Office for Foreigners

On 29 July 2022, the Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of 26 July 2022 on fees charged in the Republic of Poland to foreigners for the issue and replacement of documents that can be issued to foreigners and the procedure for their payment entered into force (JoL, item 1583).* The document sets out the new rates of fees charged for the issuance or replacement of:

• residence card;
• Polish travel document issued to a foreigner;
• Polish identity document issued to a foreigner;
• the ‘permit for tolerated stay’ document.

Currently, the fee rate for issuing or replacing the document reflects:

• for residence cards (including residence cards issued automatically directly after the granting of a temporary residence permit, permanent residence permit, long-term resident’s residence permit of the European Union) – PLN 100;
• for Polish travel document issued to a foreigner – PLN 350;
• for Polish identity document issued to a foreigner – PLN 100;
• for ‘permit for tolerated stay’ document – PLN 100.

At present, the fee rate for replacing a document if it is lost or destroyed through the fault of the foreigner reflects:

• for residence card – PLN 200;
• for Polish travel document issued to a foreigner – PLN 700;
• for Polish identity document issued to a foreigner – PLN 200;
• for ‘permit for tolerated stay’ document – PLN 200.

At present, the fee rate for replacing a document if it is lost or destroyed once again through the fault of the foreigner reflects:

• for residence card – PLN 300;
• for Polish travel document issued to a foreigner – PLN 1050;
• for Polish identity document issued to a foreigner – PLN 300;
• for ‘permit for tolerated stay’ document – PLN 300.

The fee for the issuance of a temporary Polish travel document to a foreigner has not changed compared to the previous legal status and amounts to PLN 50.

Fees continue to be paid either at the issuing authority’s cash register or to its bank account.

If an application for the issue or replacement of a document has been submitted before the date of entry into force of the regulation, i.e. by 28 July 2022 at the latest, the issuance or replacement of that document will be charged with the current rate of fee. For example, in the case of issuing a residence card at the request of a foreigner (e.g. another residence card for a foreigner who has a permanent residence permit or a residence card for a foreigner who has been granted a residence permit for humanitarian reasons), the current rate was PLN 50.

The first residence cards issued immediately after the granting of a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit and a residence permit for a long-term EU resident are, as a rule, issued by the voivodes automatically (also if such a permit was granted by the Head of the Office for Foreigners as a higher level authority in relation to the voivode). In this case, the application of the fee rate for issuing a residence card will depend on the date of submitting the application for a residence permit to the voivode.

If such an application was submitted before the date of entry into force of the new regulation, the existing fee rate for issuing a residence card (which is PLN 50) will apply. If it is submitted after the date of entry into force of the new regulation, a fee of PLN 100 will be charged for the automatic issue of a residence card after the permit was granted.

In some cases, the first residence cards are issued by the voivodes not automatically, but at the request of the foreigners. This applies to cases where the foreigner was granted:

• a temporary residence permit for the purpose of family reunification; and the foreigner who obtains this permit was residing outside the territory of Poland on the day the application for this permit was submitted (the application was submitted on their behalf by a family member they join);
• a permanent residence permit for a member of the repatriate’s immediate family;
• a temporary residence permit for the purpose of performing work under the intra-corporate transfer (Art. 139a(1) of the Act on foreigners);
• a temporary residence permit for the long-term mobility of a managerial staff member, specialist or trainee under the intra-corporate transfer (Art. 139o(1) of the Act on foreigners);
• a temporary residence permits pursuant to Article 160(1), (3), (4) or (6) of the Act on foreigners (certain family members of citizens of Poland, Member States of the European Union, Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation or certain citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

In that case, the date of submission of the foreigner’s application for this document (already after the permit has been granted) will be decisive in determining the rate of the fee for issuing the first residence card.

Fees for the issuance and replacement of documents for foreigners are collected on the basis of Article 235(1) of the Act on foreigners and constitute revenue for the state budget. These fees are independent of the stamp duty for the granting of a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit or a residence permit for a long-term resident of the European Union, the granting of which subsequently entails the issue of a residence card by the voivode.

No fee is charged for the issue or replacement of documents in the following cases:

1. issuance of the first residence card to a foreigner who has been granted refugee status, subsidiary protection or a residence permit for humanitarian reasons;
2. issuance of the first residence card to a foreigner who has been granted a permanent residence permit for a member of the repatriate’s immediate family;
3. issuance of the first residence card to a foreigner who has been granted a temporary residence permit as a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and who until 31 December 2020 performed work on the territory of the Republic of Poland as an employee delegated by a foreign employer to the territory of the Republic of Poland (Article 186(1)(8) of the Act on foreigners);
4. issuance of the first residence card to a foreigner who has been granted a temporary residence permit as a holder of a national visa issued for humanitarian purposes and who holds citizenship of the Republic of Belarus (Article 186(1)(9) of the Act on foreigners);
5. issuance of the first residence card to a foreigner who has been granted a permanent residence permit pursuant to Article 195(1)(10) of the Act on foreigners;
6. issuance or replacement of a technically defective document;
7. automatic issuance of the Polish identity document to a foreign minor;
8. issuance of the temporary Polish travel document to a relocated or resettled foreigner or in the event of the forced enforcement of a decision on the foreigner’s obligation to return;
9. the replacement of a residence card issued to a foreigner who has been granted a long-term residence permit for a European Union resident after having previously obtained international protection in one of the Member States of the European Union, because of the need to change the content of the annotation in that document indicating which Member State currently grants protection to that foreigner.

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* Issued pursuant to Article 239(1) of the Act of 12 December 2013 on foreigners (JoL of 2021, item 2354 as amended). It has replaced the existing Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of 25 April 2014 on fees charged in the Republic of Poland to foreigners for the issue and replacement of documents that can be issued to foreigners and the procedure for their payment entered into force (JoL, of Laws item 563 as amended).