If before starting to fill in the application you do not learn the rules regarding how the application should be completed, nor ensure that you meet the specified requirements, you risk making an error. In MOS we have included a number of pieces of information and tips that will allow you to submit the application correctly. You will thus avoid

If you are not sure about your legal situation and to not know whether and for what permit to apply

If you know what type of residence permit you want to obtain, before filling in the application, read the information on

An application for a residence permit should, as a rule, be submitted no later than on the last day of legal residence in Poland.So if you start preparing to make a last-minute application,it may be thatyou will not be able to do it in time.

You can now submit your application via the MOS portal, without having to make an appointment to visit the provincial office in advance. However, you still need to prepare the necessary attachments and a digital photograph in advance, which you will send with your application.

Please note that in order to be able to submit an application you must have an account with the MOS and have a trusted profile or qualified electronic signature.

Already at the stage of sending your application at the MOS you should also, as a rule, have the other documents on which the granting of the residence permit depends. You may need them when filling in your application and it may take you longer than expected to collect them. Obtaining the documents may involve travelling to your country of origin (e.g. to obtain travel documents, civil status certificates), completing certain time-consuming procedures (e.g. obtaining information from the district governor) or exchanging correspondence.

When filling in the application, you are obliged toexercise due diligence, which means that you should includeup-to-date, complete and truthful information.

If you provide inaccurate personal data or false information in your application, or if you try to conceal certain information, you have to reckon with the fact that your permit may not be granted or may be revoked on these grounds. In additionyou face the consequences of a criminal nature.

Be aware of the information and data provided in the application, the documentation to be attached and the statements to be made,are subject to routine verification by the authorities,and, in the event of any doubt as to their credibility, thoroughly checked.

The application must state the place of actual residence on the territory of Poland. This refers to indicating the actual place of residence, not the address where correspondence will be received or at which the foreigner will sometimes be seen (e.g., during visits).

Do not confuse the place of residence with the registered address – although both addresses should generally be consistent due to the registration obligation existing in Poland, which also applies to foreigners.

In the section on criminal records, information should be provided on spent convictions that have not been erased, and in the section on pending criminal proceedings or misdemeanour proceedings, information should be provided on all pending proceedings (e.g. on unprosecuted fines).

If you are not sureif a conviction has been handed down, indicate on the application that the proceedings are still pending and, if you have doubts about the expungement of the conviction before the application is madecheck whether your details are on the National Criminal Register.

Remember! - payment of a fine does not mean that no criminal proceedings have been initiated and no sentence has been passed in the case.

It is a mistake to think that criminality is only a sentence of absolute imprisonmentand only such should be mentioned in the application. A judgment providing for the conditional suspension of a prison sentence, unless it has been erased, should also be included. Likewise, a warrant sentence, which also implies a criminal record (payment of a fine does not automatically mean that the foreigner is a person with no criminal record).

If the judgment provided for other penal measures such as a prohibition to practice a certain profession, a prohibition to carry out a business activity, a prohibition to drive a vehicle, an advance payment, an obligation to make good damages, etc., it is necessary to list these measures. 

Selectionof this purposeaffects the type of authorisation that may be granted.It is the applicant, not the authority, that determines request by submitting a specific application. The authority examining the foreigner's application should not and cannot determine this request on its own.

The authority may present the benefits of a permit other than the one selected by the foreigner (e.g. related to the simplification of the procedure or less restrictive requirements or the perspective of settling in Poland/obtaining the citizenship of the Republic of Poland), but cannot make the choice of this permit for him/her. If, for example, the foreigner meets the requirements for granting a permanent residence permit due to holding a valid Card of the Pole, the authority accepting the application for a temporary residence permit should inform him/her of the existence of such a possibility, and the foreigner has the right to use this possibility or not, without giving reasons.

When selecting this target, it is important to in the first instance, bear in mind the possibility of meeting the criteria to the granting of a particular type of permit (analysing the possibility of initiating a particular procedure, the grounds for refusing to grant a permit and the possibility of fulfilling the specific conditions for granting it), andonly afterwards to consider the criterion of advantageousness. 

Sending an application for a residence permit in MOS is conditional on signing the application with a trusted signature, qualified electronic signature or personal signature through login.gov.pl – which currently eliminates the risk submission of an application that was not signed.

Application signed by the person authorised to to so, a nie attorney/proxy takiej osoby.

The signature on the residence application submitted in MOS is provided by:

• an adult foreigner to whom the application pertains;
• the parent of the minor foreigner – on behalf of that minor foreigner;
  
• guardian of the foreigner – on behalf of that foreigner;
  
• guardian of an unaccompanied minor foreigner - on behalf of that unaccompanied minor foreigner.

The foreigner submits an application to the MOS, among others.together with a digital photograph (JPG format).

It must not be any photograph - it must not be of another person, it must not have been taken earlier than within the last 6 months, it must be in colour, have good sharpness, a resolution of at least 684 x 883 pixels and a size not exceeding 2.5 MB, so that the photograph retains proportions corresponding to a 35 x 45 mm photographand meet further criteria set out in the legislation.

Unless the photograph is automatically rejected by the system, making it impossible to submit the application itself in the MOS, the foreigner will be called upon by the governor to produce a suitable, therefore compliant photograph, and if he or she does not comply with the call, the application will be left unprocessed.

After sending the application at the MOSthe foreigner is obliged to present himself at the seat of the provincial office (or its delegation or other place, if any), as requested by the governor. If he or she fails to do so, and is not relieved of the need to fulfil this obligation, or if he or she appears when summoned but fails to complete the necessary steps, the governorwill discontinue these proceedings.

Exempted from the obligation to appear

• minor up to the age of 6, but the parent, guardian or custodian must appear at the provincial office when summoned to present the minor's travel document.

• persons who, due to illness or disability, are unable to fulfil this obligation, as evidenced by a medical certificate issued by a competent medical practitioner no more than 3 months prior to the submission of the application.

Purpose of the visit to the provincial office

The foreigner and the attorney should remember thatshare responsibility for the quality of this cooperation with the authority and the timing of the application.This time limit begins to run from the moment the complete application for the case is submitted with all the necessary attachments and evidence.

While the provincial governor, having accepted the application, is obliged to exhaustively collect and consider all the evidence, a party is not relieved from loyal cooperation in clarifying the circumstances of the case.Indeed, in administrative proceedings, the principle applies thatthe burden of proof rests with the one who derives legal consequences from a given fact.

To avoid missed deadlines and their consequences,receive and reply to the correspondence sent by the office in the manner indicated. It contains key information and instructions on the steps to be taken, in a given case.

In the case of,if the call is not understood,the foreigner should not remain passive - he shouldask the authority to clarify it. If, on the other hand, he assesses them as unfounded - he should seek to ascertain what the reason for the referral is (whether it is the result of an error in the assessment of the evidence provided, or whether the question of the documentation provided is in dispute). 

By ignoring the summons of the authority, the foreigner is in fact harming himself, not only in that it prolongs the proceedings, but may prejudge their outcome.

The Voivodship Administrative Court in Wrocław, in its judgment of 5 June 2014, ref. II SAB/Wr 29/14, clearly defined the procedure to be followed by a state administration body when a party ignores the body's summons to perform a certain action, stating:„Where an administrative authority requests a party to take a specific step or provide information and the party fails to reply, the authority cannot wait 'indefinitely' for a reply, which may never be forthcoming, but, after the expiry of a period of time which should have been given to the party to provide the relevant information or take a specific step, it should close the case, even if the absence of the expected reply may have a significant effect on the outcome of the case.”.

When changing the address for service, the foreigner and the appointed attorney must remember their obligation to notify the authority of this fact. In the event of failure to fulfil this obligation, the letter shall be deemed to have been served at the previous address known to the authority.

If during proceedings the foreigner leaves the territory of Poland, they are required to appoint a representative for service of documents in the country — i.e. a person who will receive correspondence addressed to them during their absence.

Make sure it is legal before you start working in Poland.To do so, refer to the information available in the MOS under the category 'Doing the job', among others. 

Do not rely on hearsay and unverified informationregarding the possibility for foreigners to work in Poland, as even seemingly insignificant differences in the situation of two foreigners may result in one being entitled to work in Poland and the other not. For example, the fact that a foreigner is the spouse of a citizen of the Republic of Poland does not automatically and spontaneously mean that he/she is entitled to perform work in the procedure for applying for a residence permit.

In case of doubtconcerning the interpretation of the provisions governing foreigners' access to the labour market, to requestfor clarification to the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, in accordance with its jurisdiction.

Performing work in contravention of the regulations is punishable by a sanction of in the form of imposing a fine of not less than PLN 1,000 on the foreigner and issuing a decision on the foreigner's obligation to return. The consequences of issuing such a decision may be extremely acute for the foreigner.

Appeals against decisions on residence permits are lodged in writing to the Head of the Office for Foreigners, through the voivode who has refused the residence permit in question. This means thatthe appeal shall be sent to the address of that governor (and not the address of the UdSC registry office), for example by addressing it as follows:

The appeal shall be directed through the governor,to enable the governor to familiarise himself with the content of the allegations the grounds of appeal and the reasons for the annulment or modification of the decision, including the documentation submitted in support thereof.

If the appeal is sent directly to the Head of the Office for Foreigners, the latter, acting in accordance with the regulations, will be forced to send it back, together with the attachments, to the provincial governor, according to his/her jurisdiction. Thus, proceeding to the consideration of the appeal itself will be postponed.

It should be noted that appeals in cases of work permits, which are also issued by provincial governors, nevertheless require an appeal to the minister responsible for labour (Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy).

AT THE MOSin the section "Fill in the online application" ("Other applications") an appeal template is available to facilitate the drawing up of the appeal, including removing the risk of mislabeling the body.

The appeal should be submitted within the deadline, which is 14 days from the date of delivery of the first-instance authority's decision.

In the event of failure to comply with this deadline, it may only be restored if the foreigner demonstrates that the failure to comply with the deadline occurred without his fault, and the application for restoration of the deadline is submitted no later than 7 days after the cessation of the cause of the failure. The appeal that was not submitted within the deadline must be attached to the application for restoration of the deadline. The deadline for the restoration of the deadline for filing an appeal cannot be restored.

Appeal should allow identification of the person submitting it, in this regard, be signed (legibly) by it and contain at least the name and surname and full address of the person submitting it.

Afterwer of attorney

If the appellant is an attorney or proxy, together with the appeal they should present a power of attorney entitling to file an appeal, if not already in the case files, together with the stamp duty. The power of attorney must be submitted in the original or an authenticated copy. The attorney cannot authenticate it himself, unless he is a barrister or legal counsel.

If a foreigner in appeal proceedings does not wish to be further represented by the attorney/proxy who was appointed to represent them before both the first and second instance authority, should revoke the power of attorney. Only from the moment the notification reaches the appellate authority will such a person no longer be treated as an attorney/proxy.

Content of the appeal

The appeal should:

• allow identification of the party (by providing the first name(s) and surname of the foreigner, in accordance with the entry in the travel document, his/her citizenship and date of birth),

• to allow identification of the resolution, from which the appeal is being filed (including by indicating the authority that issued

• should contain a clearly defined request (np. uchylenia decyzji i udzielenia zezwolenia).