Temporary residence permit in Poland: residence card types, grounds and how to apply in 2026

A residence card (*karta pobytu*) is not the permit itself but the document that confirms it. The same plastic card can stand for different permits: temporary residence, permanent residence, EU long-term resident status, or the CUKR card permit for citizens of Ukraine. When people say "getting a TRC" or "getting a karta pobytu", they almost always mean the first — a temporary residence permit (*zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy*).

A temporary residence permit is issued by the voivode (*wojewoda*) for the place where you are staying, for the period the purpose requires, but no longer than 3 years. The ground falls into one of seven groups: work, the EU Blue Card, business, study, marriage to a Polish citizen, family reunification and other circumstances. Each has its own conditions, and the ground decides whether you may work for anyone or only for the employer named in the decision.

Below are all the grounds, with the articles of the Act on Foreigners (*ustawa o cudzoziemcach*), the conditions for each, filing through MOS, the fees, the time limits and the way on to permanent residence and citizenship. Every rule was compared with the text of the act; the links lead to the sources page with the date we read it. All the routes to legal stay, and what to do at each stage, are on the overview page Legalisation of stay in Poland.

A note on "work permit Poland". This page covers the combined temporary residence and work permit (*zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę*), which a foreigner applies for to the voivode. The separate work permit (*zezwolenie na pracę*, type A) that an employer obtains is a different procedure and is not covered here.

Residence permit in Poland in 2026: the short version

• What it is. The document for a permit to stay. A temporary card is valid for as long as the permit.
• Length of the permit. No longer than 3 years, depending on the purpose of stay.
• When to apply. No later than the last day of your legal stay. An application filed during an illegal stay is a ground for refusal.
• How to apply. Since 27 April 2026 only electronically through MOS, followed by an appointment to give fingerprints.
• Work. Pay no lower than the minimum wage — 4806 zł in 2026 — whatever the working time.
• Without work. 30 days after losing the job, if you notified the voivode within 15 working days, and only once during the permit.
• Cost. 340 zł for the permit, 440 zł for work and the Blue Card, plus 100 zł for the card. For applications filed from 5 March 2026 the fee is not refunded after a refusal.
• Processing time. 60 days under the act, but time limits at the voivode are suspended until 4 March 2027.

Types of Poland residence card: which permit stands behind the card

Card validity periods are set by art. 243 of the Act on Foreigners. A temporary card together with your passport lets you cross the Polish border many times without a visa, art. 242.

Temporary residence permit in Poland: grounds and conditions in one table

A temporary residence permit is granted if the foreigner meets the requirements of their purpose and that purpose justifies a stay longer than 3 months, art. 98. The main grounds:

The last column follows art. 3 of the Act on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners; more on it below.

Temporary residence and work permit and the EU Blue Card in Poland: conditions and minimum wage

The temporary residence and work permit is the most common ground. Art. 114 requires all of the following at once:

1. Health insurance in Poland, or confirmation that an insurer covers treatment. The condition counts as met if the insurance arises together with this job.
2. An occupation not on the list that may restrict access under the Act on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners.
3. Pay no lower than Polish workers' in a comparable position and with the same working time.
4. Pay no lower than the minimum wage — whatever the working time and type of contract. In 2026 that is 4806 zł a month, under the Council of Ministers regulation. If you work for several employers, the total counts.

Point 4 is the main trap: a half-time job paying less than 4806 zł will not support a work-based card, even if such a contract is lawful under employment law.

The employer is checked too. The permit will not be granted if the employer does not carry on business, has suspended it or is winding it up, does not pay contributions or taxes, has been penalised for illegal employment, or lacks the funds to pay you, arts. 117 and 117a.

What the decision states. The employer, the position, the minimum pay, the working time and the type of contract, art. 118. This is what "tied to the employer" means: you may work only on those terms.

The EU Blue Card (*Niebieska Karta UE*), art. 127, is for work requiring high qualifications: a contract of at least 6 months, higher professional qualifications, insurance, and annual pay no lower than the threshold set by law. The fee is the same as for the work-based permit.

Changing employer on a TRC in Poland, and how long you may be without work

When the permit does not need changing, art. 119:

• the employer's address, name or legal form has changed;
• the business has passed to another employer;
• your hours have gone up with a proportional rise in pay;
• the job title has changed without new duties;
• a civil-law contract has been replaced by an employment contract.

In these cases the employer notifies the voivode within 15 working days.

In every other case — a new employer, a different position, lower pay or fewer hours — you must change the permit, art. 120. You can apply at any time, and the permit's validity stays the same. The application to change it is filed on paper, not through MOS, art. 120a; the fee is 220 zł. How to go through this step by step, and what to do if the job is already gone, is covered in the entry on changing employer.

If you have lost your job:

Without the notification there is no grace period: the permit may be withdrawn because the purpose of stay has ended, art. 101. It is also withdrawn when your pay was cut or your position changed without changing the permit, art. 122.

Your employer changed or you are out of work, and the clock is running — describe your situation.

A residence card not tied to an employer: who can get one

Legally, "not tied" means free access to the labour market: you may work for any employer without a work permit. Not every temporary permit gives it. Under art. 3(1) of the Act on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, free access is held by holders of a temporary residence permit:

• for university study, art. 144, and for scientific research;
• as the spouse of a Polish citizen, granted in connection with the marriage, and for that spouse's children under 21 or dependent;
• for family reunification, art. 159;
• after divorce from, or the death of, a Polish citizen spouse, art. 158(2);
• as an EU long-term resident of another country and their family members, art. 186(1)(3)–(4), and in several other cases.

The second route is exemption from the work permit, art. 3(5). If you are in Poland legally on a temporary residence permit, you do not need a work permit when you have:

• a valid Pole's Card (*Karta Polaka*);
• a degree from a Polish university;
• a Polish doctorate or a place in a Polish doctoral school;
• a Polish secondary school certificate together with Polish documents confirming vocational qualifications.

For these people the residence and work permit does not name an employer; it states the ground for the exemption instead, arts. 114(4) and 118(3)–(4) of the Act on Foreigners. This is what intermediaries most often sell as a "card not tied to an employer".

A business-based card does not give free access: art. 142(1) is not on the list in art. 3. A work-based card does not either — you may work only as set in the decision.

A "card not tied to an employer" cannot be bought. The ground either exists — marriage, family, study, the Pole's Card, a Polish degree — or it does not. After 5 years of legal stay, free access comes with EU long-term resident status.

Residence card through marriage to a Polish citizen, and family reunification

Marriage to a Polish citizen, art. 158. You need a marriage recognised by Polish law. The article itself sets no conditions on income, insurance or housing. The spouse's minor child also receives a permit. After divorce or separation a further permit is granted if your important interest supports it; after the spouse's death, without that condition — in both cases once and for no longer than 3 years. After 3 years of marriage and 2 years on such a permit, permanent residence opens up.

Family reunification, art. 159, is for the spouse and minor children of a foreigner who lives in Poland:

The income threshold is the eligibility threshold for social assistance, art. 163 read with art. 140(2), under the Council of Ministers regulation in force from 1 January 2025: 1010 zł for a person living alone and 823 zł per person in a family.

Temporary residence permit for business, study and other circumstances

Business, art. 142. For the foreigner: insurance, stable and regular income, housing. For the company, one of three:

• revenue for the previous tax year of at least 12 times the average monthly wage in the voivodeship where it is registered;
• 2 employees full-time on open-ended contracts for at least a year before the application;
• funds or activities that will allow one of these conditions to be met in future: investment, technology, jobs.

A permit is also granted to a management board member of your own sp. z o.o. or S.A., a general partner and a commercial proxy (*prokurent*), art. 142(3).

Study, art. 144: admission to a university approved to accept foreigners, payment for a semester or a year where the course is paid, insurance, and means to live on and to travel home.

Other circumstances, arts. 186 and 187. The most practical cases:

• a graduate of a Polish university looking for work or starting a business: degree, insurance, housing, means;
• an EU long-term resident of another country who works, studies or lives in Poland;
• family life under the European Convention on Human Rights, or the rights of a child — the voivode may grant these permits even to a person staying in Poland illegally, art. 187(6)–(7).

Residence card for citizens of Ukraine: UKR, CUKR and the five grounds

If you are a citizen of Ukraine with UKR status, you have three routes:

1. Stay on UKR status. Your stay is legal while the EU Council decision on temporary protection is in force; according to the Office for Foreigners (*UdSC*) it has been extended until 4 March 2028.
2. Apply for the CUKR card — a three-year permit not tied to an employer. The application must be filed by 4 March 2027.
3. Apply for an ordinary temporary residence permit. There is a restriction here.

If you already have a residence card, not UKR status: for citizens of Ukraine, the validity of temporary permits and cards that was expiring from 24 February 2022 onwards was extended by law until 4 March 2027 — with no application and no replacement, art. 42 of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine. You cannot cross the border on a card extended this way. What to do before 4 March 2027 is covered in the entry on renewing a residence card.

The restriction on grounds. The Act on Foreigners refuses to open proceedings for a person under temporary protection, art. 99(1)(4). The exception for UKR status covers only five grounds, art. 45 of the Act Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203:

For study and other circumstances we found no such exception in the law — on our reading of the two provisions, you cannot apply on those grounds with UKR status.

UKR status ends on the day the temporary residence permit is granted, art. 109b of the Act on granting protection to foreigners. So plan the move from UKR to a work-based card with a margin: a work permit rests on one employer, and CUKR does not.

Not sure which to choose — UKR, CUKR or a work-based card? Describe your situation.

How to apply for a TRC in Poland: MOS step by step

Since 27 April 2026 an application for a temporary residence permit is filed only electronically through MOS (*Moduł Obsługi Spraw*), the Office for Foreigners' online case system. An application filed any other way is left unexamined, art. 106c of the amendment introducing MOS.

1. Apply in time — no later than the last day of your legal stay, art. 105. The last day of your visa, visa-free stay or previous permit is the last day to apply.
2. Fill in the form in MOS and attach a current photo and scans of every page of a valid passport, art. 106d.
3. The employer's or university's annex is completed by them: MOS sends them a link to the email address given in the application, and they sign the annex with their own signature.
4. Supporting documents — contract, insurance, proof of income, a document on your housing — can be attached at once as scans.
5. Sign the application with a qualified electronic signature or a trusted profile (*profil zaufany*). The application counts as filed once it is signed and an official confirmation of receipt has arrived.
6. Get the certificate (*zaświadczenie*) of filing through MOS. While the case is pending, your stay is legal until the decision becomes final, art. 108.
7. Attend when summoned — no earlier than 7 days after the summons is delivered — with your passport, to give fingerprints and a specimen signature, art. 106e.
8. Present documents when summoned, within a time limit of at least 14 days, art. 106f — including the originals of those you attached as scans.

The main risk is step 7. If you do not attend on a proper summons, do not give fingerprints or a signature, or do not show your passport, the proceedings are discontinued, art. 106i. Summonses do not arrive in MOS but through e-Doręczenia (electronic delivery) or by registered letter, and a letter not collected is treated as delivered after 14 days — see how to check your case status.

Children under 6 give no fingerprints and need not attend; under 13 they give no signature. The voivode's office is obliged to help you file the application.

Documents for a residence permit in Poland by ground

The voivode names the exact list for your case in the summons, and the time allowed for documents is at least 14 days. The full MOS lists for each ground, the photo requirements and annex no. 1 are in the entry on documents for a residence card. Before refusing, the voivode must tell you which conditions are missing and give you time to respond, art. 79a of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

How much a Poland residence card costs

Amounts and exemptions follow the annex to the Stamp Duty Act; the card fee follows the MOS explanation. Exempt from the temporary residence fee are, among others, victims of human trafficking and several other categories.

For applications filed from 5 March 2026 the fee is not refunded if the voivode refuses the permit or discontinues the proceedings, art. 113c of the Act on Foreigners; the same applies to changing a work-based permit, art. 120c. So missing the fingerprint appointment costs not only the case but also 340 or 440 zł.

TRC processing time in Poland

Under the act, a decision on temporary residence is issued within 60 days — counted from a complete application, or from the documents the voivode requested, art. 112a.

But at the voivode time limits in residence cases are suspended until 4 March 2027, art. 100d of the Act on assistance to citizens of Ukraine. This applies to all foreigners, not only Ukrainians, and a complaint about delay has no basis during this period. How to check your case status and what to do if it has stalled is covered in a separate entry.

What a residence card gives you: travel, work, further status

• Legal stay in Poland for the length of the permit.
• Crossing the border without a visa, together with your passport, art. 242.
• Travel in the Schengen area. According to the Podlaskie Voivode's Office — up to 90 days in any 180, with a valid passport and sufficient means.
• Work — freely or as set in the decision, depending on the ground.
• A path to permanent residence. Years on temporary permits count towards the 5 years needed for EU long-term resident status.
• Buying a home. A foreigner buys a flat without a permit; for a house with land, a temporary residence permit is one of the ties to Poland needed for a permit from the Ministry of the Interior (MSWiA).
• Driving licence. A foreign licence is valid in Poland for 6 months from the start of your stay; after that it is exchanged for a Polish one.

The filing certificate (*zaświadczenie*) is not a card. It confirms legal stay while the case is pending, but it gives no right to cross the border: you can leave, but you cannot come back on it — you need your own visa or visa-free entry.

Refusal and loss of a residence permit

Proceedings will not be opened if on the day you apply you already hold a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status, you are under temporary protection (except the five grounds for UKR), or you are outside Poland, art. 99.

The permit will be refused, art. 100, if among other things:

• the conditions of the purpose are not met;
• you are on the list of foreigners whose stay is undesirable, or in the SIS;
• the application contains false information or documents;
• you have tax arrears;
• the application was filed during an illegal stay.

The permit is withdrawn if the purpose of stay has ended or the conditions have stopped being met, art. 101. So withdrawal can follow from a job lost for longer than the 30 days of grace, a divorce on a marriage-based permit, or being struck off a university's roll on a study permit. If a refusal is already final or the card has expired, every day counts — what to do in each of these situations is set out in the entry on deportation from Poland.

An appeal against a refusal is filed within 14 days of the decision being delivered, through the voivode, to the Head of the Office for Foreigners (*Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców*). What to write in the appeal, how long it takes and what happens after a final refusal is covered in the entry on a refused residence card.

A refusal, a withdrawal or a summons you cannot meet — describe your case.

From a temporary residence card to permanent residence and citizenship

A temporary residence permit expires by itself on the day you receive another temporary permit, a permanent one, EU resident status or citizenship, art. 102. So the new application is filed before the old permit ends, not after.

Residence card and life in Poland: every situation in its own entry

This page is the general map. Each situation below is taken separately, article by article and with the date it was checked.

How to check this yourself in ten minutes

1. Open the consolidated text of the Act on Foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079: art. 98 — length, arts. 99–101 — refusals and withdrawal, art. 114 — work, art. 142 — business, arts. 158–159 — family, arts. 186–187 — other circumstances.
2. In the same act, arts. 119–123 — changing employer and the 30 days without work.
3. Open the amendment Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794, art. 1 points 11–12: filing through MOS (arts. 105–106d) and discontinuance for failure to attend (art. 106i).
4. Open the act Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, art. 3: who works without a work permit.
5. Open the act Dz.U. 2026 poz. 203, art. 45: the five grounds for UKR status; art. 12 — no refund of the fee.
6. Open the regulation Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242: the minimum wage of 4806 zł.

Frequently asked questions about the Poland residence card

When a residence card is not a simple case

Filing for a work-based card yourself is realistic if the employer is reliable, the pay is above 4806 zł, you have the documents in hand and you can file before your legal stay ends. It is different if:

• your legal stay ends in a few days;
• you are on UKR status and choosing between CUKR and a work-based card;
• your employer changed or you lost your job while the case was pending;
• the ground is marriage or family and there are questions about documents from abroad;
• a refusal or withdrawal has arrived, or the case was discontinued for failure to attend.

Here a mistake costs not only the fee but your legal stay. Describe your situation in the form below, and our partner in Poland — a consultancy that handles foreigners' residence cases — will read it.