UDSC

Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców

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STAY ON THE BASIS OF A TOLERATED STAY OR REFUGEE STATUS

Legal status

Pursuant to Article 64 (1) (2) of the Act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners (Dz. U. of 2006 No. 234 item 1694 as amended), a settlement permit is granted, upon request, to a foreigner who before the application was submitted, had been staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland uninterruptedly for a period no shorter than 10 years based on a tolerated stay permit granted pursuant to Article 97 (1) (1) or (1a) or Paragraph 2 of the Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland or for 5 years as a result of having received refugee status or subsidiary protection.

UNINTERRUPTED STAY REQUIREMENT

A stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland is considered uninterrupted when none of the interruptions was longer than 6 months and did not exceed 10 months in total unless the interruption was caused by:

execution of professional duties or performance of work outside the territory of the Republic of Poland based on an agreement made with an employer whose registered office is located in the territory of the Republic of Poland;
accompanying the spouse executing professional duties or performing work under the conditions referred to in point 1;
foreigner's medical treatment.

If a foreigner is staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland as a result of being granted refugee status or a permit for tolerated stay, granted in relation to a refugee status application, what counts as a period of uninterrupted stay is also the period of stay during the refugee status procedure, even if the foreigner was in a detention centre or deportation detention centre at the time.

Decision-making authority

A decision on whether or not a residence permit for a fixed period should be granted is made by a Voivode competent for the foreigner's place of stay. An application for a settlement permit should be made on an application form.

Documents

The foreigner is obliged to produce a valid travel document, justify their application and append the following to it:

1. 4 current photographs which must not be damaged and which should be in colour, with the dimensions of 35 x 45 mm and made within the last 6 months on a uniform white background, with good sharpness, clearly showing the eyes and the face from the top of the head to the upper part of the shoulders so that the face takes up 70-80% of the photograph. The photographs must present the individual without any headgear or dark glasses, looking ahead with the eyes open and not covered by hair, with a natural facial expression and closed lips;
2. documents necessary to confirm the details contained in the application and the circumstances justifying the application for a residence permit for a fixed period;
3. proof of payment of stamp duty;
1. a legal tile to live in a property in which they are staying or intend to stay. A contract of lending for use is not considered a legal title to live in a property in which the foreigner resides or intends to reside unless the lender is their relative in the ascending line, relative in the descending line, a spouse, a spouse's parents or the foreigner's sibling.

Additional requirements related to the application

A foreigner may apply for a settlement permit for a period which is in accordance with the law on residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

An application for a settlement permit may not be submitted by a foreigner:

staying abroad;
staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland illegally;
staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland based on a Schengen visa authorising to entry into and stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland for the purpose referred to in Article 26 (1) (26) of the Act on foreigners i.e. for entry due to humanitarian reasons or the interest of the state or international obligations;
staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland based on a residence permit for a fixed period, granted pursuant to Article 53a (2) of the Act on foreigners or by an
arrested foreigner, placed in a detention centre, in a deportation detention centre, towards whom a prevention measure was used in the form of the prohibition of leaving the country, or who is deprived of liberty as a result of decisions based on Acts of law.

If such an application is submitted, it is left with no further action taken.

If the foreigner submitted an application during their legal stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland and the application does not contain any defects of form or the defects of form have been remedied within the deadline, the Voivode places in the foreigner's travel document a stamp confirming the submission of an application for a settlement permit. At the same time, when the following requirements have been met, the foreigner's stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland will be considered legal until a final decision on a settlement permit has been issued. More

Placing a stamp on a foreigner's travel document under Article 71a (2b) of the Act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners does not amount to issuing a visa or a document authorising a foreigner to stay in the territory of Poland and to travel within the territory of other states of the Schengen area.

An imprint of a stamp on a travel document only confirms that an application for a stay permit has been submitted within the deadline set.

Whether or not a foreigner's stay in the territory of Poland is legal during the procedure of stay permit is dependent on the law and the fact of having effectively submitted the application for a stay permit within the deadline.

If the foreigner has a travel document with a stamp referred to above, this will constitute evidence that a foreigner's stay in the territory of Poland is legal, pursuant to Article 71a (3) of the Act on foreigners.

A foreigner who has the above stamp in their travel document may leave the territory of Poland (when going to a country to which they have a right of entry). However, if they are subject to a visa requirement, they should obtain a visa authorising to entry into and stay in the territory of Poland or a stay permit issued by another Schengen area state to be able to re-enter the territory of Poland.

Appeal

If a party is dissatisfied with a decision made by the first instance they have the right to appeal against it, within the statutory time limit of 14 days after the decision was served, to a higher instance which in this case is the Head of the Office for Foreigners. With respect to the decision of the second instance, a party may file a complaint to the Administrative Court within 30 days of the day in which the decision was served and this court oversees the activities of public administration in terms of their compliance with the law.