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ASYLUM -is a form of protection that is granted to the aliens when this is necessary to provide them with the protection and when this is supported by the important interest of the Republic of Poland. Having been permitted by the minister of foreign affairs, the Head of the Office for Foreigners makes decisions that concern granting and depriving of the asylum. The alien who was granted the asylum is issued a permit to settle and a residence card by the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

CENTRAL VISA ORGAN -CVO (CENTRALNY ORGAN WIZOWY -COW) -is an organ that is responsible for consultations, including electronic consultation as referred to in art. 17(2) of the Convention of 19 June 1990 Implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders.

ALIEN -any individual who does not have the Polish citizenship.

TRAVEL DOCUMENT AS PROVIDED FOR BY THE GENEVA CONVENTION (GTD) -a travel document that is issued to the aliens who were granted the refugee status. The validity date of the GTD document expires after one year. The GTD document is issued and replaced by the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

RESIDENCE CARD -confirms the identity of an alien during his/her stay at the territory of the Republic of Poland and gives the right, along with a travel document, to a repeated crossing of the border without the need of being granted a visa. The residence card is issued by the voivode who gave a permit to stay for a definite period of time, a permit to settle or a permit to stay as a long-term resident of EC. The residence card that was issued to the alien who had been granted:

• 1) a permit to stay for a definite period of time is valid until the expiry date of this permit;
• 2) a permit to settle is valid for 10 years;
• 3) a permit to stay as a long-term resident of EC is valid for 5 years.

The residence card is a document that is also issued to the aliens who were granted protection at the territory of the Republic of Poland. The validity dates of the residence card that was granted to the alien vary depending upon the type of the protection that was provided. This period equals to:

• 1) 3 years in case of granting the refugee status;
• 2) 2 years in case of enjoying the subsidiary protection;
• 3) 1 year in case of granting the permit for tolerated stay.

The residence card of the alien who has the refugee status or who enjoys the subsidiary protection is issued and replaced by the Head of the Office for Foreigners. The residence card of the individuals who were granted a permit for tolerated stay is issued by the Head of the Office for Foreigners or by the voivode.

GENEVA CONVENTION -a Convention that concerns the refugee status, as drawn up in Geneva on the day of 28 July 1951 (Journal of Laws of 1991, No 119, item 515 and 516).

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN -is a country whose citizen is an alien -and in case of an alien whose citizenship can not be found or who does not have a citizenship of any country, a country in which he/she permanently resides.

SUBSIDIARY PROTECTION -an international form of protection that is granted to the individuals who were denied the refugee status but who, in the event of returning to the country of origin, will be in a real danger of being seriously harmed by:

• - a decision on the death penalty or execution;
• - tortures, inhuman or humiliating treatment;
• - a serious or individualized threat to his/her life or health as a result of common application of force towards civilian population in the event of an internal or international armed conflict.

MEMBER STATE -a member state of the European Union or other state that complies with the Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national (OJ L 050, 25.2.2003, p. 1, OJ Polish special edition, chapter 19, vol. 6, p. 109), as referred to as ‘Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003'.

POLISH TRAVEL DOCUMENT FOR ALIEN -is issued at the request of the alien who holds a permit to settle, a permit to stay as a long-term resident of EC or who enjoys the subsidiary protection if he/she has lost his/her travel document, or if his/her travel document has been destroyed or expired and it is not possible for the alien to obtain a new travel document. This document gives the right to a repeated crossing of the border and is valid for a period of up to one year. The fact that the alien is in possession of the Polish travel document does not release him/her from the obligation to take actions in order to be granted a travel document. Polish travel document for alien is issued by the voivode that is competent with respect to the alien's place of residence.

POLISH ALIEN IDENTITY DOCUMENT -confirms the alien's identity during his/her stay at the territory of the Republic of Poland and it does not confirm his/her citizenship. This document does not authorize the alien to cross the border. The fact that the alien holds the Polish alien identity document does not release him/her from the obligation to be granted a visa, a permit to stay for a definite period of time, a permit to settle or a permit to stay as a long-term resident of EC. The Polish Alien Travel Document may be issued to a minor alien who was born at the territory of the Republic of Poland, who stays at this territory without the parental care, who does not have a travel document if this is not inconsistent with the interest of the Republic of Poland and is supported by the minor's welfare, and the granting of a travel document to him/her meets with the obstacles that are difficult to overcome. Under particularly justified circumstances the Polish Alien Travel Document may be issued to the alien who does not have any citizenship and stays at the territory of the Republic of Poland without a travel document, if this is supported by the interest of the Republic of Poland and if granting other document that confirms the identity to an alien is not possible.  Polish alien travel document is valid for up to one year. After the lapse of the expiry date another identity document may be issued for the period that is not longer than 2 years. Polish travel document for alien and Polish alien identity document are issued by the voivode competent with respect to the alien's place of residence.

CARRIER -is a natural or legal person who treats transport of individuals by air, sea or land as a source of income.

COUNCIL FOR FOREIGNERS -an organ of public administration that examines appeals against decisions, and complaints against resolutions of the Head of the Office for Foreigners concerning most of the cases that pertain to granting or denying the refugee status or granting or depriving of the subsidiary protection. Council for Foreigners is entitled to the rights of the organ of higher instance within the meaning of the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Code. Council for Foreigners is also an organ competent with respect to resuming proceedings, reversing, changing or declaring the decisions or resolutions that were made null and void.

REFUGEE STATUS -international form of protection that is granted to individuals who can not or do not want to enjoy the protection of the country of origin, as a result of their justified fear of persecutions in this country because of their race, religion, nationality, political views or affinity with a particular social group. Refugee status is also granted to the minor of the alien who was granted the refugee status in the Republic of Poland, if the minor was born at its territory.

TRANSIT ZONE OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -an area at the international airport located at the territory of the Republic of Poland, that ranges between the board of the aircraft and the Border Control Checkpoint that covers airstrip and airport rooms.

HEAD OF THE OFFICE FOR FOREIGNERS -is a central organ of government administration, that is competent with respect to aliens' arrivals at the territory of the Republic of Poland, to their passage through this territory, to their stay and their departures, to granting the refugee status, to granting an asylum to aliens, to granting a subsidiary protection, to granting a permit for tolerated stay or granting a temporary protection, except for cases that are reserved for other organs. The Head of the Office is supervised by the minister who is competent for internal affairs.

PROVISIONAL IDENTITY CERTIFICATE OF THE ALIEN (PICA) -is a document that is granted to the alien who applies for granting the refugee status when the status proceedings are pending. Provisional identity certificate of the alien, when valid, confirms the identity of the individual to the name of whom it has been issued and it entitles that individual as well as all minor children entered into the certificate to the stay at the territory of the Republic of Poland. The first PICA document is issued ex officio by the organ of Border Guard which has accepted the application for granting the refugee status. Successive identity certificates are issued and replaced upon the request of the alien by the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

PROVISIONAL POLISH TRAVEL DOCUMENT FOR AN ALIEN -is issued to an alien who possesses the permit to settle, the EC long-term residence permit or the permit for tolerated stay, who is granted the refugee status or who enjoys the subsidiary protection, who has lost his/her travel document while his/her stay abroad or whose travel document was destroyed or its validity time expired and who intends to return to the territory of the Republic of Poland if obtaining by him/her another travel document is not possible. This document may be issued to the alien staying at the territory of the Republic of Poland who does not possess a travel document of his/her country of origin or whose travel document was destroyed or its validity period expired and who intends to depart from this territory if obtaining by him/her another travel document is not possible. Provisional Polish travel document for an alien is issued:

• 1) abroad by the consul;
• 2) at this territory by the voivode competent with respect to the alien's place of residence, and under particularly justified circumstances by the commanding officer of the Border Guard checkpoint.

REFUGEE -is an individual who, as a result of well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or his/her political views, stays outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or who does not have any citizenship and while staying, as a result of similar events, outside the country of his/her former permanent residence he/she is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to this country (art. 1A(2) of Geneva Convention of 1951).

VISA -is a permit as issued to an alien by the Polish organ or the organ whose competence with respect to this case results from the provisions of international agreements that are binding upon the Republic of Poland, or by the organ of Schengen zone country, which authorizes him/her to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland or other countries that belong to Schengen zone, to pass through this territory and to reside at this territory during his/her stay, for the purpose and under conditions that were specified in this permit.

UNIFORM STAY VISA -is a visa as referred to in art. 10 of the Convention of 19 June 1990 Implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders (OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 19, as amended).

NATIONAL STAY VISA -is a visa that authorizes to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland, to pass though its territory and to reside at it.

PERMIT FOR TOLERATED STAY -is a national form of aliens' protection which may be granted as a result of conducting the following proceedings:

• 1) proceedings for granting the refugee status;
• 2) proceedings for depriving of the asylum
• 3) proceedings for deporting;
• 4) proceedings for granting a permit for tolerated stay owing to the unenforceability of the decision on deporting;
• 5) proceedings for granting a permit for tolerated stay owing to the inadmissibility of releasing the alien.

In the event of the proceedings as specified in points 1-3, a permit for tolerated stay is granted if the alien's deportation:

• 1) could take place only in the country in which his/her right to life, freedom and personal safety would be threatened, in which he/she could be a subject of torture or inhuman or humiliating treatment or of punishment, or the alien could be forced to work or deprived of the right to a reliable lawsuit, or be punished without legal basis within the meaning of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as drawn up in Rome on 4 November 1950;
• 2) would violate the right to family life within the meaning of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, or would violate the child's rights as specified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989, to such an extent that this essentially threatens the alien's psychophysical development.