ul. Dywizjonu AK "Jeleń" 7B/U4, WarszawaLegal basis
Art. 186–194
Act on Foreigners, Chapter 11
How many grounds
9 + 7
mandatory (art. 186) and discretionary (art. 187)
Permit validity
9 months – 5 years
depends entirely on the ground
Income test
Only some grounds
six grounds have no conditions at all
Official fees
PLN 340 + 100
two grounds are exempt from the stamp duty
How to file
MOS only
electronic filing since 27 April 2026
In this guide
01 · The basics
What is the residence permit “due to other circumstances”?
The temporary residence permit due to other circumstances (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy ze względu na inne okoliczności) is not one permit. It is a chapter of the Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners – Articles 186 to 194 – that collects the situations the legislature did not want to give a chapter of their own.
The chapter has two halves, and the difference between them decides how your case is argued:
Article 186 – the Voivode must grant
Nine grounds, introduced by the words „udziela się” – the permit is granted. Prove the facts and satisfy the conditions, and the Voivode has no discretion to refuse. Your case is an evidential exercise.
Article 187 – the Voivode may grant
Seven grounds, introduced by „można udzielić” – the permit may be granted. The facts open the door; they do not walk you through it. Here the quality of the argument, not just the paperwork, decides the outcome.
One more structural point that saves a great deal of wasted effort: the final ground, Article 187(8), is expressly subsidiary. It is available only where the circumstances are other than those listed in Articles 186 and 187(1)–(7) and other than every purpose covered by the rest of the Act. If your situation fits a named permit – work, studies, business, family reunification, marriage to a Polish citizen – you cannot choose this one instead.
What the 2025–2026 reforms did not change
Polish immigration law has been rewritten heavily in the last eighteen months: a new act on the employment of foreigners from 1 June 2025, a new consolidated text of the Act on Foreigners in August 2025, and the electronic MOS system from 27 April 2026. Clients often assume the grounds themselves were rewritten too. They were not. Articles 186–194 survived all of it untouched. What changed is how you file (section 08) and which statute answers the work question (section 07).
02 · Article 186
The nine mandatory grounds
If you fall within one of these and meet the applicable conditions, the permit must be granted.
| Provision | Who it covers | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| 186(1)(1) | Family member joining a migrant worker or self-employed person covered by the European Social Charter (Turin, 1961). In practice a narrow, specialist route – most Charter states are EU countries whose nationals use free movement instead. | Up to 3 years |
| 186(1)(2) | A minor child born in Poland to a foreigner, who is in Poland without care. Both limbs are required: born here, and unaccompanied. No income, insurance or housing conditions apply. | Up to 3 years |
| 186(1)(3) | Holder of an EU long-term residence permit issued by another Member State who wants to work, run a business, study or otherwise live in Poland. Commercially the most useful ground in the chapter – and it carries full labour-market access. | Up to 3 years |
| 186(1)(4) | The family member of a person in the row above, who already lived with them in the other Member State and now accompanies or joins them. | As long as the permit of the person joined |
| 186(1)(5) | Turkish nationals who have already acquired a right to work under Decision 1/80 of the EEC–Turkey Association Council. The permit follows the work right; it does not create it. No conditions under Art. 188 apply. | Up to 3 years |
| 186(1)(6) | Graduates of a Polish university looking for work in Poland or planning to start a business here. The highest-volume ground in the chapter. | 9 months, once only |
| 186(1)(7) | Researchers who have finished their research and are looking for work or planning a business. Strict condition: immediately before applying you must have held the research residence permit – a work permit or Blue Card does not qualify. | 9 months, once only |
| 186(1)(8) | UK nationals covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement who were posted to Poland by a foreign employer up to 31 December 2020. Historical only – the application deadline was 31 December 2021. | 5 years, once only |
| 186(1)(9) | Holders of a Polish national humanitarian visa who hold a nationality designated by regulation – currently Belarusian citizenship. This is the residence route out of the humanitarian-visa and “Poland. Business Harbour” programmes. No conditions under Art. 188 apply, and no stamp duty. | 3 years, once only |
The designated nationality can change without a new statute
Article 186(5) lets the Minister of the Interior set the qualifying nationalities for ground (9) by regulation, “taking into account the needs of Polish migration policy”. The regulation in force designates Belarus. That means the list can be widened – or narrowed – by a ministerial decision rather than an act of parliament, so check it is still current on the day you file.
03 · Article 187
The discretionary grounds
Here the Voivode may grant the permit. Meeting the description is necessary but not sufficient – the authority weighs the whole situation. Point 2 was repealed, so the numbering skips it.
187(1) – education or vocational training
For nauka or vocational training that is not degree-level study – schools, language courses, post-secondary non-degree programmes. Degree study has its own permit, so this is the route for everything below it. Heavily used.
187(3) – clergy and members of religious orders
Clergy, members of religious orders and persons performing a religious function, where the stay relates to that function or to preparation for it. The church or religious association must have regulated status or be entered in the official register.
187(4) – victims of exploitative employment
The injured party in criminal proceedings against an employer for entrusting work in conditions of particular exploitation, or for unlawfully employing a foreign minor. Illegal stay cannot be held against you here. (Victims of human trafficking have a separate permit under Art. 176 – not this chapter.)
187(5) – recovering unpaid wages
A continuation of the ground above: the stay is extended until the back pay is actually recovered, including from a contractor jointly liable under the 2012 Act on the consequences of entrusting work to foreigners staying illegally. Rare, and valuable where it applies.
187(6) – the right to family life
Where your stay is necessary out of respect for the right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights – and you are staying in Poland illegally. Note that precondition: this is a regularisation provision, not an alternative to the ordinary family permits. It is the most heavily litigated ground in the chapter.
187(7) – the rights of the child
Where your departure would breach the rights of a child under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to a degree significantly threatening the child’s psychophysical development – again, only where you are staying illegally. The threshold is high and the evidence is usually expert.
187(8) – the residual clause, and why it is not a shortcut
The last ground covers a foreigner who „has shown that circumstances other than those set out in points 1–7, in Chapters 2–10 and in Article 186(1) justify his or her stay”. Two things follow. First, it is genuinely open – the authority can consider any serious reason. Second, it is strictly subsidiary: if your facts fit a named permit anywhere in the Act, this ground is closed to you, and an application that ignores that is refused without the merits being reached.
Two situations where the office will not even open a case
Under Article 190a, proceedings on a permit under 186(1)(6) or (7) – the graduate and researcher grounds – are refused initiation if, on the day you file, you hold an intra-corporate transfer permit for work as a trainee, or you hold or have applied for an EU Blue Card. This catches people who try to line up a job-search permit as a safety net while another application is pending.
04 · In practice
Sixteen grounds, five real routes
A chapter this wide is intimidating on paper. In a Voivodeship office’s daily workload it comes down to a handful of paths – which is why the offices themselves publish their “other circumstances” guidance under about five headings:
Most common
The graduate’s job-search permit
Art. 186(1)(6). Nine months, once in a lifetime, counted from the end of your studies. If you are finishing a Polish degree, this is the provision to plan around – see the warning in section 06.
High volume
School and vocational training
Art. 187(1). For education that is not a university degree. Up to one year at a time, and – unlike the graduate permit – it can be granted again.
Steady
Clergy and religious orders
Art. 187(3). A well-understood, predictable category, usually handled together with the sending church or order.
Hardest fought
Family life and the rights of the child
Art. 187(6) and (7). For people already in irregular status. The law strips away most refusal grounds here – which is precisely what makes these cases winnable and worth arguing properly.
The catch-all
Other circumstances
Art. 187(8). Everything the Act did not foresee. Works only when nothing else fits – and when the reason is documented rather than asserted.
Also live
EU long-term residents and Belarusians
Art. 186(1)(3)–(4) for people moving to Poland with long-term resident status from another EU country, and 186(1)(9) for Belarusian humanitarian-visa holders. Both are mandatory grounds with full labour-market access.
05 · Conditions
Insurance, income and accommodation – and who is exempt
Article 188 attaches conditions to some grounds and not others. This is the part clients most often get wrong, in both directions: some spend weeks assembling income evidence they never needed, others are refused for missing a condition they did not know applied.
| Ground | What you must show |
|---|---|
| 186(1)(1), (3), (4) | Health insurance and a stable, regular income sufficient to maintain yourself and dependants. For (3) and (4), also secured accommodation. |
| 186(1)(6) graduates | Health insurance, secured accommodation, and sufficient funds to cover maintenance and the return journey – note: funds, not a “stable and regular income”. Plus your Polish diploma. |
| 186(1)(7) researchers | The same package, plus a document from the research institution confirming that the research or development work has been completed. |
| 187(1) study / training | Health insurance and accommodation; for education specifically, sufficient funds to cover the cost of study, maintenance and return. For vocational training, a stable and regular income. |
| 187(3) clergy, 187(5), 187(8) | Health insurance and accommodation; for 187(8) also a stable and regular income; for 187(5) assured maintenance. |
| 186(1)(2), (5), (9) and 187(4), (6), (7) | No conditions under Article 188 at all. No insurance test, no income test, no accommodation test. For the protective and humanitarian grounds this is deliberate – and it is worth knowing, because applicants routinely assume the opposite and delay filing while they try to satisfy requirements that do not exist. |
What counts as enough income
The benchmark is the social-assistance income threshold, and your income must exceed it: PLN 1,010 per month for a person living alone, or PLN 823 per person in a family. Unchanged for 2026.
Two details that matter: unlike the work-and-residence permit, this test has no deduction for housing costs; and the condition is also met where a family member living in Poland who owes you a maintenance obligation covers your costs.
Funds for the return journey
Where the “sufficient funds” test applies – graduates, researchers and students – a regulation fixes the return-journey amount per person, including each dependant:
PLN 200 from a country bordering Poland · PLN 500 from another EU/EFTA state or Switzerland · PLN 2,500 from anywhere else.
06 · Duration
How long the permit lasts
Article 190 sets a specific period for five grounds. Everything else falls back to the general rule: the period necessary to achieve the purpose of stay, but never more than 3 years, and only where the circumstances justify staying longer than 3 months.
| Ground | Period | Can it be granted again? |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate seeking work – 186(1)(6) | 9 months | No – once only, and it must follow directly on from the end of your studies. |
| Researcher after research – 186(1)(7) | 9 months | No – once only. |
| Education or vocational training – 187(1) | Duration of the course, max 1 year | Yes – a further permit can be applied for. |
| Family of an EU long-term resident – 186(1)(4) | As long as the permit of the person joined | Follows their status. |
| Belarusian humanitarian-visa holder – 186(1)(9) | 3 years | Once only – plan the next status before it expires. |
| UK posted worker – 186(1)(8) | 5 years | Once only. These permits are now expiring – see the note below. |
| All other grounds | 3 months to 3 years | Yes – renewable while the circumstances last. |
Graduates: you get one shot, and the clock has already started
The nine-month job-search permit is granted once, and the statute ties it to the period directly after completing your studies. Two consequences. If you let your student permit lapse and spend a few months deciding, the route may close. And if you use it now, it is not available later – so if a job offer is realistically weeks away, a residence and work permit may be the better use of the moment.
UK nationals: the five years are running out
The Withdrawal Agreement route closed to new applications on 31 December 2021, and the five-year permits granted under it expire across 2026 and 2027. If you hold one, the live question is not how to renew it – it cannot be granted twice – but which status comes next. Start that conversation several months before the card expires.
07 · Working
Can you work on this permit?
The answer depends on the ground, and the rules moved in 2025: access to the labour market is now governed by the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, which replaced the employment provisions of the old Act on the promotion of employment. Any source still citing that older act on this point is out of date.
Free access – no work permit needed
Permits granted under 186(1)(3), (4), (7), (8) and (9) carry full labour-market access by force of statute: any employer, any position, or self-employment.
A work permit is needed
Permits under Article 187 – including the study, clergy and residual grounds – and under 186(1)(1) do not themselves authorise work. You need a work permit or another exemption.
The graduate / researcher asymmetry – the most common trap in this chapter
Researchers on a permit under 186(1)(7) appear in the statutory free-access list. Graduates on 186(1)(6) do not. That looks alarming, and clients regularly read it as “my job-search permit does not let me take the job”.
In practice a graduate of a Polish university may still work without a work permit – but through a different door: the exemption that attaches to being a graduate of a Polish institution, not to the permit. The distinction is not academic. It means the right travels with your diploma rather than with your card, so it does not help someone who graduated abroad, and it is worth confirming in writing before you sign an employment contract.
Exemptions that often rescue an Article 187 case
Even where the permit itself gives no work right, you may be exempt from the work-permit requirement on separate grounds – among them a valid Karta Polaka, a diploma from a Polish upper-secondary school with Polish vocational qualifications, a doctoral degree awarded in the Polish system, or being a doctoral student in a Polish doctoral school. Worth checking before you conclude that a work permit is unavoidable.
08 · Procedure
The procedure in 2026
Since 27 April 2026 applications for temporary residence permits lodged in Poland are filed only electronically, through the MOS portal (Moduł Obsługi Spraw). Every ground in this chapter goes that way – the paper exceptions in the Act cover intra-corporate transfers and family cases filed from abroad, not Chapter 11. An application submitted any other way is left without consideration.
-
1
Identify the right ground – before anything else
Everything downstream depends on it: the conditions, the documents, the validity, the right to work, even the fee. An application filed under the wrong point of Article 186 or 187 is examined against the wrong test.
-
2
Check your deadline
File no later than the last day of your legal stay. For most of this chapter there is no protection against a late application – the exceptions are narrow and deliberate (see section 11).
-
3
Pay the stamp duty and set up a MOS account
PLN 340 to the competent city office – fees cannot be paid inside MOS, so pay separately and attach the confirmation. Create the MOS account through login.gov.pl (Trusted Profile or another electronic signature).
-
4
Complete, sign and submit
Attach a digital photograph and scans of every page of your travel document. The application counts as filed only once it is signed and you receive the official receipt (UPO), which MOS generates automatically. A lawyer can prepare the application but cannot sign it for you – the signature is personal.
-
5
Receive the certificate – the stamp is gone
After verification the Voivode issues a zaświadczenie confirming that the application was filed. It carries a QR code and an electronic seal, is delivered through MOS, and replaces the old passport stamp. It is free of charge. From the day of filing your stay is legal until the decision becomes final.
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6
Attend in person for fingerprints
You are summoned to present the original travel document and give fingerprints and a specimen signature. Answer any request for further documents within the deadline in the letter – often 7 to 14 days.
-
7
Decision – 60 days, counted from completeness
The statutory deadline is 60 days, running from the later of a defect-free application and the delivery of the documents the Voivode requested. An appeal before the Head of the Office for Foreigners has its own 90-day deadline. In practice, expect several months.
-
8
Residence card
After a positive decision and the PLN 100 fee, the card is produced. Collect it within the deadline the office sets.
If MOS itself fails
The Act anticipates outages: if a malfunction prevents you from filing within the deadline, you may file by the third working day after the fault is repaired, and the application is treated as filed on the first day of the malfunction. Document the failure at the time – screenshots with timestamps – because you will need to show it.
09 · Documents
Document checklist
There is no single closed list – the Voivode may request whatever is needed to establish the conditions. The core set below applies to every ground; the second column is what changes with the ground you rely on.
Always
- The application, completed in MOS
- Biometric photograph, taken within the last 6 months, as a digital file
- Scans of all pages of your travel document (original presented at the office)
- Confirmation of the PLN 340 stamp duty
- Evidence of the facts behind your chosen ground – this is the part that decides the case
Depending on the ground
- Graduate: diploma from the Polish institution; proof of funds and accommodation; insurance
- Researcher: confirmation from the institution that the research is complete; the preceding research permit
- Study / training: confirmation of enrolment, proof of fees paid, funds for study, maintenance and return
- Clergy: documents from the church or order, and evidence of its registered status
- EU long-term resident: the residence card issued by the other Member State; proof of the purpose in Poland
- Family life / child’s rights: civil-status documents, school and medical records, expert opinions, evidence of the relationship over time
Translations and legalisation: every document in a foreign language must be submitted with a translation into Polish by a sworn translator; foreign civil-status documents often need an apostille or consular legalisation, and many offices expect civil-status extracts issued within the last 3 months. A power of attorney for a lawyer carries PLN 17 stamp duty.
10 · Costs
Fees and costs
| Item | Amount | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty for the permit | PLN 340 | Paid before filing; not refunded if the permit is refused or the case is discontinued. Cannot be paid inside MOS. |
| Stamp duty – grounds 186(1)(8) and (9) | PLN 0 | Expressly exempt. Karta Polaka holders are exempt too. |
| Residence card | PLN 100 | Paid after a positive decision; reduced rates apply in some situations. |
| Certificate confirming filing | PLN 0 | Free by statute – if anyone asks you to pay for it, something is wrong. |
| Power of attorney | PLN 17 | Only if you are represented. |
| Sworn translations, apostilles | Varies | Usually the largest incidental cost where foreign documents are involved. |
| Legal fee | Fixed, agreed up front | See our fees – no hourly surprises. |
11 · If it goes wrong
Refusal, withdrawal and appeals
Chapter 11 does something unusual: for several grounds it switches off refusal grounds that would sink an ordinary application. Knowing which ones apply to your case is often the difference between a hopeless file and a winnable one.
| Ground | What cannot be held against you |
|---|---|
| 186(1)(2) child born in Poland, 187(4) victim of exploitation | Illegal stay is not a ground of refusal. |
| 186(1)(5) Turkish workers, 187(6) family life, 187(7) rights of the child | The widest carve-out: entry in the register of undesirable foreigners, an SIS alert, tax arrears, unreimbursed return costs, refusal of compulsory treatment and illegal stay are all disapplied. This is what makes these grounds workable for people in irregular status. |
| 186(1)(3), (4), (6)–(9) | Tax arrears and unreimbursed costs of a previous return decision are disapplied. |
| Anyone who reached the age of majority in Poland | If you apply within one year of turning 18, the permit cannot be refused where a particularly important interest of yours requires it and the only reason for refusal would be illegal stay. A genuine second chance, and a short one. |
When the permit is withdrawn
The grounds for withdrawal are narrowed too. For the family-life, child’s-rights and Turkish-worker permits, withdrawal is limited to security and public-order grounds, false information or forged documents, and the purpose of stay having ceased.
Your own duty: if the reason for which the permit was granted ceases, you must notify the Voivode within 15 working days. Failing to do so can be held against you if you apply again within a year.
Deadlines if the answer is no
14 days from service of the decision to appeal to the Head of the Office for Foreigners, through the Voivode who issued it. The case is then re-examined in full and new evidence can be produced.
30 days from the second-instance decision to bring a complaint before the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw. And where the office simply goes quiet, a ponaglenie forces it to explain the delay.
Discretionary does not mean unreviewable
A refusal under Article 187 is still an administrative decision. It must be reasoned, the evidence must be properly assessed, and the discretion must be exercised – not merely asserted. A decision that recites the statute and concludes without engaging with what you actually put forward is vulnerable on appeal, and more so before the administrative court.
12 · Learn from others
The most common – and most costly – mistakes
Choosing the residual clause first
Article 187(8) is the last resort, not the easy option. If the facts fit a named permit, the application fails on that alone.
Spending the graduate permit too early
Nine months, once in a lifetime. Used at the wrong moment, it is simply gone.
Assuming the permit lets you work
Most Article 187 permits do not. Check before signing a contract – unauthorised work has consequences well beyond this application.
Proving conditions that do not apply
Six grounds have no income, insurance or housing test at all. Weeks are lost assembling evidence nobody asked for.
Filing on paper, or on the last day
Since 27 April 2026 paper is left without consideration, and the postmark no longer saves anything. File electronically, and early.
Arguing family life as a feeling
Article 187(6) and (7) cases are won on documented family reality and, for children, expert evidence – not on sincerity.
Missing the one-year window after turning 18
Young people who grew up in Poland have a narrow statutory protection. It expires a year after majority, quietly.
Letting someone else sign in MOS
A representative may prepare the application; only you can sign it. An unsigned application is not an application.
13 · KRASUSKI Legal
What our attorneys do in an “other circumstances” case
These cases are decided on the choice of ground and the quality of the evidence behind it – far more than on paperwork. That is where we are useful.
Choosing the right ground
Often the whole case. We map your facts against all sixteen grounds and against every named permit elsewhere in the Act, before a single document is ordered.
Telling you what you do not need
Several grounds carry no income, insurance or housing test. Knowing that at the outset saves weeks and, quite often, the deadline.
Building the evidence
For the discretionary grounds especially – family life, the rights of the child, the residual clause – we assemble and structure the case the way the Voivode must assess it.
Filing in MOS
We prepare the whole electronic application and walk you through signing it – the one step that has to be yours.
Representation before the Voivode
We act under a power of attorney, answer summonses, and keep every deadline – including reminders where the office overruns.
Appeals and the courts
Refusals under Article 187 are reviewable. We appeal to the Head of the Office for Foreigners and, where needed, to the Voivodeship Administrative Court.
Regularisation cases
Where you are already staying illegally, Articles 187(6) and (7) exist precisely for that. These cases need care and candour – and they are won more often than people expect.
What comes next
Most of these permits are short. We plan the following status from the start – a work permit, permanent residence, or in time Polish citizenship.
14 · FAQ
Frequently asked questions
I do not fit any of the standard permits. Is this my route?+
Possibly – but check the sixteen named grounds first, because most people who think they need the residual clause in fact fit one of them. Article 187(8) applies only where the circumstances are genuinely outside everything else in the Act, and the burden is on you to show it. It is the last door, not the easiest one.
I am finishing my degree in Poland. When exactly should I apply?+
The graduate permit is designed for the period directly after your studies end, it lasts 9 months, and it is granted once. So the practical answer is: before your student permit expires, and before a gap opens up. If you already have a concrete job offer, consider whether a residence and work permit is the better use of the moment – once the job-search permit is used, it is not available again.
Can I work on the graduate job-search permit?+
Yes – a graduate of a Polish university may work without a work permit. But the right comes from being a graduate of a Polish institution, not from the permit itself, which is why the graduate permit does not appear in the statutory free-access list while the researcher permit does. The distinction matters if your degree is from abroad. Have it confirmed before you sign a contract.
I am already staying in Poland illegally. Is there anything here for me?+
There may be. Articles 187(6) and (7) – the right to family life and the rights of the child – require illegal stay as a precondition, and for both of them the Act switches off illegal stay and most other refusal grounds. They are demanding cases evidentially, but they exist for exactly this situation. Get advice quickly rather than waiting, because other things (a return decision, an entry ban) can change the picture.
I grew up in Poland and have just turned 18. What happens to me?+
There is a specific protection for you, and it is short. If you reached the age of majority in Poland and apply within one year of doing so, the permit cannot be refused where a particularly important interest of yours requires it and the only reason for refusal would be your illegal stay. Do not let that year pass.
I hold an EU long-term residence permit from another Member State. Do I need a visa for Poland?+
Your long-term resident status gives you the right to move to Poland and apply here under Article 186(1)(3) – to work, run a business, study, or on other justified grounds. The permit carries full labour-market access, and your family may join you under point (4) if you lived together in the other Member State. You still have to meet the insurance, income and accommodation conditions.
I am Belarusian and I came on a humanitarian visa. What is my route?+
Article 186(1)(9) was created for you: a three-year permit, no income, insurance or accommodation test, no stamp duty, and full access to the labour market. It is granted once, so plan what follows before it expires. One caution: the qualifying nationalities are set by ministerial regulation rather than by the Act, so confirm the position on the day you file.
Can I still file on paper?+
Not for these permits. Since 27 April 2026 applications lodged in Poland go through MOS only, and an application submitted any other way is left without consideration. The narrow paper exceptions in the Act cover intra-corporate transfers and certain family applications made from abroad – none of them is in this chapter.
Can my lawyer submit the application for me?+
A lawyer can prepare everything, act for you throughout the proceedings and deal with the office – but the application in MOS must be signed by you personally, with a Trusted Profile or another electronic signature. That is the one step that cannot be delegated, and it catches people who assume a power of attorney covers it.
What proves my stay is legal while I wait?+
A certificate issued by the Voivode and delivered through MOS, carrying a QR code and an electronic seal. It replaced the passport stamp and it is free. It confirms legal stay in Poland – but it is not a travel document, so do not rely on it to re-enter the Schengen area.
Did the 2025–2026 reforms change these permits?+
Not the grounds themselves – Articles 186 to 194 came through the recent amendments unchanged. What changed around them is significant though: applications are now filed electronically in MOS, the passport stamp has been replaced by a certificate, and the rules on working are in the new Act of 20 March 2025 rather than the old employment act. So the answer to “who qualifies” is the same as before; the answers to “how do I apply” and “can I work” are not.
Can this permit lead to permanent residence?+
Not directly, and that is worth knowing early. These are mostly short permits tied to a particular situation. Time spent on them can count towards the continuous residence needed for the EU long-term residence permit, but the routes to permanent residence have their own requirements. Plan the next step while the current permit is still running rather than in its final weeks.
Your attorney
Konrad Krasuski – Attorney at law
KRASUSKI Legal advises foreigners and employers on Polish immigration law: residence permits of every kind, appeals after a refusal, administrative court proceedings and Polish citizenship. If your situation does not fit the usual categories, tell us about it – that is exactly what this chapter of the Act is for.
Warsaw: +48 502 115 589 Wrocław: +48 71 719 59 08
Mobile: +48 736 860 916 office@krasuski.legal
Legal status as of September 2026. This article is general information and does not constitute legal advice for an individual case.
Warsaw Office
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