigner is on the territory of Poland, on the basis of which such cards are usually divided into:

Temporary residence card or temporary residence permit (Karta czasowego pobytu). Such a card is issued for a period of 1 to 3 years and gives the right to legally stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland during the entire period of its validity. In the future, it can be renewed an unlimited number of times, depending on the basis on which it was received. The procedure for its issuance and the grounds for its registration are regulated by Section V of the Foreigners Act (Ustawa o cudzoziemcach).
Permanent residence card or permanent residence permit / permanent residence (Karta stalego pobytu). Such a card is issued for a period of 10 years with the possibility of subsequent renewal. It confirms the right of a foreigner-resident of Poland to permanently reside on the territory of the country and actually equalizes him in rights with citizens of the Republic of Poland, with only a few exceptions. The rules for its issuance are governed by Section VI of the law.
EU resident card (Zezwolenie na pobyt rezydenta długoterminowego UE). Such a card is a type of permanent residence permit for permanent residents of the European Union and is issued for an unlimited period to foreigners who meet the requirements of Chapter 2, Section VI of the Aliens Act.

Who has the right to issue a Residence Card

Each of the above types of cards has its own limited circle of potential recipients who can apply for it for one reason or another. The widest range of potential recipients of a temporary residence permit. Firstly, foreigners can apply for it, if it is related to work:

employed in Poland, if they meet the conditions of Art. 114 laws;
carrying out work in a specialty requiring high qualifications, if they meet the conditions of Art. 127 of the law;
sent by the employer on a business trip to the territory of Poland, if they meet the requirements of Art. 140 law;
employed in seasonal work in Poland, if they meet the requirements of Art. 185a of the law.

Secondly, there may be cases when a temporary residence permit is issued, when a residence card is issued without reference to work. We are talking about cases when:

a foreigner carries out entrepreneurial activity on the territory of Poland, if he has complied with the requirements of Art. 142 laws;
a foreigner became a student of a Polish university if he meets the requirements of Art. 144 laws;
the candidate became a victim of human trafficking in accordance with Art. 170 law;
a citizen of a foreign state arrived in Poland for the purpose of conducting scientific research, for which it is necessary to meet the requirements of Art. 151 laws;
family reunification takes place: the spouses or children of a Polish citizen or a foreigner living in Poland on a residence permit move to the republic;
there are circumstances not specified by the legislator, according to which a foreign citizen must stay in Poland for longer than three months.

The second category of recipients is the owners of a permanent residence permit, which, in accordance with Art. 195 of the law, foreigners are entitled to:

who are children of foreigners with Karty stalego pobytu, if they were born after its issue or during the period of its validity;
are children of a citizen of the Republic of Poland;
by Polish origin or if you have a Pole Card;
married to Poles for at least 3 years, subject to temporary residence permit for at least 2 years;
recognized as victims of human trafficking who have lived for at least a year on the basis of a temporary residence permit;
who have been granted refugee status, political asylum and other humanitarian statuses;
foreigners living in the country with a residence permit for at least 5 recent years.

Possible options for immigration are discussed in detail in the article: "Methods of immigration to Poland".

Considering all of the above, the easiest and, most importantly, fastest option for Ukrainians and other citizens of the CIS is to make a Card of his stay according to the Card of a Pole. Thanks to such a card, foreigners from the former Soviet republics can apply for the right to permanent residence without actually living in the Republic of Poland - immediately after legal entry into the country.

But to get the Pole's Card, you need to have Polish roots and be able to prove them at the embassy or voivodship.

The holder of the Pole Card, who draws up the Card for his stay, is exempt from paying stamp duty. In addition, he can apply for financial assistance, which the state will pay to him within 9 months:

from 1 to 3 months - 925 PLN per adult, 462 PLN per child;
from 4 to 9 months - PLN 555 per adult PLN 277.5 per child.

Rights granted by Karta pobytu

Being both a document giving the right to reside in the country and a document proving the identity of a foreigner in Poland, Karta pobytu includes a number of undeniable advantages associated with the legal status of a foreigner on the territory of the republic.

It should be borne in mind that the scope of rights depends on the basis on which the residence permit was obtained.

In particular, the Card to stay in Poland gives the right to:

multiple entry and exit from the country without obtaining a national Polish visa;
visiting the Schengen area on a visa-free basis in compliance with the 90/180 rule;
employment, if it is Karta stalego pobytu or a temporary residence permit related to work;
teaching children in Polish schools;
purchasing a vehicle, doing business, studying at a university and other local rights;
purchase of real estate without permission, provided that you have lived in a stalego pobytu cart for at least 5 years;
applying for an American visa from the territory of the Republic of Poland, which significantly increases the chances of a positive response;
registration of a residence permit for family members;
registration of social and health insurance PESEL;
registration of Polish citizenship, subject to the conditions provided for in Art. 30 Ustawa o obywatelstwie polskim and so on.

The procedure for issuing a residence card

In the presence of the above grounds, a foreigner has the right to apply for a residence permit.The procedure for Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and other foreigners is always the same - it involves contacting the department for foreigners in the voivodeship office at the place of residence of the candidate for a residence card. With such an appeal, a foreign citizen must submit a package of documents, which includes:

an additional questionnaire, the form of which will depend on the requested residence permit;
4 photos of standard size 35 x 45 mm;
original and copies of a valid international passport;
a document confirming the existence of grounds for issuing a card (for example, a Pole's card, a marriage certificate with a Pole, a document confirming admission to a university) - in each case such a document will be different;
temporary registration - when registering Karty czasowego pobytu, since the address is indicated on the back of the document;
a document confirming the existence of a place of residence (in certain cases) - a rental agreement, an apartment purchase and sale agreement, and so on;
medical insurance (in certain cases), including a policy issued outside Poland;
documents confirming the availability of means for subsistence: this can be a certificate from a bank, a residence card can also be issued on the basis of a certificate of income issued by the tax department or a certificate of salary at the place of work;
a receipt for payment of stamp duty.

Rules for filling out the questionnaire-extrasek

The entry form is submitted in duplicate and is filled in by the candidate for the residence card on his own. To obtain the form, it is recommended that you contact the Foreigners' Office at the voivodship office in your place of residence, or download it from their website. This is due to the fact that the forms in different voivodeships of the country may differ insignificantly, though.

Immediately we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the sample questionnaires, one of which will have to be filled out. This is how an application for a temporary residence permit looks like:

And this is how the application for a permanent residence permit looks like:

Filling out a questionnaire on the Hourly Hour Card, as well as on the Hour's Card, requires adherence to a number of rules, in particular:

It is filled in exclusively in Polish and in block letters - the use of any other language is unacceptable.
In each cell, only one printed letter, number or other symbol is entered - corrections, blots, additions are excluded.
Gender is indicated by one letter: for men - "M", for women - "K" (from the Polish kobieta).
The applicant's signature must not go beyond the box.
Applications will not be accepted without specifying the address.
In the columns where the choice of the required option is provided, it is necessary to use the strikethrough "X".

In any case, the vnesek itself always contains the necessary tips, and if you have any questions, assistance with registration will be provided by the Office for Foreigners (Wydziale do Spraw Cudzoziemców) in your voivodeship.

Time and cost

As a general rule, the decision to issue a residence permit to a foreigner is made within 1-3 months after he submits an application, depending on the basis. After sending a decile confirming the provision of a residence permit, it is additionally necessary up to two weeks for the production of the plastic card itself.

In practice, these deadlines are rarely met. But the only inconvenience that such a delay can cause is the inability to leave the territory of Poland before the end of the consideration of the case (subject to the expiration of the visa). The main thing is to apply before the expiration of the visa, and if it expires before the decision is made, this is not an obstacle to legal stay in the country.

As for the cost, the main expenses of the applicant are stamp duty (from 340 to 640 zł, depending on the type of residence permit), as well as another 50 zł for the production of the plastic card itself.

Additional costs, for example, for Belarusians may be associated with the need to translate documents into Polish - can reach 40 zł per page. Please note that all these are costs associated with self-registration: "buying" a temporary residence card through intermediaries will cost significantly more - up to 500 €, and this is only if all documents meet the requirements of the law.

Can they refuse

As a rule, if all the documents are in order, and the grounds for obtaining the Residence Card are fully observed, the competent authorities do not practice groundless refusals. However, a temporary or permanent residence permit will certainly not be issued if:

the candidate does not fulfill the requirements for issuing a residence permit, taking into account the goals and circumstances of his stay in Poland;
the foreigner is included in the list of persons whose stay in the Republic of Poland is not desirable;
this is required by the defense and security of Poland, as well as the protection of its public order;
forged documents were submitted or they contained false information;
the foreigner does not fulfill tax obligations on the territory of Poland;
the applicant is in the territory of Poland at the time of filing the application illegally;
the applicant is detained, is under arrest or received a conviction in the form of imprisonment;
the foreigner stays outside the Republic of Poland;
the applicant refused to submit biometric data and so on.

If a foreigner believes that the refusal is illegal, he has the right to appeal it to the head of the Office for Foreigners within 14 days from the date of receipt of the decision.

How to check the readiness of the card

In 2021, any information about changes in the case of a particular foreigner is sent to his mobile phone. To begin with, immediately after submitting the documents, he will receive a notification to his home address about the acceptance of documents for consideration. It will also indicate the recommendations that the candidate must follow, as well as the contacts of the official, who can be contacted by phone and find out if the Card is ready.

Later, after the final decision is made, the applicant will receive a text message on the phone, according to the results of which he must appear at the Office for Foreigners and sign all the necessary documents. After the card is finally ready, the foreigner will receive another SMS. You can pick up the document only by going to the office in person.

By the way, in some voivodeships (for example, in Mazowieckie) it was also practiced to use a special electronic service to check the status of the card, but at the moment such a service is not available.

Can the Residence Card be canceled

Please note that even after a positive decision to issue a Residence Card, it can still be canceled. Considering the provisions of Art. 101, art. 199 and Art. 200 Ustawa o cudzoziemcach, this is possible in cases when:

the purpose of stay for which a temporary or permanent residence permit was issued has lost its relevance;
the foreigner no longer fulfills the requirement for which he was issued a temporary or permanent residence permit;
after the registration of a temporary or permanent residence permit, at least one of the grounds for refusing to issue a residence permit arose (threat to national security, conviction to imprisonment for at least three years, and so on);
the foreigner has left the territory of Poland for more than 6 years;
the document has expired or the foreigner acquired Polish citizenship.

Conclusion

Considering all of the above, we can safely call the Card of Residence an irreplaceable aspect of legalization on the territory of Poland. It is mandatory for everyone who plans to stay on the territory of the republic for more than 3 months, and even more so for those who plan to move to Poland and obtain citizenship.

Foreigners themselves are also interested in the Residence Card, as it opens up many opportunities for them, starting with visa-free travel in Europe and ending with the right to purchase real estate on condition of long-term residence on a permanent residence permit.

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