Monday, September 9, 2013

Polish temporary residence permit - general information

If you are not EU or EFTA citizen and plan to stay in Poland for a longer time, you should consider, what way of legalisation of your further stay would be most appropriate for you.
If your visa is about to expire, or the period of time you can stay without visa is about to finish, you have two possibilities. The first one is to leave our country and try to legalize abroad your further stay in Poland. The second possibility is to apply for Polish temporary residence permit. Some people call this document "Polish visa", but it is something completely different:

POLISH VISA
POLISH TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT
Can be obtained outside the territory of Poland (in Polish consulate) and, in some very specific situations, when you cross the border.

You can extend it in Poland, but it is possible only in very rare, special cases - for example, when you stay in hospital.

Valid for not more than one year
Can be obtained only in Poland - in relevant Voivodship Office.


Can be extended in Poland  ("extension" means in practice applying for the next residence permit)

Can be valid for up to 3 years (or longer, but only in some specific cases)

To successfully apply for temporary residence permit, you should have an appropriate reason for staying in our country. It can be, for example:

- marriage with Polish citizen
- running here a company
- studying
- family reunion

There is a special procedure for people, that plan to be employed in Poland - they can apply jointly for work permit and residence permit. 


Where can I apply?

You should apply in relevant Voivodship Office (in Polish: Urząd Wojewódzki). For example, if you live in Warsaw, you should apply in Mazovia Voivodship Office (Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki) on Marszałkowska 3/5 St.

It is impossible to apply for the residence permit abroad.

How long before the expiry date of my visa should I apply?

You can submit the application in every moment, provided that you stay here legally. In this case, even if your visa/residence card expires, you can stay in Poland legally until the end of the residence permit procedure. This rule applies also to foreigners, that stay in Poland without visa.

How long will the whole procedure take?

The procedure of applying for residence permit is long and difficult. By law, it should take not more than 2 months, or - in the most complicated cases - not more than 3 months. Be prepared, that you will wait not less than 3 months.

What documents should I submit?

You will have to submit a huge pile of documents, that depend on your reason to stay in Poland. I plan to describe every case (marriage, work, studies etc) more exactly, here I present only basic list of documents, that should be submitted by everybody, no matter what is their reason to stay in Poland:

- the completed application for the temporary residence permit;

- travel document;

- 4 up-to-date (not older than 6 months), color, undestroyed photographs, dimensions: 4,5 cmx3,,5 cm, taken in the last 6 months on a single light background with good focus and clearly showing the eyes and face from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders, so as the face occupies 70%-80% of the photographs; photographs presenting a person without head covering and dark glasses, looking straight ahead with eyes open and natural expression of the face and mouth closed, face cannot be covered with hair;

- confirmation of payment of stamp duty (340 PLN)


You can leave the copies of documents, but all originals should be shown for retrospect 
It is also possible to show transcripts of the documents, attested by a notary.
If you have documents written in foreign language (except passport), you should also deliver their sworn translations.
At the beginning of the procedure there will be taken your fingerprints.

Submitting the documents usually takes not less than 20-30 minutes - be prepared, that the official will study them very carefully. To avoid problems, it is good to do your best to prepare all the papers in an acceptable form. Treat seriously the requirements concerning photographs. They should be professional - printed scans, pictures taken by the machine etc will not be accepted.

If you are in hurry with applying for the residence permit (majority of my clients "wake up" in the last moment:) you don't need to submit all the documents at the very beginning, majority of them can be completed later, during the procedure.

What document will I get, if the whole procedure finishes positively? Residence card?

You will get the "decision" with the information for how long you have received your temporary residence permit. The residence card - your Polish ID document - will be issued after the next 3-4 weeks.
To collect the residence card, you should visit Voivodship Office personally with:

- valid travel document
- the confirmation of stamp duty payment (50 PLN)

Remember, that you can get the "decision" by your authorised proxy, but the residence card must be collected personally! 
The "decision" is a prove, that you stay in Poland legally, but (in contrast to residence card) it doesn't allow you to enter the territory of Poland without visa.

What should I do, if the decision is negative...?

You can make an appeal to the Chief of the Office for Foreigners within the next 14 days after you get the negative decision. Sometimes it happens, that the foreigner just forgot to submit some documents - in this case attaching them to the appeal can be enough to make the decision changed.
If the Chief of the Office for Foreigners sustains the decision, the next step is an appeal to the Administrative Court. You can do it not later than 30 days after you collected the negative decision.

During the procedure be careful, remember to deliver all the documents, don't hesitate to ask questions if something is not clear for you. GOOD LUCK!

Legal basis:  
  • The Act of 30 December 2013 on foreigners (Journal of Laws of 2013., item 1650)

Sunday, September 8, 2013

The list of Schengen Area member states

The list of Schengen Area member states - to make it clear once for all :) :

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark (excluding Greenland and Faroe Islands)
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands (excluding Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Carribean Netherlands)
Norway (excluding Svalbard)
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain (with special provisions for Ceuta and Melilla)
Sweden
Switzerland

It should be noted, that:

Five EU members - Ireland, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania are not in the Schengen Area.

Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are Schengen Area member states, being at the same time non-EU members.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

EU citizens in Poland - registration of stay

   Some citizens of EU member states think, that they can stay in Poland as long as they need without any formalities. Of course it is not true, but fortunately you have not much to do to stay here legally.
   The information below applies not only to the citizens of EU but also to the citizens of Schengen Area states that are not EU members (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland).
   If you don't plan to stay here for longer than 3 months, you don't need to deal with any formalities concerning the legalization of your stay. Buy if you stay here for longer than 3 months, you have a duty to register your stay. To do it, you have to visit personally the territorially competent Voivodship Office and submit an application for the registration of stay in Poland. You should do it not later than on the first day after 3 months of your stay.

Documents necessary for EU citizen's registration of stay: 

- filled application for the registration of stay;
- copy of your travel document (or any other document, that confirms your identity and citizenship);

The rest of needed documents depends on your purpose of stay:

If you work/plan to work in Poland:

- your employer's written declaration on the intention to employ you / employment agreement

If you set up your own business here:

- an excerpt from the national court register or another document confirming, that you run business in Poland
- a resolution of appointment to the post of president/vice-president/member of a management board  (not in every Voivodship Office required)

In case of studies or vocational training:

- a certificate of studies issued by your university / referral to vocational training;
- a document confirming coverage of medical insurance or a document confirming that you have right to benefit from healthcare services pursuant to regulations on coordination of social security systems;
- written declaration on having sufficient financial means to cover yours and your family's costs of living, so as you don't need to benefit from social assistance or documents confirming it (for example, a certificate from bank)

If you are married with Polish citizen:

- a valid certified copy of marriage certificate;
- spouse's ID document

In other cases (like, for example, visiting friend):

- a document confirming coverage of medical insurance / a document confirming that you have right to benefit from healthcare services pursuant to regulations on coordination of social security systems;
- documents that confirm having sufficient financial means to cover yours and your family's costs of living, so as you don't need to benefit from social assistance (for example, a certificate from bank)

   After 15-30 days after submitting the application you will get a certificate of the EU citizen's registration of stay in Poland, valid for the next 5 years. It can be collected by your proxy - you are not obliged to do it personally. On the basis of this document you can obtain a registration of temporary residence ("zameldowanie").
   The procedure of obtaining certificate of registration of EU citizen's stay in Poland is not subject to a stamp duty.
   If you get a negative decision on your case, you can make an appeal to the Chief of the Office for Foreigners within the next 14 days.
   But I think that everything will be OK, because the procedure is not complicated. Good luck!

Legal basis:

  • The Act of 14 July 2006 on entering the territory of the Republic of Poland, staying and exiting from this territory of citizens of the Member States of the European Union and members of their families (Journal of Laws of 2006. No.144, item 1043, with later amendments)