Once you arrive in Poland, you may want to consider your next steps to ensure your stay remains legal. The rules that regulate the extension of your stay are quite different from those that apply to your first visit.
This is the second part of a series of articles on legalizing your stay in Poland. It focuses on situations when you are already on Polish territory. If you are looking for information on how to visit Poland, please check out the first article here: https://kancelariakamler.pl/en/legalizing-your-stay-in-poland-part-1-how-to-legally-come-to-poland/
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How to stay longer in Poland?
So you are in Poland already and would like to prolong your stay. The default way to do this is by applying for a temporary residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy).
As it was explained in the previous article, residence permit is NOT a visa. You typically apply for a visa if you are outside of Poland. Once you are in Poland, the normal way to prolong your stay is to apply for a residence permit.
To receive a temporary residence permit, you should apply to the Voivodeship Office (Urząd Wojewódzki). Please mind that you cannot pick and choose just any Voivodeship Office. It has to be the one located in the voivodeship region determined by your residence address.
The temporary residence permit may be issued for up to 3 years (although the exact duration will depend on the type of permit and the circumstances of your case).
When applying for it, you have to choose the right kind of temporary residence permit based on the reason of your stay.
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Types of Residence Permits
The options are as follows: (all of the below are temporary residence permits)
- Residence and work permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę) – you can apply for it if you are employed by a Polish company or if a Polish company declares they will hire you; it is issued for up to 3 years.
- Residence permit for the purpose of performing work in a profession that requires high qualifications – also known as EU Blue Card (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu wykonywania pracy w zawodzie wymagającym wysokich kwalifikacji – Niebieska Karta UE) – similar to the above permit, but with additional requirements and benefits – you can find more details on this here: https://kancelariakamler.pl/en/what-are-the-requirements-for-a-blue-card-in-2023/
- Residence permit for the purpose of conducting business activity (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu prowadzenia działalności gospodarczej) – you can apply for this permit if you are an owner or a management board member of a company registered in Poland; it is issued for up to 3 years;
- Residence permit based on studies (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu kształcenia się na studiach) – you can get one if you are admitted or continue studies at a Polish university; if you are on the 1st year of studies, it is issued for a fixed duration of 15 months it is issued for the duration of the studies; if you are on 2nd year or later, then it is issued for the remaining time of your studies, but no longer the 3 years;
- Residence permit for a family member – also known as family reunification residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy dla członka rodziny) – this permit can be applied for by either a spouse (wife or husband) or a minor child of a foreigner who already lives in Poland; it is issued for up to 3 years, but its validity usually cannot be longer than the residence permit of the family member on whom it is based;
- Residence permit for the purpose of scientific research (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu prowadzenia badań naukowych) –you can get this permit if you have a professional title of master’s degree or its equivalent and you conduct scientific research project based on an agreement with an institution based in Poland; it is issued for the duration of the project, up to 3 years;
- Residence permit based on internship (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy dla stażysty) – you can receive it if you are graduated from a university within last 2 years or you are a student of a university located outside of EU and you will participate in an internship; the internship organizer must be approved by the minister responsible for internal affairs; the permit can be issued for up to 6 months;
- Residence permit based on volunteering (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy dla wolontariusza) – this permit can be obtained if you are going to perform charity work for an institution approved by the minister responsible for internal affairs; the permit can be issued for up to 1 year;
- Residence permit based on other circumstances (Zezwolenia ze względu na inne okoliczności) – this permit is granted when you don’t meet the requirements for standard permits like those based on work, business or studies family; to receive it you are required to prove you have a specified reason of stay that is real and valid for more then 3 months; although there are potentially a lot of such reasons can be provided, please mind that the Voivodeship Office is much more strict when it comes to recognizing them as valid; the duration of this kind of permit can be up to 3 years, but usually it is granted for shorter periods of time (especially comparing to more standard residence permits).
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Is it possible to get a visa while staying in Poland?
As long as you stay in Poland, the standard way of prolonging your stay is applying for a residence permit.
So normally you cannot apply for a new visa while in Poland. If you want to get a new visa, you would need to leave Poland and apply for it at a Polish consulate at your country of origin (you can read more about this here: https://kancelariakamler.pl/en/legalizing-your-stay-in-poland-part-1-how-to-legally-come-to-poland/).
However, in special circumstances, it is possible to apply for an extension of a visa that you were granted before. This is only possible as an exception if there is an important professional or personal reason or if there are humanitarian reasons that make it impossible for you to leave Poland before the expiry date of the visa.
Such reasons must also be both beyond your control and impossible to foresee.
As you may suspect, visa extensions are very rare. You can apply for them only in the most exceptional circumstances.
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So, now you have a temporary residence permit. What next?
When your temporary residence permit will be coming to an end, you can apply for another temporary residence permit. It is worth mentioning, that every time you apply for a temporary residence permit, you have to provide a full set of documents – as if it is your first temporary residence permit. There is no such thing in Poland as an extension of a temporary residence permit – every time you apply, you have to do the whole process all over again.
Every time you get a new temporary residence permit, it can be issued for a period of up to 3 years.
However, there are residence permits that allow you to stay in Poland indefinitely – without a need of applying over and over again. There are currently two such permits:
- Permanent residence permit,
- Long term EU residence permit.
But more on that in the next article!
Would you like to know more? Do you need assistance with applying for a residence permit or you would like to consult any legal questions?
Feel free to contact us and take advantage of our services.