Temporary residence permit / Temporary residence card / TRC

Are you on the territory of Poland on the basis of a visa or visa-free regime and you would like to continue your stay in Poland? To do so you would have to obtain the appropriate permission! A temporary residence permit is may be probably teh solution. The temprary residence permit is issued in connection with the specific purpose for which the foreign national plans to stay in Poland. A temporary residence permit is granted for a specific period of time necessary to achive the purpose, but not longer than 3 years.

How to submit an application for a temporary residence permit?

The application should be submitted in person to the immigration office with jurisdiction over the foreigner's place of residence. Please be aware, as a rule, you need to be in Poland while submitting your application.

Deadline for submission

As a rule you need to apply at latest on the last legal day of legal stay in Poland.

How long you will have to wait?

According to Polish law your decision on granting a temporary residence permit should be isued within 60 days from the date of submission of a complete application. However in most jurisdictions you should expect a longer waiting time, depending on the workload of the immigration office and the number of applications. What you need to know is -  from the date of submission of the application to the date on which the decision on granting a temporary residence permit becomes final your stay in the territory of Poland is considered legal. 

Should you like to use any legal instruments to try to speed up your procedure - feel free to contact our immigration lawyers.

What are conditions for obtaining a temporary residence permit?

A foreign national may apply for a temporary residence permit if (can expect positive decision) if the circumstances of planned stay justify staying in Poland for more than 3 months and a foeign national fulfills the basic conditions for a temporary residence permit.

The most important conditions are:

• you have a valid travel document (passport) and a visa (if required);
• you can justify your purpose of the stay in Poland (this may be for instance work/business/study or reunion with family) and can submit documents confirming the planned purpose of the stay,
• you can prove you have the financial means to live in Poland during your stay,
• there are no grounds for refusal (for instance you are not threat to state security or public order, you have no criminal history),
• you have a place of residence in Poland and
• you have a health insurance (this insurance covers the cost of hospitalization in Poland).

Requiremants may vary depending on your purpose of stay. Above mentioned requirements are just genereal requirements and during your procedure you may be asked for many additional documents.

Depending on the purpose of stay, foreign national can apply for a temporary residence permit for:

• work (employment contract),
• work in professions requiring high qualifications,
• work as part of an intra-company transfer (short-term and long-term mobility of a managerial, specialist or trainee employee as part of an intra-company transfer),
• work as delegated employee,
• business activity,
• studying,
• scientific research (short-term and long-term mobility of a scientist),
• internship,
• volunteering,
• family reuinion,
• victims of human trafficking,
• circumstances requiring a short-term stay,
• seasonal work,
• other circumstances.

Here you can check services of our immigration lawyers by purpose.

You can also find the requirements on the website of a given immigration office (here - for example - you will find the requirements of the office in Warsaw).

It is recommended to find out about the requirements and specifics of each type of a temporary residence permit due to the planned purpose of stay in Poland. Our immigration lawyers will assist you with the application, prepare the required documentation and represent you in the procedure for a permit.