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The working

Every figure on this site, and where it came from

Each headline figure here has been read back from the statute, the ministry tariff or the official fee schedule it is supposed to rest on. Seventy-five checks. Nineteen came back wrong, six could not be established from any primary source at all, and those six are not published as figures anywhere on this site. The first sitting was 23 August 2026; every row re-read since carries its own date. Below is all of it, including the parts that do not flatter us.

Each row is one thing the site states, what the source actually says, and the mark for how the two compared. Citations are given in full — statute, article, gazette and date — because a link can rot and a citation cannot; the link beside it is where the text can be read today, and it says whether it is the authority's own page or a database reproducing it.

About

Portugal

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
The route is a Golden Visa through a fund; property was removedconfirmedLei 56/2023 (“Mais Habitação”), art. 53 repealed subparagraphs i, iii and iv of art. 3(1) of Lei 23/2007 — both property options and the capital transfer. Art. 3(5) bars any investment aimed, even indirectly, at real estate.
€500,000 thresholdconfirmedSubparagraph vii: a €500,000 subscription to a fund that is not a property fund, held at least five years, with at least 60% in companies seated in Portugal.
The other routes the site did not mentionaddedTen jobs (eight in low-density areas, no capital threshold); €500,000 into research (€400,000 in low-density areas); €250,000 into cultural heritage (€220,000); €500,000 into a company creating five permanent jobs.
The €1.5m capital transferwithdrawnIt no longer exists.
“6–9 months to the permit”correctedArt. 82 of Lei 23/2007 allows 60 days to decide a grant and 30 to decide a renewal, with tacit approval on renewal where the delay is not the applicant's. In practice it runs one to three years: filing to biometrics 6–24 months, biometrics to card 6–18. AIMA reported roughly 30,000 pending cases on 4 August 2026.
IFICI, 20% flat — the site cited the wrong statutecorrectedThe basis is art. 58-A of the EBF (introduced by Lei 82/2023), not the CIRS; the procedure is Portaria 352/2024/1 of 23 December 2024. 20% on Portuguese category A and B income from qualifying activity, for ten years. Registration by 15 January of the year after residency is obtained. Pensions (category H) and income from blacklisted jurisdictions are excluded and taxed at 35%.
“€62,000 on top” — understatedcorrectedAIMA fees from 1 March 2026: €842.80 to consider, €8,418.90 to issue, €4,210.30 to renew, €8,418.90 per family member, less 25% when filed online. One applicant to the first renewal is roughly €13,470 in fees alone; a family of three roughly €40,400. With a lawyer and fund commissions the real range is €30,000–50,000 for one and €65,000–90,000 for a family.
Can a remote worker already in Portugal convert to a residence permit?addedRe-checked 7 September 2026Not on the published rules, and the defect is a live one. Art. 31-A(2) of DR 84/2007 — the only in-country route the D8 regime names — sends the applicant to “o procedimento definido no n.º 2 e seguintes dos artigos 88.º e 89.º”. Art. 2 of Decreto-Lei 37-A/2024 repealed arts. 88(2), 88(6) and 89(2), (4) and (5) on 4 June 2024, and the regulation's last amendment is DR 1/2024 of 17 January 2024 — five months earlier. So a regulation in force names a repealed procedure. Nor does art. 122(1) help: its nineteen alíneas include the holder of a temporary-stay visa for research or highly qualified activity, al. q), and not the remote-work one at art. 54(1)(i). Lei 40/2024 preserves the old regime only for proceedings begun before 4 June 2024 and for people already contributing to social security. This is about the published rules, not about AIMA's practice, which we could not reach.
OUR OWN ERROR — “the D8’s four-times-the-minimum-wage figure is in no instrument”correctedRe-checked 7 September 2026We published, in six files, that the widely quoted four-times-the-minimum-wage threshold for the D8 could not be traced to any portaria, decreto or despacho, and named two sites as printing a figure that was not law. It is law. Decreto Regulamentar 4/2022 of 30 September 2022, art. 18-B(c) for the temporary-stay visa and art. 31-A(1)(c) for the residence visa, both require “rendimentos médios mensais … nos últimos três meses de valor mínimo equivalente a quatro remunerações mínimas mensais garantidas”. What was right and stays right: art. 61-B of Lei 23/2007 itself states no figure. We read the statute, found it silent, and did not open the regulation that implements it. The finding that survives is better than the one we lost: the law fixes a MULTIPLIER over a three-month average, not a euro amount — €3,680 at the 2026 RMMG of €920, and a different number every January.
What income a D7 applicant must showaddedRe-checked 28 August 2026A percentage of the guaranteed minimum monthly wage, not a sum: 100% for the main applicant, 50% for a second adult, 30% for a child under 18 — €920, €460 and €276 at the 2026 RMMG. The scale is art. 2(2) of Portaria 1563/2007 and art. 13 of the same instrument updates it with the wage automatically, so the euro figure changes every January without any rule changing. The 2026 RMMG is set by art. 3 of Decreto-Lei 139/2025. It is indexed to the RMMG and NOT to the IAS (€537.13 in 2026), which is the anchor most often quoted for immigration income tests and is the wrong one; both values are given so the error is checkable.
There is no article of Lei 23/2007 devoted to the D7addedRe-checked 28 August 2026The route rests on the general residence visa at art. 58, the general permit conditions at art. 77 and the Portaria 1563/2007 scale. Arts. 59 to 64 cover the SPECIFIC visas — subordinate work, independent work, research, study, student mobility, family reunification — and none of them covers a holder of own income. Art. 58 gives two entries, four months in Portugal and a 60-day statutory decision on the visa. The AIMA appointment is not a separate clock: art. 14 of Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007 puts it inside AIMA's favourable opinion where the applicant states a travel date, and requires it to fall within the visa's own validity. The flat “120 days” published by most guides is not a rule of its own.
How long the permit lasts, and what five years buysaddedRe-checked 28 August 2026Two years from the issue of the title, renewable for successive three-year periods, art. 75(1). At five years of temporary residence art. 80(1) opens permanent residence, on four further conditions: no sentence or sentences exceeding one year over those five years, means of subsistence on the same Portaria scale, accommodation, and basic Portuguese. So the income test does not end when the permit becomes permanent. Art. 76(1) gives the permanent permit no expiry; the card is renewed every five years. No CEFR level appears in the statute — art. 80(1)(e) says “Português básico” and nothing more, and the A2 everyone publishes is regulation-level. The current wording of art. 75 was reachable only on a secondary compilation; the primary corroboration that it stands is Lei 61/2025, which re-enacts art. 75 and rewrites only its n.º 2.
Where a D7 application is actually filednot verifiedRe-checked 28 August 2026Not established. Whether the file goes to the consulate directly or through VFS Global is stated only on vistos.mne.gov.pt, the consulate sites and gov.pt, and every mne.gov.pt host failed across this research. The consular fee is €110, the single “national visas” line of Portaria 91/2025/1 amending the emoluments table of Portaria 229/2021 — and a D7-specific line elsewhere in the consolidated table could not be ruled out, because that table on DRE is JavaScript-gated. Every competing page states a filing route flatly. We do not.

Sources

The 2026 fees are the one weak point on this jurisdiction. AIMA's March revision of the fee table does not answer an automated request, so the figures to the cent come from two independent reports of that table rather than from the table itself. Treat them as secondary until the PDF can be read directly.

Greece

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
The route is a Golden Visa through propertyconfirmedArt. 100 of Law 5038/2023 as amended by art. 64 of Law 5100/2024; the procedure is KYA 214926/2025.
“€250,000 threshold”correctedSince 1 September 2024 there are three tiers. €800,000 across all of Attica, the Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Thira (Santorini) and islands with populations above 3,100. €400,000 everywhere else. €250,000 only by exception: conversion of premises to residential use, reconstruction of an industrial building idle for five years, or full restoration of a listed building — and the works must be finished before the application is filed.
A second route at €250,000: the startup investor permitcorrectedRe-checked 5 September 2026This site said no €250,000 startup route existed. It does. Art. 100Α of Law 5038/2023, added by art. 44 of Law 5162/2024 (Gazette Α΄ 198 of 5 December 2024), creates permit type Β.6 for €250,000 of share capital in an enterprise on the Elevate Greece registry — no more than 33% of it, two new jobs held for five years, a five-year lock on the shares, a permit issued for one year and renewed two years at a time, and, by §9, no right to work, in the same words the property permit uses. It became usable on 18 November 2025, when KYA 216761/2025 set the file and a €2,500 electronic fee. It is a different instrument from art. 100 at the same headline number and from the art. 79Α Tech Visa. The error came from reading one article instead of the code's table of contents, where art. 100Α stands one line below art. 100.
Conditions the site did not mentionaddedRe-checked 25 August 2026The property must be a single one, at least 120 m² of principal space. Art. 100 §7A: sharing-economy letting, sub-letting and use as a company seat each revoke the permit and carry €50,000. €150,000 is separate — for failing the restoration condition of §4, without revocation, and for a transfer against §2(δ), with it.
“2–4 months to the permit”correctedArt. 100 §10 gives two months from the complete file reaching the issuing authority. On filing, a βεβαίωση is issued (art. 10 of Law 5038/2023) which by itself confers lawful residence and the rights of the permit until a decision. In November 2025 there were 13,499 pending cases, 10,703 of them in Attica; waits reached 18 months and are now shortening.
Non-dom, €100,000 a year — true, with a trapaddedRe-checked 28 August 2026Art. 5A of Law 4172/2013: €100,000 a year on foreign income, plus €20,000 per family member, an investment of €500,000 within three years, up to fifteen years. §1(b) names real estate among the qualifying assets, so a property does count — but only one worth €500,000, which is neither the €400,000 tier nor the €250,000 exceptions. What the permit does not do is excuse the investment: the waiver in §1 names only the investment-activity permit of art. 16 of Law 4251/2014, whose successors are arts. 96, 97 and 99, and not art. 100.
“€34,000 on top”confirmedCorrect at the €400,000 tier. Transfer tax 3% plus a 3% municipal surcharge on the tax, so 3.09%. VAT on new build (24%) is suspended to 31 December 2026, so ΦΜΑ is what is actually paid. The fee is a €2,000 e-paravolo for the application plus €16 for the card. KYA sets no family-member fee, so no figure is published for one. At the €800,000 tier the same set comes to roughly €67,000.

Sources

The migration ministry's own golden-visa pages were out of date when this was checked: they still cited the repealed art. 20B of Law 4251/2014 and the €250,000 figure. That is why the thresholds here come from stegasi.gov.gr and from the statute, and not from the page a reader would most naturally land on.

Malta

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
“Permanent residence programme”confirmedCorrect in substance. Formally the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), S.L. 217.26 under the Immigration Act (Cap. 217).
“€300,000 threshold”correctedRe-checked 1 September 2026€300,000 was the south-Malta and Gozo threshold before the reform; there is no regional difference any more. Under L.N. 310/2024 from 1 January 2025 and L.N. 146/2025 of 22 July 2025: purchase €375,000 anywhere, or rent €14,000 a year; government contribution €37,000 either way; administrative fee €60,000 for the main applicant; NGO donation €2,000; €7,500 per dependant, with spouse, minor children and adult children with a disability free; card €500 per person. Held for five years. Plus proof of assets: €500,000 of which €150,000 financial, or €650,000 of which €75,000.
Whether the MPRP regulations state an income requirementcorrectedRe-checked 5 September 2026This site said the regulations name no income requirement at all. They name no FIGURE, which is a different sentence. The word «income» does not appear in S.L. 217.26 — but regulation 15(1)(d) requires the applicant to be «in receipt of stable and regular resources which are sufficient to maintain himself and his dependants without recourse to the social assistance system of Malta». That is a means test, unquantified: no amount, no formula, no wage or poverty line to compute it from. So Malta asks about income and publishes no number, and any page printing a euro «MPRP income requirement» is printing something the law does not contain.
“4–6 months to the permit”not verifiedResidency Malta publishes no processing time at all; the agents' handbook (v4.0, 28 January 2025) speaks only of “reasonable timeframes”. Eight months are allowed to complete the purchase and payments after the letter of approval in principle, so 4–6 months to the card is not realistic; six to twelve months end to end is.
Remittance basisaddedTrue but incomplete as the site had it. A resident without domicile pays on foreign income only when it is remitted, and foreign capital gains are untaxed even when remitted. There is a €5,000 minimum tax a year where unremitted foreign income is €35,000 or more. The MPRP does not by itself confer tax residence.
“€118,000 on top” — understatedcorrectedStamp duty is 5% of the higher of price and market value (1% up front on the promise of sale). Main applicant, purchase route: €375,000 + €18,750 + €60,000 + €37,000 + €2,000 + €500 plus notary and lawyer, roughly €126,000 above the price of the property. Rental route: about €113,500 in the first year without stamp duty, and about €190,000–205,000 across five years of rent.
How long you must actually be in Maltanot verifiedRe-checked 1 September 2026Malta publishes no minimum-presence rule for this programme, and that is not the same as there being none. Five places were walked on 1 September 2026: S.L. 217.26 on the legislation portal (served through a viewer, no text), the agency's own consolidated PDF of it (no text layer), the agents' handbook (silent, and it says the legislation prevails), the MPRP FAQ that would have answered it (404 — withdrawn), and the agency's Compliance page (“Nothing Found”). Treat any figure a broker quotes for this as unsourced.
What you owe every year after the certificateaddedRe-checked 1 September 2026Not a one-off purchase. The agents' handbook requires, at annual compliance, “proof of property lease, via the presentation of a contract of lease, as well as proof of sickness insurance cover” every year for the first five years, and thereafter whenever the Agency deems it necessary. No brochure we read mentions it.
Residence and tax residence are two different testsaddedRe-checked 1 September 2026Three tests, decided separately. Whether you may live in Malta: S.L. 217.26. Whether Malta taxes you: the tax administration's own words, “When an individual is present in Malta for more than 183 days (in any particular year) they will be considered as tax residence in Malta for that year.” What Malta taxes you on: “Those who are considered as ordinary resident and domiciled in Malta are subject to tax on a worldwide basis, whilst those who are either not domiciled or not ordinarily resident in Malta are only taxable on a remittance basis.” The MPRP triggers none of the last two.
The cheap route is the one that requires you to be thereaddedRe-checked 1 September 2026The Nomad Residence Permit costs a fraction of the MPRP and is the one with a presence rule: renewal needs “a bank statement showing payment transactions carried out in Malta as proof that they have resided in Malta for a cumulative period of at least five (5) months over the previous twelve (12) months.” Income floor €42,000 a year (€32,400 for applications before 1 April 2024), one year at a time, three renewals, four years maximum, 10% on authorised work under S.L. 123.210. The programme costing about €126,000 above the price of a flat publishes no presence rule at all.
What does it cost to live in Malta?addedRe-checked 7 September 2026Two answers, and one of them is an absence. RENT is measured well: private residential leases must be registered with the Housing Authority since 1 January 2020, and 60,339 contracts were active at the end of 2023. The Central Bank of Malta put the median rent on a lease NEWLY SIGNED in 2023 at €850 a month, against advertised medians of €1,400 on Facebook Marketplace and €1,500 across aggregated agency listings — but the sets differ, 44% of registered lets having three or more bedrooms against 53% of agency listings, and the register also contains renewals whose rent has not moved. EVERYTHING ELSE is not measured currently: NSO's last completed Household Budget Survey covers 2015–2016. The next was collected from November 2024 to December 2025 and is due to be published before the end of 2026. Prices, as opposed to spending, are monthly: HICP for March 2026 was 2.3% a year, with recreation and culture at 4.6% and restaurants and accommodation at 3.9%.

Sources

UAE

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
Golden Visa through propertyconfirmedDLD, “Request for Golden Visa – Investor”; GDRFA, “Issuing a golden residence permit (investors)”.
AED 2,000,000 for ten yearsaddedCorrect, with qualifications the site did not carry. The property need not be a single one: GDRFA says “one or more properties with a value of no less than AED 2,000,000”. A mortgage is allowed with a bank letter of no objection stating the amount paid and the balance. Fractional ownership qualifies if the share itself reaches the threshold.
Off-plan propertycorrectedRe-checked 30 August 2026The Annex to Cabinet Resolution 65/2022, art. 8, Second, expressly admits off-plan — «one or more Real Estate units off the map» at AED 2,000,000, bought from local companies determined by the Competent Local Authority. The «entirely constructed» requirement is real but belongs to GDRFA's ordinary property-owner permit, not to the golden residence. Dubai's own golden visa e-service still asks for a title deed, which an off-plan Oqood registration is not: the federal text permits what the emirate channel has no document for.
The AED 750,000 and AED 1,000,000 figures in circulationcorrectedRe-checked 30 August 2026AED 750,000 was never a golden visa threshold. It was Dubai's floor for the separate two-year property investor visa, and it was removed in April 2026: a sole owner now faces no minimum value at all, and a co-owner's share must reach AED 400,000. AED 1,000,000 is the retirement golden visa, from age 55, for five years — not a shorter investor route.
“3–6 weeks to the permit” — overstatedcorrectedDLD publishes 7–10 working days, GDRFA about 5 working days, ICP an entry permit in 2 days. In practice, title deed to Emirates ID runs about two to four weeks.
No personal income taxconfirmedu.ae, verbatim: “The UAE does not levy income tax on individuals.” The 9% corporate tax and the 15% DMTT do not touch personal income. VAT is 5%.
“€490,000 at a rate of 4.08”correctedThe rate on 23 August 2026 was about 4.288 dirham to the euro, so AED 2m is about €466,400. A rate may not be baked into a figure without its date.
“€38,000 on top” — overstatedcorrectedRe-checked 28 August 2026The previous wording here was wrong twice over. The 4% registration fee is not market practice: Executive Council Resolution 30 of 2013, schedule item 1, sets it as “4% of the value of the sale contract”, which on AED 2,000,000 is AED 80,000. Article 3 of the same resolution splits it equally between buyer and seller “unless agreed otherwise” — the buyer paying all of it is the custom, not the rule. On top of that sit the title deed at AED 250, knowledge and innovation fees of AED 20, and the registration trustee at AED 4,200 including VAT. The golden visa itself is AED 9,884.75 (medical 700, Emirates ID 1,153, residence 2,856.75, DLD 4,020, administrative 1,155), plus AED 5,774.50 per dependant and a one-off AED 318.75 to open the family file. The 2% agent commission is the only component with no official basis at all: DLD’s own FAQ leaves the rate to the agreement and, failing that, to prevailing custom, and no law or RERA rule caps it. Officially set costs come to about €22,000; the €31,000 in the table includes the agent’s 2%, and the second error was saying it did not.

Sources

Naturalisation: the column that had to be rewritten

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
Portugal — “five years to citizenship”correctedRe-checked 7 September 2026Lei Orgânica 1/2026 (Diário da República, 18 May 2026, in force from 19 May) rewrote art. 6(1)(b) of Lei 37/81: seven years for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and of the EU, ten years for everybody else. Plus an examination in the language and in culture, history and state symbols, and a solemn declaration of adherence to the rule of law. It is not retroactive — applications filed before it came into force are decided under the previous text (art. 7(2)). And art. 5 of the same law REPEALS art. 15(4) of Lei 37/81, the paragraph inserted by Lei Orgânica 1/2024 that made time in the residence-permit queue count once the permit was granted. So there are two regimes: a file pending on 19 May 2026 still counts from the date the permit was REQUESTED; after that date what remains is art. 15(1), lawful presence under any title, visa or authorisation — which no longer reaches back over a queue that can run one to three years.
Greece — does the golden visa count towards citizenship?addedThree tiers, not one number — read at the Ministry of the Interior's consolidated text on 8 September 2026, and no page in this market prints more than the middle one. THREE continuous years under art. 5(1)(δ) for four categories only: nationals of an EU member state, a spouse of a Greek WITH a child, anyone with parental custody of a Greek-national child born in Greece, and stateless persons. SEVEN continuous years for everybody else holding a title on the exhaustive list of art. 5(1)(ε) — the investor permit is item αθ. TWELVE continuous years under art. 5(3) for a holder of any other valid title, temporary ones excepted. The examination is art. 5Α, not art. 5, and it names no CEFR level. And the Code requires ACTUAL residence while the golden visa requires no minimum stay, so holding the permit does not by itself accumulate the period.
Malta — citizenship by investmentwithdrawnRe-checked 1 September 2026Closed, and not by replacement. After C-181/23 of 29 April 2025, Act XXI of 2025 and L.N. 159 of 2025 AMENDED the condemned scheme's own regulations: S.L. 188.06, in force since 20 November 2020, was rewritten into naturalisation on the basis of merit under art. 10(9) of Cap. 188 — science and research, technology, sport, entrepreneurship including job creation, culture and the arts, philanthropy. At least eight months of residence, and the formal application must also show property and knowledge of the language. No fee is published: “Fees that would be established by the Agency apply.” A separate Office of the Regulator sits under arts. 25, 25A and 25B. Ordinary naturalisation is twelve continuous months immediately before applying plus four years inside the six preceding them — five years at a minimum, spread across up to seven.
What this changes about the comparisoncorrectedPortugal has stopped being the fastest route to a passport in this set. Malta at about five years and Cyprus at four to five for certain categories are now shorter than Portugal's ten for non-EU, non-CPLP nationals. The column is more accurately called “naturalisation by residence is possible” than “route to citizenship” — in all three cases it needs years of real residence and a language examination. In the UAE, naturalisation is exceptional and by nomination; owning property does not start it.

Sources

Cyprus

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
The €300,000 threshold under regulation 6(2)not verifiedSecondary sources give €300,000 excluding VAT, with VAT on top; confirmed foreign income of €50,000 a year, plus €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 for each minor child; medical insurance; annual confirmation that the investment and the insurance are maintained; sale without immediate replacement means withdrawal; police certificates every three years. Criteria as revised on 2 May 2023. None of this could be read from a primary source.
Transfer feescorrectedTransfer fees are not charged where VAT has been paid — and the 6(2) route requires a first-sale property, which carries VAT. So they come out of any estimate. Where they do apply: 1% up to €85,000, 3% up to €170,000, 5% above.
The reduced VAT rate and its limitsnot verifiedVAT is 19% standard and 5% reduced. The limits on the reduced rate (130 m² / €350,000) could not be confirmed.

No source is listed because none could be reached. gov.cy answers 403, the certificate on mip.gov.cy has expired, and the tax department's PDF is closed by robots. That is why Cyprus stands in the comparison table with dashes rather than figures and has no page of its own: a permanent-residency threshold published without being read from the law is exactly the claim that circulates, gets forwarded and cannot be corrected in place. When a primary source becomes reachable, Cyprus gets its figures and its page in the same week.

Poland: residence for people already living there

What the site statesVerdictWhat the source says
Time limits in residence cases at the voivode are suspended until 4 March 2027addedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 100d of the Act of 12 March 2022 on assistance to citizens of Ukraine: time limits for granting, changing and withdrawing temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident permits in proceedings before the voivode do not start, and those started are suspended. The inactivity rules do not apply, the authority is neither fined nor ordered to pay sums to complainants (ust. 3), and a delay in that period cannot ground any legal remedy for inactivity, protraction or breach of the right to have a case heard without undue delay — not only a ponaglenie (ust. 4). The date was 30 September 2025, moved to 4 March 2026 by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1301 art. 10 pkt 1, and to 4 March 2027 by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 17 pkt 50, in force since 5 March 2026 (art. 54). The article speaks of any foreigner, not only citizens of Ukraine. The UdSC page on this suspension still named 4 March 2026 when read on 14 September 2026.
Ponaglenie, the 14-day appeal and the body that hears bothaddedRe-checked 14 September 2026Code of Administrative Procedure, consolidated Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1691: a case needing inquiry within a month, a particularly complex one within two (art. 35 § 3); a ponaglenie for inactivity or protraction goes to the higher body through the one conducting the case, and one filed before the time limit expires is left unexamined (art. 37); an unremedied formal defect leaves an application unexamined, on at least 7 days' notice (art. 64 § 2); an appeal lies within 14 days of service (art. 127, 129). The higher body for a voivode in these cases is the head of UdSC, art. 22 ust. 2 of the Act on Foreigners. The special limit for a temporary residence decision is 60 days, art. 112a, counted since 27 April 2026 from a complete application or from the documents the voivode requested.
Stay is lawful while a temporary residence application is pendingaddedRe-checked 14 September 2026If the application is filed no later than the last day of lawful stay (art. 105 ust. 1 as amended by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794) and has no formal defects or they were remedied in time, stay is lawful from filing until the decision becomes final, which includes an appeal (art. 108 ust. 1 pkt 2). Not while the proceedings are suspended at the party's own request (art. 108 ust. 2). Since 27 April 2026 the passport stamp is replaced by an electronic zaświadczenie with a QR code, delivered through MOS and free of charge (art. 108 ust. 1 pkt 1 and ust. 3–6 as amended). Summonses: personal appearance on at least 7 days' notice (art. 106e), documents on at least 14 (art. 106f).
Where summonses arrive, and when an uncollected letter counts as deliveredcorrectedRe-checked 15 September 2026This row corrects our own entry of 15 September 2026, which said summonses come through MOS. MOS delivers only the zaświadczenie confirming the application (art. 108 ust. 6 of the Act on Foreigners as amended by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794), and the official MOS page says the portal does not currently handle the application any further. Summonses are served under the Code: to an electronic delivery address, or failing one by registered post (art. 39 KPA). A letter not collected from the post office counts as delivered on the last day of 14 days' storage (art. 44 § 4 KPA); an electronic one not opened within 14 days counts as delivered the day after (art. 41 ust. 1 pkt 3 and art. 42 ust. 2 of the Act on electronic delivery, Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1045). A change of address must be reported, or delivery to the old one stands (art. 41 KPA). The Mazowiecki voivodeship office sends summonses, fingerprint appointments and the card collection date through e-Doręczenia.
Working while the application is pendingaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 3 ust. 3 pkt 2 of the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, as amended by art. 11 of Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794: a foreigner whose stay is lawful under art. 108 ust. 1 pkt 2 of the Act on Foreigners may work on a work permit or a registered declaration if entitled to work in Poland immediately before filing. Art. 3 ust. 1 pkt 18: free access to the labour market continues while waiting if the conditions of pkt 14–17 were met immediately before filing. Cases begun before 27 April 2026 keep the earlier wording, which sets the same condition (art. 12 of the amendment). Lawful stay alone is not a right to work. The rules for UKR status were not examined here.
Checking a case's status: which voivode, and which official services existaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026A temporary residence permit is granted by the voivode competent for the foreigner's place of stay (art. 104 ust. 1 as amended by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794). Read on the offices' official sites on 15 September 2026: Poznań runs a service taking a case number and an access code the applicant can obtain alone; Opole one for applications filed after 1 January 2024, taking the date of birth and the phone number given to the office; Gdańsk and Wrocław run services on the offices' own domains whose requirements could not be read without JavaScript; the Warsaw office names its inPOL system for tracking status; Kraków's general case search excludes foreigners' cases and refers them to its INFO.OPT line. No status service was found on the official pages for Łódź, Katowice, Szczecin, Lublin or Bydgoszcz. No official glossary of status names was found. A party may inspect the case file (art. 73 KPA).
Before a refusal, the voivode must say what is missingaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 10 § 1 KPA: before a decision the party must be able to comment on the evidence gathered. Art. 79a KPA: in a case begun on the party's request, when informing of that, the authority must name the conditions dependent on the party that are not met or not shown and may lead to a decision against the request; within the time set for comments the party may submit further evidence. Art. 10 ust. 1 of the Act on Foreigners: where the foreigner is abroad and has appointed no representative living in Poland, art. 73 § 1 and 1a, 79 and 81 KPA do not apply.
Appealing a refusal: 14 days, no form, and what the Office for Foreigners may decideaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Code of Administrative Procedure, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1691. One appeal, to the head of UdSC through the voivode, within 14 days of service (art. 127, 129; art. 22 ust. 2 of the Act on Foreigners). It needs no detailed grounds — it is enough that it shows the party is dissatisfied (art. 128) — but must name the person, the address and the request and be signed (art. 63). The day of service is not counted; a term ending on a Saturday or holiday moves to the next working day; it is kept by posting at a Polish post office of the designated operator or sending to the office's electronic delivery address before it ends (art. 57). A term missed without fault is restored on a request within 7 days of the cause ending, filed together with the appeal (art. 58). Before the term ends and while a timely appeal is pending the decision is not executed (art. 130). The voivode may itself grant the appeal (art. 132). The head of UdSC upholds, reverses and decides, or annuls and remands (art. 138), and may not decide to the appellant's detriment unless the decision flagrantly breaches the law (art. 139); the appeal may be withdrawn (art. 137) or waived, which makes the decision final at once (art. 127a). A refusal to open proceedings is a postanowienie, open to a zażalenie within 7 days (art. 61a, 141). The appeal stage for a temporary permit ends within 90 days, counted from remedied defects (art. 112a ust. 4–5 of the Act on Foreigners). Art. 100d of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine suspends time limits in proceedings conducted by the voivode; its text does not name the appeal stage. MOS, Odwołanie page: the appeal is not filed through MOS but on paper, by post or in person at the voivode's office, or to the voivode's electronic delivery address; later letters go to UdSC; after an upheld refusal a new application within the 30 days to leave is refused.
After a final refusal: 30 days to leave, no new application, and a return decisionaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079, art. 299 as amended by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 12 pkt 9. A foreigner must leave within 30 days from the day a refusal or discontinuance of a temporary, permanent or EU long-term resident permit, or its withdrawal, became final — or, where the higher body decided, from service of its decision (ust. 6 pkt 1 lit. a); stay in those 30 days is lawful (ust. 7). The obligation does not apply to someone holding another valid document or whose stay is lawful under this or another act (ust. 8), and the 30 days do not apply where return proceedings began before the refusal (ust. 8a). The voivode informs the Border Guard, which establishes whether to issue a return decision (ust. 10–11). An application for a temporary permit by someone under this obligation is refused initiation (art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 9). A return decision follows a stay without a valid visa or permit (art. 302 ust. 1 pkt 1–3), sets a voluntary departure of 8 to 30 days from service (art. 315), extendable to at most a year for family, children's schooling or length of stay (art. 316), and imposes an entry ban for Poland and the Schengen area (art. 318) of 6 months to 3 years in those cases (art. 319 ust. 1 pkt 1), which may be omitted where departure is voluntary and compliance likely (art. 318 ust. 1a) and later withdrawn on request (art. 320). Appeal against it: within 7 days, to the Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard (art. 321). None is issued to the spouse of a Polish citizen unless the marriage is a sham or security requires (art. 303 ust. 1 pkt 4). Our reading, not a provision: until the refusal is final the stay remains lawful under art. 108 and art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 9 does not yet apply; and a UKR holder's temporary protection is not ended by a refusal (art. 109b of the Act on granting protection ends it on a grant). The Poznań voivodeship glossary says the stay ends on the last day of the 14 days where the appeal was waived; art. 299 ust. 6 counts 30 days from finality.
Staying without a title: a fine, a return decision even on the way out, and assisted returnaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079. A foreigner must leave before a visa's period of stay or a temporary permit expires (art. 299 ust. 1, 5). A return decision is issued to someone who stays or stayed in Poland without a valid visa or document where one is required, or who overstayed a visa-free or visa period (art. 302 ust. 1 pkt 1–3) — the past tense is in the text, so it can follow an overstay discovered on departure; it is not issued within the 30 days after a final refusal (ust. 2). Staying without a legal title, not showing a residence document on demand, and not leaving by the date set in a return decision are petty offences punished by a fine under the Code of Petty Offence Procedure (art. 465 ust. 1 pkt 1, 2, 6, ust. 2); the amount was not read. When extending voluntary departure the authority may require reporting, a deposit of at least twice the minimum wage, surrender of the passport or a set address (art. 317). The Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard organises assisted voluntary return for a person with a return decision that sets a departure date, among others (art. 334); where it is given, the costs of enforced return are not set (art. 336 ust. 1a) and it is a ground to withdraw the entry ban (art. 320 ust. 1 pkt 3). A return decision is enforced by escort to the border if the person does not leave in time or there is a risk of absconding (art. 329). The authority must translate the legal basis, the ruling and the appeal instruction into a language the foreigner understands (art. 327) and inform about NGOs giving legal aid (art. 328).
A court complaint after the Office for Foreigners: 30 days, 300 zł, and it does not suspendaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Law on proceedings before administrative courts, consolidated Dz.U. 2026 poz. 143: a complaint only after the remedies before the authority are exhausted (art. 52 § 1), within 30 days of service of the decision (art. 53 § 1), filed through the authority that issued it (art. 54 § 1); filing does not suspend the decision, which the authority may suspend on request (art. 61 § 1–2). Legal aid — exemption from court costs and an appointed advocate or legal adviser — on an application, for a person who shows they cannot bear the costs (art. 243–246). Court fee: 300 zł for complaints in matters of foreigners, passports and visas, § 2 ust. 3 pkt 8 of the Council of Ministers regulation on the court entry fee, consolidated Dz.U. 2021 poz. 535; no amendment after 2017 was found in the ELI register. Our reading, not a provision: a decision of the head of UdSC is final (art. 16 § 1 KPA), so lawful stay under art. 108 of the Act on Foreigners ends with it, and no provision was found that makes a court complaint extend it; the 30 days of art. 299 ust. 6 still run from service.
Applications only through MOS from 27 April 2026addedRe-checked 15 September 2026Announcement of the Minister of the Interior and Administration of 10 April 2026, Monitor Polski 2026 poz. 370, under art. 17 ust. 1 of the amendment Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794: the implementation date is 27 April 2026 for, among others, art. 105–106l, 108, 112a in part, 120a ust. 1–3, 202–203i (permanent residence) and 218a–219i (EU long-term resident) of the Act on Foreigners. One exception worth knowing: an application to change a temporary residence and work permit is filed on paper, art. 120a ust. 1 as amended. For a temporary permit, art. 106c–106i as added: an application filed other than through MOS is left unexamined; the employer's or university's attachment is completed by them through a link sent to their e-mail and signed by them; the applicant attaches a photograph and scans of every page of the passport and signs with a qualified signature or a trusted profile; the application counts as filed on the official receipt; the voivode then summons the applicant in person, on at least 7 days' notice, for the passport, fingerprints and signature, and discontinues the case if the applicant does not appear or does not give them.
Documents for a temporary permit: at filing in MOS, at the visit, and on summonsaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Foreigners as amended by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794: the application form (art. 106 ust. 1); for residence and work, the Blue Card and a company board member, an attachment completed by the employer with the post, occupation, place, legal basis, working time, pay, duties, period and PKD code, the employer's statement of no convictions and a truth clause (ust. 2); for studies, an attachment completed by the university (ust. 7); a photograph and scans of every page of the passport (art. 106d ust. 1); supporting documents may be attached but need not be (ust. 2); summons in person on at least 7 days' notice (art. 106e) and for documents on at least 14, the voivode weighing the time needed to obtain each (art. 106f). The MOS Dokumenty pages, read for work, a spouse of a Polish citizen, family reunification, a child and studies, sort the same into three stages: sent through MOS; shown at the visit — the original passport, or the case is discontinued; and further documents on the voivode's summons, originals or copies certified by a notary, an advocate or legal adviser acting as attorney, or the office's own clerk against the original. Foreign-language documents need a sworn translation into Polish; documents must be current on the day of the decision. For work, MOS names the employer's attachment (załącznik nr 1), signed by the employer through login.gov.pl, whose conditions must match the contract and be current on the day of the decision, and proof of 440 zł stamp duty and the 100 zł card fee at filing; as evidence, a certificate of employment from a previous Polish employer, proof of health insurance for a contract for a specific work, qualifications for a regulated profession. For a spouse of a Polish citizen: a current marriage certificate, a copy of the spouse's ID or proof of citizenship, and evidence that the marriage is genuine — cohabitation, contact, witnesses, children. For family reunification and a child: a marriage or birth certificate issued no earlier than 3 months before filing, a copy of the sponsor's permit decision, health insurance (a ZUS certificate or a private policy), income (contracts, a ZUS certificate of contribution bases with proof of the right to work, a pension certificate) and accommodation (registration, a lease, another title, or a statement of the person entitled to the flat). For studies: the university's attachment, 340 zł and 100 zł at filing, insurance, proof of fees, and means from a closed list issued no earlier than a month before filing; a citizen of Belarus need not document housing costs. Fees page: stamp duty is paid to the city where the voivode sits, and if unpaid the voivode summons for payment within 7 to 14 days and returns the application; the 100 zł card fee is a condition for issuing the card once the permit is granted.
The photograph for a karta pobytuaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Wielkopolski voivodeship office in Poznań, glossary: colour, sharp, 35 × 45 mm, taken no earlier than 6 months before filing, from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders with the face taking 70–80%, on a plain light background, looking straight ahead with eyes open and not covered by hair, a natural expression and closed mouth, natural skin colour, eyes and pupils clearly visible, the eye line parallel to the top edge. From 27 April 2026 an electronic application takes a JPG meeting those rules, at least 684 × 883 pixels and at most 2.5 MB, in the proportions of 35 × 45 mm. Four printed photographs are for the paper applications still filed from abroad for family reunification and some other permits. A religious head covering is allowed if the face is fully visible, with a declaration of membership of the religious community. MOS: without head covering or tinted glasses. The regulation that sets the criteria was not read.
The CUKR card: who may apply, until when, for how longaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 42c of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine: a citizen of Ukraine whose stay is lawful as a temporary protection beneficiary (art. 106 of the Act on granting protection, reference set by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 17 pkt 22) with UKR status on 4 June 2025 (date set by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1301 art. 10 pkt 18), on the day of the application, and continuously for at least 365 days; a child born in Poland whose mother holds the card (art. 42d). The application is electronic only, through the UdSC system, and signed by the applicant with a qualified or trusted signature (art. 42f ust. 5); one filed any other way is left unexamined (ust. 7). It counts as filed only if the PESEL register holds complete passport data and the register holds fingerprints and a signature (art. 42g). Filing ends by law any pending temporary residence case of the same person (art. 42i as amended). The competent voivode is fixed at filing (art. 42o). The card is valid for 3 years from issue (art. 42p); the decision is due within 180 days of a complete application (art. 42l as amended by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 17 pkt 27); stay is lawful until the card is collected or a refusal becomes final if the application is filed by 4 March 2027 (art. 42x, date set by art. 17 pkt 31). Start date 4 May 2026: Monitor Polski 2026 poz. 371. The Gdańsk voivodeship FAQ also names certain family members and a personal signature of the applicant, neither of which is in the text of art. 42c or 42f.
The CUKR card after collection, and how the permit is lostaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 42r: on collecting the card, the right of stay becomes by law a temporary residence permit for the card's validity; a card not collected within 60 days of the notice is cancelled and neither fee is refunded. Art. 42t: the permit is withdrawn if the holder has left Poland for at least 6 months, or on security grounds or an entry in the register of undesirable foreigners. Art. 42u: every change of place of stay is reported to the issuing voivode within 15 working days, or letters in a later case count as delivered to the old address. Art. 42v and 42w: no work permit is needed, and a business may be run on the terms that apply to Polish citizens. Temporary protection ends when a temporary residence permit is granted (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 of the Act on granting protection). From official pages rather than the acts: time on the card counts towards the five years for EU long-term residence from the day of collection and UKR time does not (Gdańsk and Poznań voivodeship offices); the next permit follows the general rules (Gdańsk).
UKR stay: 4 March 2027 or 4 March 2028addedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 106 ust. 1 of the Act on granting protection, as worded by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 4: a temporary protection beneficiary's stay is lawful from entry until the day the EU Council decision on mass influx remains in force, unless an act provides otherwise; art. 1–4a of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine, which carried the earlier end date, were repealed (art. 17 pkt 1). The UdSC page of 6 August 2026: Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912 of 30 July 2026, in force from 5 August 2026, extends temporary protection to 4 March 2028, and new grants require fulfilled military obligations in Ukraine, except for those protected on 4 August 2026 who keep protection without a break; the Mazowieckie voivodeship's copy of the same notice gives 31 and 30 July. No other end date for the stay itself was found in the acts read, so by the text lawful UKR stay runs with the decision; this is a reading of the cross-reference, not a date printed in the act. The Gdańsk voivodeship FAQ still names 4 March 2027. The CUKR filing deadline of 4 March 2027 is a separate, express provision (art. 42x) and the EU extension does not move it. EUR-Lex refused automated reads.
Leaving Poland while a case is pending, and the 30-day ruleaddedRe-checked 14 September 2026The Mazowiecki voivodeship office's official answers (BIP, 14 August 2020): the stamp confirming an application does not entitle the holder to travel; one may leave for the country of origin but may not re-enter Poland on it. That answer concerns the stamp. The zaświadczenie that replaced it on 27 April 2026 lists, under art. 108 ust. 3, the holder's data, the filing and the text on lawful stay, and no right to cross a border — a reading of its content, not an express provision. For temporary protection: it ends if the person has left Poland for more than 30 days, and on the day a temporary or permanent residence or EU long-term resident permit is granted, art. 109b of the Act on granting protection, added by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 4 pkt 5.
Five years in Poland lead to the EU long-term resident permit, not to “permanent residence”addedRe-checked 14 September 2026Art. 211 of the Act on Foreigners: EU long-term resident status after 5 years of lawful, continuous stay immediately before the application, with stable and regular income, health insurance and Polish at B1 or a Polish school or degree taught in Polish. Income must exceed the social-assistance threshold for the applicant and each dependant (art. 140 ust. 2, via art. 211 ust. 2) and have been met for the last 3 years; the threshold from 1 January 2025 is 1010 zł for a single-person household and 823 zł per person in a family, Council of Ministers regulation Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1044. The permanent residence permit of art. 195 is granted on specific grounds instead — among them Polish descent, a valid Karta Polaka, three years of marriage to a Polish citizen plus two years of temporary residence on that basis, or five years as a refugee.
Permanent residence and EU long-term resident: filing, breaks, loss and the cardaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Foreigners, consolidated Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079, with the MOS amendment Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794. Permanent residence (art. 195) is granted on named grounds, among them a child of a Polish citizen or of a permanent or long-term resident, Polish descent, a valid Karta Polaka, 3 years of marriage to a Polish citizen with 2 continuous years on a marriage-based temporary permit immediately before, 4 years on a temporary residence and work permit for a profession desirable for the Polish economy (art. 114 ust. 1a) with stable income, 5 years as a refugee or 10 on tolerated stay. A stay counts as continuous if no break exceeded 6 months and all breaks together 10 months, with exceptions for work for a Polish employer abroad and similar (art. 195 ust. 4, art. 212 ust. 3–4). Applications are filed through MOS only, signed with a qualified or trusted signature (art. 203c–d, 219c–d); a long-term resident applicant shows a current legal title to housing, a loan-for-use agreement counting only from close family (art. 219a). Failing to appear, give fingerprints or a signature, or show the passport ends the case (art. 203i, 219i). The decision is due within 6 months, the appeal within 90 days (art. 210, applied to both by art. 223); at the voivode the time limit is suspended until 4 March 2027 (art. 100d). An application cannot be filed while on temporary protection or studies (art. 213), and permanent residence cannot be sought while holding long-term resident status (art. 196); permanent residence expires when long-term resident status is granted (art. 200). Loss: permanent residence after more than 6 years outside Poland, a sentence of at least 3 years, or divorce within 2 years of a marriage-based grant (art. 199); long-term residence after more than 6 years outside Poland or 12 consecutive months outside the EU (art. 215). The permits are indefinite; the card is valid 10 years for permanent residence and 5 for long-term residence (art. 243). Both give free access to the labour market (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, art. 3 ust. 1 pkt 6–7). Whether past UKR time counts towards the five years is not stated in art. 212; the Gdańsk and Poznań voivodeship pages say it does not.
Citizenship: three years now, and what the ten-year bills would changeaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 30 ust. 1 pkt 1 of the Act on Polish Citizenship, consolidated Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1611: recognition after 3 years of continuous stay on a permanent residence or EU long-term resident permit, with stable income and a legal title to housing; 2 years with 3 years of marriage to a Polish citizen or statelessness (pkt 2); 1 year on permanent residence obtained through Polish descent or a Karta Polaka (pkt 7). Polish at B1 by official certificate or a school in Poland (ust. 2). Sejm data: the deputies' bill, print 1888, raising 3 years to 10 and lengthening the other periods of art. 30 as well, was rejected at first reading on 9 January 2026, 240 to 200. Two bills raising pkt 1 from 3 years to 10 are still open, both keeping proceedings already begun under the current text in their art. 2: the deputies' print 1273, submitted 5 May 2025, referred to committee on 10 June 2025, with a government position of 21 August 2025 whose content is a scan that was not read; and the President's print 1759, submitted 29 September 2025, referred to committee on 4 November 2025. Neither had moved by 15 September 2026. The fee for the decision is 1000 zł, stamp duty act Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1154, annex item 26.
Citizenship: recognition by the voivode or a grant by the PresidentaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Polish Citizenship, consolidated Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1611. Recognition (art. 30 ust. 1) also covers 2 years on a permanent or long-term permit for a spouse of a Polish citizen of at least 3 years or a stateless person, 2 years on a permanent permit obtained through refugee status, 10 years of lawful continuous stay with such a permit, income and housing, and 1 year on a permanent permit obtained through Polish descent or a Karta Polaka. Polish is shown by an official B1 certificate or a school certificate from Poland or a Polish-language school abroad (ust. 2–2a); a university degree is not among them. Continuity follows art. 195 ust. 4 of the Act on Foreigners (ust. 3). The application goes to the voivode of the place of residence (art. 34, 36); the decision is due within 6 months of filing (art. 10 ust. 3a, in force since 1 August 2025), with the interior minister as the higher authority (ust. 4); art. 100d of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine does not list citizenship cases. Recognition of parents covers minors in their care, a child over 16 consenting (art. 7–8). The President may grant citizenship with no statutory conditions (art. 18), on an application filed through a voivode or consul (art. 21), by a decision to which the Code of Administrative Procedure and judicial review do not apply (art. 10 ust. 1); citizenship is acquired on the day of the decision (art. 26). An application to the President ends a pending recognition case (art. 23), and a recognition application filed while a presidential case is pending is itself discontinued (art. 35 ust. 1). A Polish citizen holding another citizenship has the same rights and duties and cannot invoke the other citizenship before Polish authorities (art. 3). Stamp duty: 1000 zł for a recognition decision, 277 zł for confirming citizenship, 1669 zł for filing an application to the President (annex, items 26, 27, 27a).
Stamp duty on residence permitsaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Stamp duty act, consolidated Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1154 (11 August 2025), annex part III: temporary residence 340 zł (item 2), exempt for permits under art. 160 pkt 4–6, 176 and 186 ust. 1 pkt 8–9 of the Act on Foreigners and for a temporary protection beneficiary; residence and work under art. 114 ust. 1 and 1a, the EU Blue Card under art. 127, and art. 137a, 139a and 139o, 440 zł (item 2b); a change of a residence and work permit under art. 120 ust. 1, 220 zł (item 2d); permanent residence 640 zł, with exemptions including a Karta Polaka holder intending to settle; EU long-term resident 640 zł. The duty paid is not refunded when the voivode refuses a temporary, permanent or EU long-term resident permit or a change of a residence and work permit, or discontinues the case: art. 113c, 120c, 207b and 223a of the Act on Foreigners, added by Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203 art. 12, applied to duty paid for applications filed from 5 March 2026 (art. 29 of that act). Later amendments to the stamp duty act itself were not found in the 2025 and 2026 acts read for this section, and were not searched for separately.
Temporary residence: the grounds, the conditions of each, and the cardaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079. A permit is granted for the time the purpose needs, at most 3 years (art. 98 ust. 2), by the voivode of the place of stay, on an application filed no later than the last day of lawful stay (art. 104, 105 as amended by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794). Proceedings are refused to a foreigner who on filing holds a permanent or EU long-term resident permit, stays on temporary protection, or is outside Poland, among others (art. 99 ust. 1); the permit is refused if filed or stayed unlawfully, or with tax arrears (art. 100 ust. 1 pkt 6, 9), and withdrawn when the purpose ends or its conditions stop being met (art. 101). Work, art. 114: health insurance; a job not on the restricted list; pay not lower than comparable workers' and, whatever the working time, not below the minimum wage — 4806 zł from 1 January 2026, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242. EU Blue Card, art. 127: a contract for at least 6 months and higher professional qualifications. Business, art. 142: insurance, stable and regular income, a place to live, and a business that earned at least 12 times the voivodeship's average monthly wage in the previous tax year or employed 2 full-time staff for a year, or shows the means to do so. Studies, art. 144. Spouse of a Polish citizen, art. 158: a marriage recognised in Polish law, with no income or insurance condition in the article. Family reunification, art. 159: the sponsor holds, among others, a permanent or EU long-term resident permit, protection, a Blue Card, or has lived in Poland 2 years on consecutive temporary permits with the last for at least a year; insurance, income above the social assistance threshold (art. 163 via art. 140 ust. 2) and a place to live. Other circumstances, art. 186–188: among them a graduate of a Polish university looking for work or starting a business, an EU long-term resident of another member state, and, at the voivode's discretion, family life under the ECHR for a foreigner staying unlawfully (art. 187 pkt 6). The card is valid for the permit's term (art. 243 ust. 1 pkt 1) and with a travel document entitles its holder to cross the border repeatedly without a visa (art. 242). The Podlaskie voivodeship office adds that a holder may travel in other Schengen states for up to 90 days in any 180, with a valid travel document and means of subsistence; the rule itself is EU law, which was not read.
Losing the job on a residence and work permit, and changing employeraddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act on Foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079. The decision names the employer, the position, the lowest pay, the working time and the type of contract (art. 118 ust. 1). No change is needed when the employer's seat, name or form changes, the workplace passes to another employer, hours rise with pay in proportion, a job title changes without new duties, or a civil contract becomes an employment contract; the employer notifies the voivode within 15 working days (art. 119). Any other change of employer or of those conditions needs a change of the permit, applied for at any time; its validity cannot be changed (art. 120), and the application is on paper (art. 120a ust. 1 as amended by Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794). A lost job is reported to the voivode within 15 working days, which a change application filed in that time also satisfies (art. 121). Withdrawal for the purpose ending does not apply for 30 days from losing the job if that was reported, and only once per permit where all employers are lost (art. 123 ust. 1–2); for work in an occupation desired by the economy (art. 114 ust. 1a), up to 3 months without work, at most twice (ust. 3). The permit is withdrawn if the position changed or pay was lowered without a change of the permit, or the employer stopped operating (art. 122). Any temporary permit holder reports to the voivode within 15 working days that the reason for the permit has ceased (art. 113); failing that, a next permit applied for within a year of the last one's expiry or withdrawal may be refused (art. 100 ust. 2).
Which temporary permits carry free access to the labour marketaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, art. 3 ust. 1: free access for holders of a temporary permit granted for studies (art. 144), research (151, 151b), after divorce or widowhood from a Polish citizen or the death of a parent (158 ust. 2 pkt 1–2), for victims of trafficking (176) and under art. 186 ust. 1 pkt 3, 4 and 7–9 (pkt 14); for the spouse of a Polish citizen or of a free-access holder with a permit granted for the marriage (pkt 15); for their descendants under 21 or dependent (pkt 16); and for family reunification under art. 159 ust. 1 and 161b (pkt 17). Art. 3 ust. 2 pkt 1: a residence and work permit (114, 126, 127, 137a, 139a, 139o, 142 ust. 3) allows work within its terms. Art. 3 ust. 5: a foreigner lawfully staying on a temporary permit (other than art. 181) needs no work permit if holding a valid Karta Polaka, a Polish secondary school certificate with Polish vocational qualifications, a degree from a university seated in Poland, a Polish doctorate, or a place at a Polish doctoral school. For such a foreigner a residence and work permit does not name the employer and states instead the ground of exemption (art. 114 ust. 4, 118 ust. 3–4 of the Act on Foreigners). A temporary permit for business under art. 142 ust. 1 is not in the art. 3 ust. 1 list.
UKR status and a temporary residence permit: five grounds onlyaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 45 ust. 1 of Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203, in force 5 March 2026: for a foreigner lawfully staying as a temporary protection beneficiary with UKR status, art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 4 of the Act on Foreigners — refusal to open proceedings for someone on temporary protection — does not apply to an application for residence and work (art. 114 ust. 1), the EU Blue Card (127), business (142 ust. 1 or 3), family member of a Polish citizen (158 ust. 1) or family reunification (159 ust. 1); for reunification with a temporary permit holder the sponsor's two-year minimum does not apply (ust. 2). Fingerprints are taken from the PESEL register where held, or after the grant where they are not (ust. 3, 6); the rules on presenting a passport, giving fingerprints on filing and the personal summons (art. 106a ust. 1, 106b ust. 1, 106e ust. 1) do not apply, the voivode may call for a passport or its copy in justified cases, and the signature is given on the form or on the voivode's device (ust. 5). The same list stood in art. 42 ust. 13 of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine, repealed by art. 17 pkt 20 lit. f of the same act. For other grounds, such as studies or other circumstances, no exception was found, so art. 99 ust. 1 pkt 4 applies; that is a reading of the two provisions together. Temporary protection ends on the day a temporary residence permit is granted (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 4 of the Act on granting protection).
“Nine to fourteen months in Mazowieckie”not verifiedRe-checked 14 September 2026The figure circulates in consultancy blogs. No current official average processing time by voivodeship was found. What official sources publish is historical: the Supreme Audit Office's inspection of five voivodeship offices for 2021–2023 found 60% of cases handled in breach of the rules and a longest case of about 2,700 days; the Ombudsman's letter of 29 December 2020 gave up to 363 days in Pomorskie and 397 in Dolnośląskie for 2019. Neither is a 2026 figure, so none is printed as one.
The fee for a CUKR permitaddedRe-checked 15 September 2026Art. 42s ust. 1–2 of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine levies the stamp duty for a CUKR permit at the rate in part III item 2 of the stamp duty annex, 340 zł, due on filing; art. 42f ust. 3 makes proof of both payments a required attachment, and art. 42e ust. 1 pkt 5–6 makes non-payment of either a ground for refusal. Neither is refunded if the case ends without a card (art. 42s ust. 3, art. 42r ust. 2). The annex to the stamp duty act, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1154, does list an exemption for a permit granted to a foreigner benefiting from temporary protection; the UdSC procedure page and the Gdańsk voivodeship FAQ both state that both fees are mandatory and no exemption applies. The card fee of 100 zł is set by a regulation under art. 239 of the Act on Foreigners, which was not read; the amount is as UdSC and the voivodeship publish it.

Sources

Poland is not one of the five jurisdictions in the comparison. This section backs pages for people who already live in Poland and need a residence permit or citizenship, which is a different question from where to move. Four of the rules above carry an expiry: the suspension of time limits and the CUKR filing deadline both run to 4 March 2027, the income threshold is reviewed every three years, and the minimum wage is set anew for each year. The rows will be re-read before those dates.

Every row was checked against a primary source on 23 August 2026, except where a row carries a date of its own.The text of this page last changed on 15 September 2026.

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