For­eign­ers

Residence card expired and still no decision? Your stay is still legal

20 Septem­ber 2026

Many for­eign­ers in Poland wait months for a new res­id­ence card. In the mean­time, the old card often ex­pires. This raises the ques­tion: can I still leg­ally stay in Poland, work and re­ceive be­ne­fits? We ex­plain.

1. Your stay is legal

If the ap­plic­a­tion for a fur­ther res­id­ence permit was sub­mit­ted before your cur­rent card ex­pired and had no formal de­fi­cien­cies (or any de­fi­cien­cies were cor­rec­ted on time), your stay re­mains legal until the day the de­cision be­comes final (Art­icle 108(1)(2) of the Act on For­eign­ers).

The proof is the stamp in your pass­port, or the cer­ti­fic­ate or con­firm­a­tion of sub­mis­sion issued by the Voivode­ship Office (MOS). It is a good idea to always carry this doc­u­ment with you.

Re­mem­ber: a legal stay is not the same as the right to work. If you are not exempt from the re­quire­ment to hold a work permit, you still need one (or a no­ti­fic­a­tion or de­clar­a­tion, if that pro­ced­ure ap­plies to you). Your em­ployer must also apply for a permit while you are wait­ing for your res­id­ence card, for ex­ample when you change em­ployer or po­s­i­tion. The stamp or the cer­ti­fic­ate of sub­mis­sion of your res­id­ence ap­plic­a­tion does not by itself give you the right to work.

2. Working without a permit for graduates of Polish schools

A gradu­ate of a Polish sec­ond­ary school (in­clud­ing a post-sec­ond­ary school) who holds doc­u­ments con­firm­ing vo­ca­tional qual­i­fic­a­tions ob­tained in Poland is exempt from the re­quire­ment to hold a work permit (Art­icle 3(5)(2) of the Act on the Con­di­tions for En­trust­ing Work to For­eign­ers).

Im­port­ant: this ex­emp­tion does not re­quire a phys­ical, valid res­id­ence card. It re­quires a legal stay, which during the wait­ing period is en­sured by the stamp or the cer­ti­fic­ate of sub­mis­sion. The two con­di­tions apply in­de­pend­ently of each other.

3. Family benefits

While wait­ing for the de­cision, you can apply for:

  • the 800+ child-rais­ing be­ne­fit,
  • family be­ne­fits, in­clud­ing sup­ple­ments and be­ne­fits re­lated to a child’s dis­ab­il­ity (zasiłek pielęgnacyjny, świad­czenie pielęgnacyjne).

From 1 June 2026, na­tion­als of coun­tries out­side the EU and EFTA re­ceive 800+ only if the parent works in Poland (em­ploy­ment con­tract, busi­ness activ­ity, etc.) and the school-age child at­tends a Polish school. Par­ents of chil­dren with dis­ab­il­it­ies are exempt from the work re­quire­ment.

Attach a doc­u­ment con­firm­ing that you have ap­plied for res­id­ence to your ap­plic­a­tion. If your ap­plic­a­tion is re­fused, you can appeal.

Where can you check your situation?

Zielona Linia (www.zielonalinia.gov.pl) is the of­fi­cial labour market portal of the Min­istry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. It has a sec­tion on em­ploy­ing for­eign­ers and a helpline: 19524. A con­sult­ant will answer ques­tions about your spe­cific case, e.g. an ex­pired card + a sub­mit­ted ap­plic­a­tion + the work permit ex­emp­tion for gradu­ates.

Need help with your doc­u­ments? Write to us – Fun­dacja Finaks.
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