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Legal basis

In accordance with Article 53(1) point 16 of the Act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners (Dz. U. of 2006, No. 234, item 1694, as amended), residence permit for a specified period of time is granted to a foreigner who comes or stays on Polish territory in order to take or continue full-time higher studies or full-time PhD studies in that territory, hereinafter referred to as "studies", including in case he have taken up studies in the territory of another EU Member State, which he intends to continue or complete on Polish territory, if the circumstance, which is the basis for applying for this permit justifies his residence on Polish territory for a period longer than 3 months.

Authority issuing decision

The decision on granting residence permit for a specified period of time is issued by a voivode competent with respect to the place of residence of a foreigner.  A foreigner residing abroad shall submit an application for a residence permit for a specified period of time through a consul to a voivode competent with respect to the intended place of residence.  Application for granting a residence permit for a specified period of time shall be made on a form.  

Documents

A foreigner is obliged to:  present a valid travel document, justify the application and attach to the application:

• 1)4 recent photographs - undamaged, in colour, measuring 35 x 45 mm, made in the past 6 months on a plain bright background, with good focus and clearly showing the eyes and face from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders, so that face occupies 70 -80% of a photograph; photographs are to show the person without headgear and dark glasses, looking straight ahead with eyes open, not covered by hair, with natural expression and closed mouth;
• 2)documents necessary to confirm the data contained in the application and circumstances justifying application for a residence permit for a specified period of time;
• 3)proof of payment of stamp duty;
• 4)documents confirming health insurance coverage within the meaning of provisions on health care services financed from public funds, or confirmation by the insurer of covering treatment costs in the Republic of Poland;
• 5) certificate of acceptance for studies, issued by a unit which conducts studies and provide proof of payment of fees, if required by the unit to begin or continue studies.
• 6)evidence of sufficient funds to cover the costs of living and returning to the country of origin. More

Ordinance of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 16 December 2009 on minimum amounts required to be held by non-nationals enrolling at or continuing studies and conducting scientific research to cover costs of living within the territory of the Republic of Poland and their return home and on documents that may confirm the possibility of obtaining such funds (Dz. U. of 2009, No. 222, item 1766).

These amounts are:

• PLN 800 per month of stay for 12 months or during the stay of less than 12 months or the equivalent in foreign currencies,
• additional PLN 450 per family member per month of stay for 12 months or during the stay of less than 12 months or the equivalent in foreign currencies, if a foreigner came or stays on Polish territory with dependent family members.

Moreover, above mentioned foreigners should have a return ticket to their country of residence or the financial means to cover the costs of return in the amount equivalent to the price of the ticket, on the basis of which they arrived to Poland, but not less than:

• PLN 200, if they came from a third country adjacent to the Republic of Poland,
• PLN 500, if they came from a European third country,
• PLN 2500, if they came from a third non-European country - or the equivalent in foreign currencies.

Additional requirements concerning the application

A foreigner is obliged to submit an application for a residence permit for a specified period of time to the voivode competent for the place of residence within a period of at least 45 days before the expiry of the period of stay specified in the owned visa or before the expiry of the previous residence permit for a specified period of time.  

If the deadline for submission of the application has been preserved and the application does not contain any formal defects or they have been completed on time, the voivode shall put a stamp in the foreigner's travel document, which confirms submission of the application.  Stay of a foreigner in this period is considered legal until a final decision is made in the case.   More

Placing a stamp in the travel document of a foreigner, under Article 61(2a) of the Act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners, is not equivalent to issuing a visa or a document authorising a foreigner to stay on Polish territory and authorising to travel within the territory of other Schengen countries. 

            Placing the stamp in the travel document only confirms the submission of the application for granting a residence permit within deadline.

The legality of the foreigner's stay on Polish territory during the procedure for granting permit to stay follows from the law and is related to the fact of effective and timely submission of the application for granting permit to stay. 

A travel document with a stamp mentioned above will make it more likely that the stay of a foreigner on Polish territory is lawful, in accordance with Article 61(3) of the Act on foreigners.

A foreigner who has the above mentioned stamp in the travel document may leave Polish territory (going to the country where he has the right of entry), but if he is subject to a visa requirement, he should obtain a visa to enter and stay on Polish territory or a permit to stay issued by another State of the Schengen area, in order to re-enter Polish territory. 

If the application has been submitted less than 45 days before the expiry of the period of stay under visa or the period for which previous residence permit for a specified period of time was granted, and the proceedings were not completed before the expiry of the permit, the foreigner must leave the territory of the Republic of Poland and await the decision abroad.  

Appeal procedure

The party dissatisfied with the decision of first instance authority shall have the right to apply, within the statutory period of 14 days from the date of notification of the decision, against the decision to the authority of a higher degree, which for the above mentioned cases is the Head of the Office for Foreigners.  In turn, the party can lodge a complaint to the administrative court against the decision of the authority of second instance, through this authority, within 30 days of notification of the decision, and the court exercises judicial review of the performance of public administration in terms of compliance with the law.

The period for which the residence permit for a specified period of time is granted

A foreigner referred to in Article 53(1) points 16-18 of the Act on foreigners shall be granted a residence permit for a specified period of time for a period of one year.

Stamp duty

 Stamp duty of PLN 340 is collected for issuing a residence permit for a specified period of time.  A fee of PLN 50 is collected for issuing a residence card.