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Legal basis

Pursuant to Article 65(1) of the Act of 13 June 2003 on Foreigners (Dz.U. of 2006, No. 234, item 1694, as amended), residence permits for EC long-term resident are granted upon request by a foreigner who stays within the territory of the Republic of Poland, directly prior to submitting an application, legally and in an uninterrupted period for at least 5 years, with the resident having:

• a steady and regular source of income sufficient to cover the cost of maintaining oneself and family members being the resident's dependents. More

Pursuant to Article 65(3) of the Act on Foreigners, the income referred to in Paragraph 1(1) - following the deduction of residence costs - falling for each family member being a foreigner's dependent or for the foreigner if they are single has to be higher than the amount of income below which social assistance cash benefits are awarded pursuant to the Act of 12 March 2004 on social assistance (consolidated text of Dz.U. of 2008 No. 115, item 728). On the other hand, pursuant to the provisions of Article 8(1)(1) of the Act on social assistance in connection with Article 1(1)(a) of the Ordinance of the Council of Ministers of 24 July 2006 on verified income criteria and amounts of cash benefits under social assistance (Dz.U. No. 135, item 950), the right to cash benefits under social assistance subject to Article 40, 41, 78 and 91 is vested in a person living in a single-person household whose income does not exceed PLN 477 and in a person in a family whose income does not exceed PLN 351.

Article 65(3a) of the Act on Foreigners stipulates that residence costs referred to in Paragraph 3 cover at least the amount of regular charges related to the use of the occupied dwelling for the number of persons living in it, in addition to charges for supply of energy, gas, water and collection of sewage, waste and liquid waste.

Yet with a proviso that pursuant to Article 8(3) of the Act on social assistance, income is considered a sum of monthly revenues from the month preceding the submission of the application or, in the case of loss of income, from the month in which the application was submitted irrespective of the title and source of income, unless otherwise specified in the Act, subject to deduction of:

  1)  monthly personal income tax;

  2)  contributions for health insurance specified in regulations governing general insurance in National Health Fund and for social insurance specified in separate regulations;

  3)  the amount of alimony payable to other persons.

• health insurance within the meaning of regulations on general health insurance or confirmation of coverage of treatment costs by the insurer within the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Authority issuing the decision

The decision on the issue of residence permit for EC long-term resident is issued by a voivode with territorial jurisdiction for the foreigner's place of residence. An application for the issue of residence permit for EC long-term resident is submitted using a form.

Documents

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

• 1. 4 up-to-date photographs - not damaged, coloured, measuring 35 x 45mm, taken within previous 6 months with a uniform, fair background, with good focus, clearly presenting the eyes and face from the top of the head to the upper part of shoulders, so that face occupies 70-80% of the photo; the photos should present a person with no headdress and no dark eyeglasses looking ahead with open eyes not covered by hair, with a natural face expression and closed lips;
• 2. the documents necessary to confirm the data included in the application and the circumstance justifying the issue of residence permit for EC long-term resident;
• 3. proof of stamp duty payment;
• 4. legal title to live in the dwelling in which a foreigner resides or intends to stay. A legal title to live in the dwelling in which a foreigner resides or intends to stay shall not be constituted by a contract of lending a dwelling for use, unless their descendant, ascendant, spouse, parents of the spouse or foreigner's siblings is the party lending for use.

Additional requirements concerning the application

A foreigner may submit an application for the issue of residence permit for EC long-term resident during a stay within the territory of the Republic of Poland that complies with the law.

An application for the issue of residence permit for EC long-term resident must not be submitted by a foreigner who:

• resides abroad;
• resides illegally within the territory of the Republic of Poland;
• stays within the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of the Schengen visa authorising only the entry and stay within the territory of the Republic of Poland for the purpose referred to in Article 26(1)(26) of the Act on Foreigners, namely for the purpose of a stay due to humanitarian reasons, due to state interest or due to international obligations;
• stays within the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a residence permit for a fixed period granted under Article 53a(2) of the Act on Foreigners or
• has been detained, placed in a guarded facility, under custody in order to be expelled, against whom a preventive measure has been applied in the form of a prohibition on leaving the country, or a foreigner serving a custodial sentence due to execution of a judgement issued on the basis of acts of law.

In case when such an application is submitted, it is disregarded.

In case when a foreigner has submitted an application during a legal stay within the territory of the Republic of Poland and the application is free of defects in form, or the defects in form have been rectified within the deadline, the voivode stamps the travel document of the foreigner and hence acknowledges that an application for residence permit has been submitted. At the same time, when carrying out the above-mentioned activities, the stay of a foreigner within the territory of the Republic of Poland is considered legal until a final decision on settlement permit has been taken. More

Pursuant to Article 71a(2b) of the Act of 13 June 2003 on Foreigners, the stamp in the foreigner's travel document does not mean that a visa or a document authorising a foreigner to residence within the territory of the Republic of Poland and authorising them to travel within the territory of Schengen states has been issued. 

            The stamp in a travel document is only a confirmation that an application for the award of a residence permit has been submitted within the deadline.

Legality of foreigner's stay within the territory of the Republic of Poland during the procedure for the issue of a residence permit results from the law, and it is connected with effective submission of an application for residence permit, made within an appropriate deadline.

The fact of foreigner's having a travel document with a stamp in it, as referred to above, will make it more possible for the foreigner's stay within the territory of Poland to be legal, as defined in Article 71a(3) of the Act on Foreigners.

A foreigner with a stamp in their travel document may leave the territory of Poland (leaving for a country to which they have entry right), but if they are subject to visa obligation, they should obtain a visa authorising them to enter into and stay within the territory of Poland or a residence permit issued by another Schengen country in order to re-enter the territory of Poland.

Possibility of obtaining the residence permit for a fixed period

A foreigner with a residence permit for EC long-term resident granted in one of the EU Member States has the right to obtain a fixed-time residence permit in another EU Member State, provided that there are circumstances justifying their residence in the given country and they have a steady and regular source of income and health insurance. It applies to family members of the above-mentioned foreigner as well.

Appealing

A party not satisfied with the decision of a body of first instance has the right within the statutory 14 days of the day when the decision has been delivered to lodge an appeal with an authority of higher level, which is the Head of the Office of Foreigners in the above-mentioned cases. On the other hand, a decision of a 2^nd instance body may be appealed against through the medium of that body by submitting a complaint to an administrative court within 30 days of the date when the decision has been delivered, with that court exercising judicial control over public administrative activity in terms of compliance with the law.

The period for which a residence permit for EC long-term resident is granted

A residence permit for EC long-term resident is granted for an indefinite period.

 Once a foreigner has been granted a residence permit for EC long-term resident, the settlement permit awarded to the foreigner expires under the statute.

Stamp duty

A stamp duty amounting to PLN 640 is charged for the issue of a residence permit for EC long-term resident. PLN 50 is charged for the issue of a residence card.