If you are a non-EU national planning to stay in Poland for longer than three months, you do not apply for the plastic card you have heard about — you apply for a temporary residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy). The card, the karta pobytu, is what the office prints after it says yes. And since 27 April 2026 there is only one way in: the application is filed exclusively online, through the government's MOS portal. A paper form handed to the voivodeship office or sent by e-mail is no longer examined at all — it simply has no legal effect.
- Get a PESEL number and a Profil Zaufany.
- Gather your documents (passport, photos, insurance, accommodation, income).
- File the application in the MOS portal before your legal stay ends.
- Give fingerprints in person.
- Collect the karta pobytu in person after a positive decision.
The permit and the karta pobytu: two different things
A temporary residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy) is the legal decision that lets a non-EU foreigner stay in Poland for up to three years. The karta pobytu is the physical biometric card issued only after a positive decision — together with your passport it confirms your identity and lets you cross the Polish border without a visa.
People use "karta pobytu" loosely to mean the whole thing, but the law keeps them separate. Under Article 98 of the Act on Foreigners (Ustawa z dnia 12 grudnia 2013 r. o cudzoziemcach), a temporary permit is granted to a foreigner whose circumstances justify staying longer than three months — for the period needed to achieve the purpose of the stay, but no longer than three years. The card you eventually hold is valid for exactly that same period: anything from three months up to the full three-year maximum.
That distinction matters in practice. You are "legal" from the moment your application is properly filed — long before any card exists in your hands. The card is proof, not permission.
Who needs a temporary residence permit — and who qualifies
Any third-country (non-EU/EEA) national intending to live in Poland for more than three months needs a temporary residence permit. Eligibility depends on a concrete purpose of stay — work, study, business or family — plus proof of stable income, health insurance and a secured place to live. A spouse of a Polish citizen is exempt from the income, insurance and accommodation requirements.
The most common route for foreign workers is the single permit for temporary residence and work (jednolite zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę). One administrative proceeding legalises both your stay and your employment, so you need no separate work permit and your employer files no separate application. Students apply on the basis of university enrolment; entrepreneurs on the basis of a registered business; family members on the basis of the relationship.
For most grounds you must show a stable and regular source of income above the social-assistance threshold. Since 1 January 2025 (unchanged for 2026, according to the voivodeship migrant services) that means 1010 zł net per month for a person living alone, and 823 zł net per month per person in a family. A worked example: a couple with one child — a family of three — must demonstrate at least 823 zł × 3 = 2469 zł net per month between them. Alongside income you must prove health insurance (public NFZ cover or a private policy covering treatment in Poland) and a secured place of residence such as a lease or the owner's statement.
How to apply: the MOS-only process, step by step
Since 27 April 2026 you apply only through the MOS portal (Moduł Obsługi Spraw) at mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl. Before you can log in you need a PESEL number and an active Profil Zaufany — both issued free of charge. You must submit no later than the last day of your legal stay, then appear in person for fingerprints and to collect the card.
The single biggest change in 2026 is the gateway itself. To file in MOS you log in through login.gov.pl, which means you first need two things, both free: a PESEL number (the Polish national identity number) and an active Profil Zaufany (trusted profile) — or a qualified or personal electronic signature. Sort these out before anything else; without them you cannot even open the form.
The application form itself was updated on 1 December 2025 and now asks for two photographs. Both you and — for work-based permits — your employer must sign electronically. You upload everything as PDF, JPG or PNG; the portal rejects any single file over 50 MB and offers no case-status tracking, so keep your own copies. Crucially, you must file no later than the last day of your legal stay — the final day of your visa, your visa-free period, or your expiring previous permit.
After filing, two appointments are mandatory and unavoidable. Fingerprints are taken for the biometric card; fail to provide them and the office refuses to even initiate proceedings. Later, the finished karta pobytu can only be collected in person, with a fingerprint check on collection and your valid travel document in hand.
- 1 January 2025 — income thresholds rose to 1010 zł / 823 zł.
- 1 December 2025 — new application form (two photos, e-signatures).
- 27 April 2026 — MOS electronic-only filing became mandatory.
What documents you need
A MOS application needs the completed form, two photographs, a copy of your valid passport, proof of health insurance, proof of a secured place of residence, and proof of income. Documents in a foreign language (other than passports) must be filed with a sworn (przysięgły) translation into Polish. Work, study and business permits each add a ground-specific attachment.
The core file is the same for everyone: form, photographs, passport copy, proof of health insurance, proof of accommodation (a lease, the property owner's statement, or a registration confirmation), and proof of income. Then your specific ground adds one more piece:
- Work-based permit: the employer's attachment — a statement on the job, the salary and working time.
- Studies: a certificate of enrolment from the university.
- Business: your CEIDG or KRS registration and tax records.
One detail trips up many applicants: any document drawn up in a language other than Polish — your foreign marriage certificate, a contract, a bank statement — must come with a sworn translation. A passport or national ID is the exception and does not need translating.
What it costs
A temporary residence permit decision carries a stamp duty (opłata skarbowa) of 440 zł for a single residence-and-work permit, or 340 zł for other grounds. After a positive decision, the residence-card issuance fee is 100 zł, with a 50% reduction for social-assistance recipients, minors under 16 and students.
The fees are fixed and modest — the expensive part of this process is the waiting, not the paying. The stamp duty falls due on the decision; the card fee only after a positive outcome. If you use a representative, a power of attorney adds a 17 zł stamp duty. (The card fee is currently 100 zł per the Office for Foreigners; a widely reported rise to 400 zł was not confirmed as being in force.)
| Fee | Amount (zł) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty — single permit (residence + work) | 440 | opłata skarbowa on the decision |
| Stamp duty — other grounds (study, business, family) | 340 | opłata skarbowa on the decision |
| Residence-card issuance | 100 | after a positive decision; 50% off for social-assistance recipients, minors under 16, students |
| Residence-card re-issue (loss/damage, holder's fault) | 200 | replacement card |
| Residence-card re-issue (subsequent) | 300 | further replacement |
| Power of attorney (if using a representative) | 17 | opłata skarbowa on a pełnomocnictwo |
Source: Office for Foreigners (gov.pl/web/udsc/oplaty), MOS portal.
How long it takes — and what protects your stay while you wait
The statutory standard is one to two months, but in practice processing takes several months to over a year — Warsaw (Mazowieckie voivodeship) is the slowest, at roughly 4 to 12 months. If you filed on time without formal defects, your stay stays legal from the date of submission until the decision is final, evidenced by a PDF confirmation from the office.
Here is the reassuring part and the frustrating part in one breath. If your application is filed on time and has no formal defects — or you fix any defects within the deadline given — your stay is legal from the date of effective submission right up until the decision becomes final, however long that takes. Under the newer MOS system the office no longer stamps the old red "yellow card" mark in your passport; instead it issues a PDF confirmation that serves as your proof of legal stay. Keep it accessible.
The frustrating part: the official one-to-two-month deadline is, in practice, fiction in the busiest regions. In Warsaw, waits of 4 to 12 months are routine. Statutory decision deadlines for residence cases have even been formally suspended (Article 100d of the Act on Foreigners) — a suspension the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) has criticised as breaching the right to an effective remedy. If the office sits on your case, you can file a ponaglenie (an urging) and then a complaint about inaction to the Provincial Administrative Court (WSA).
Renewing your card — and what to do if you are refused
There is no separate "extension" procedure in Poland. To renew an expiring karta pobytu you file a brand-new application under the same rules, no later than the last day of the current permit's validity. If your application has formal defects, the office gives you at least seven days to correct them before leaving the case unexamined.
Treat renewal as a fresh start, because legally it is one. The same MOS process, the same documents, the same deadline — file before the last day your current permit is valid, and your continued stay is protected the same way.
Refusals usually come down to avoidable things: formal errors, an unproven or weak purpose of stay, insufficient health insurance, inconsistent data, applying during an illegal stay, owed taxes, or a security alert. If the office spots a formal defect (braki formalne), it sends a wezwanie giving you at least seven days to fix it; ignore it and the case is left unexamined (pozostawione bez rozpoznania). The lesson is simple — answer every request from the office, on time.
Who actually gets residence permits in Poland
Poland issued 488,846 first residence permits to non-EU nationals in 2024 — down 23.9% from 642,789 in 2023, the fewest in a decade. Ukrainians (226,184) and Belarusians (151,116) together accounted for more than three-quarters of them. By 2026 around two million foreigners held valid residence documents — roughly 5% of Poland's population.
You are far from alone in this queue, and the numbers explain the long Warsaw waits. The drop in 2024 was sharp, but the standing population of permit-holders is large — about one in twenty people in Poland now lives here on a residence document.
| Nationality | First permits 2024 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 226,184 | 46.3% |
| Belarus | 151,116 | 30.9% |
| Georgia | 12,250 | 2.5% |
| India | 10,358 | 2.1% |
| Turkey | 9,673 | 2.0% |
| Total (all nationalities) | 488,846 | 100% (−23.9% vs 2023) |
Source: Eurostat / Office for Foreigners (UDSC).
Curious how a system that scrapped paper forms overnight copes with two million foreigners — and what happens to applicants who have no trusted profile and limited Polish?
Frequently asked questions
Can I still apply on paper at the voivodeship office?
No. Since 27 April 2026, an application for a temporary residence permit can be submitted only electronically through the MOS portal. According to the Office for Foreigners, a paper application or one sent by e-mail is not examined and has no legal effect, so the digital route is now the only valid one.
What do I need before I can even start the MOS application?
You need a PESEL number and an active Profil Zaufany (trusted profile) — or a qualified or personal electronic signature — to log in through login.gov.pl. Both the PESEL number and the Profil Zaufany are issued free of charge, so arrange them first.
How much does the whole thing cost?
The stamp duty on the decision is 440 zł for a single residence-and-work permit or 340 zł for other grounds, and the karta pobytu issuance fee is 100 zł after a positive decision. Per the Office for Foreigners, students, minors under 16 and social-assistance recipients pay half the card fee.
What proves my stay is legal while I wait for the decision?
If you filed on time and without formal defects, your stay is legal from the date of submission until the decision is final. Under the MOS system the office issues a PDF confirmation instead of the old passport stamp — that document is your proof of legal stay.
How long will I wait, and which city is slowest?
The statutory standard is one to two months, but real processing runs from several months to over a year. The Mazowieckie voivodeship (Warsaw) is the slowest, with waits of roughly 4 to 12 months; if the office misses its deadline you can file a ponaglenie and then a complaint to the Provincial Administrative Court (WSA).
How do I renew my karta pobytu before it expires?
Poland has no separate extension procedure: you file a brand-new temporary residence permit application under the same rules, no later than the last day of your current permit's validity. File through MOS in good time and your continued legal stay is protected exactly as with a first application.
This article does not replace professional legal advice.