Documents issued to foreigners – general information

Documents issued to foreigners – general information

Foreigners staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland are issued with various types of documents, the purpose of which is primarily to confirm the identity of their holder and the rights related to their stay in Poland (most often confirmation of having a residence title specified in the law). Depending on the legal regime applicable to a given category of foreigners (in the sense of persons who do not have Polish citizenship), the legal regulations regarding the documents issued to them are specified in the Act of 14 July 2006 on entry into the territory of the Republic of Poland, stay and exit from this territory of citizens of the Member States of the European Union and their family members and in the Act of 12 December 2013 on foreigners.

The categories of persons whose residence status in Poland is subject to the provisions of the Act on Entry to, Stay and Exit from the Territory of the Republic of Poland of Citizens of the Member States of the European Union and their family members (in accordance with Article 1 of that Act) are:

• nationals of Member States of the European Union and their family members who join or reside with them,

• nationals of the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Kingdom of Norway, i.e., the Member States of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) which are also parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and their family members who join or reside with them,

• nationals of the Swiss Confederation and members of their families who join or reside with them,

• nationals of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who, until 31 December 2020, exercised a right of residence in a Member State of the European Union in accordance with Union law and continue to reside there, i.e., nationals of that state referred to in Article 10(1)(b) and (d) of the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their family members referred to in Article 10(1)(e) and (f) of the above-mentioned agreement,

• family members of citizens of the Republic of Poland who are not citizens of the European Union, joining or staying with these citizens of the Republic of Poland and meeting the conditions listed in Article 2 point 4 (b) of the Act on entry into, stay and exit from the territory of citizens of the Member States of the European Union and their family members.

The above-mentioned persons are issued with the following documents:

1) certificate of registration of residence of an EU citizen (with the annotation: "Directive 2004/38/EC") – this document confirms the right of residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland by a citizen of the European Union;

2) certificate of registration of residence (with the annotations: "Article 50 TEU" and "Article 18(4) of the Withdrawal Agreement") – this document confirms the right of residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland by a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is a beneficiary of the Agreement on the Withdrawal of that country from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, including a citizen of this country who is a frontier worker, referred to in Article 9(.b) of the Withdrawal Agreement (in this case, the certificate shall contain the annotation: "Article 50 TEU – frontier worker") ;

3) residence card (with the annotation: "family member of an EU citizen, Article 10 of Directive 2004/38/EC") – this document confirms the possession of a right of residence by a family member of a European Union citizen;

4) residence card (with the annotation: "Article 50 TEU" and "Article 18(4) of the Withdrawal Agreement") – this document confirms the possession of a right of residence by a family member of a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who is a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement of that country from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community;

5) document confirming the right of permanent residence (with the annotation: "Directive 2004/38/EC") – this document confirms the possession of the right of permanent residence by a citizen of the European Union;

6) a document confirming the right of permanent residence (with the annotations: "Article 50 TEU" and "Article 18(4) of the Withdrawal Agreement") – this document confirms the possession of the right of permanent residence by a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement of that country from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community;

7) permanent residence permit (with the annotation: "family member of an EU citizen, Article 20 of Directive 2004/38/EC") – this document confirms the right of permanent residence by a family member of a European Union citizen;

8) permanent residence permit (with the annotations: "Article 50 TEU" and "Article 18(4) of the Withdrawal Agreement") – this document confirms the possession of the right of permanent residence by a family member of a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement of that country from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community.

Foreigners who are citizens of third countries, whose residence status is not subject to the provisions of the Act of 14 July 2006 on entry into the territory of the Republic of Poland, residence and exit from this territory of citizens of the Member States of the European Union and their family members, documents are issued, as a rule, on the basis of the Act of 12 December 2013 on foreigners.

These are the following documents:

1) residence permit – this document, if it is issued on the basis of the provisions of the Act on Foreigners, confirms that the foreigner has a residence title in the form of:

• temporary residence permit,

• permanent residence permits,

• residence permit for a long-term EU resident,

• permission to stay for humanitarian reasons;

2) Polish travel document for a foreigner – this document, during its validity period, entitles the foreigner to cross the border multiple times;

3) Polish foreigner's identity document – this document confirms the identity of the foreigner, and it can be issued:

• a minor foreigner born on the territory of the Republic of Poland and staying in this territory without the care of their parents (if this is not opposed by the interest of the Republic of Poland and the best interests of the child speak for it),

• a foreigner who stays on the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a certificate confirming the existence of a presumption that they are victims of human trafficking,

• a foreigner who resides on the territory of the Republic of Poland and does not have any citizenship (if the interest of the Republic of Poland speaks for it),

– if the foreigner does not have a travel document and it is not possible for them to obtain another document confirming their identity.

4) temporary Polish travel document for a foreigner – this document, depending on the purpose for which it was issued, entitles the foreigner to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland once or to leave the territory of the Republic of Poland;

5) document "consent to tolerated stay" – this document confirms that the foreigner has a residence title in the form of a permit for tolerated stay.

A special category of foreigners are persons applying for international protection on the territory of the Republic of Poland, to whom the provisions of the Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to foreigners on the territory of the Republic of Poland apply*. Based on this Act, documents are also issued to foreigners, i.e.:

• residence permit – this document, if it is issued on the basis of the provisions of the Act on granting protection to foreigners on the territory of the Republic of Poland, confirms that the foreigner has the status of a refugee or subsidiary protection;

• travel document provided for in the Geneva Convention – this document is issued to a foreigner who has been granted refugee status and entitles them to travel outside the territory of the Republic of Poland;

• temporary certificate of identity of a foreigner – this document confirms the identity of the foreigner during their stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland and entitles them and the minor children covered by this certificate to stay on the territory of the Republic of Poland to complete the procedure for granting international protection by a final decision.

* Detailed information on the procedures for granting international protection to foreigners and the documents issued in connection with these procedures can be found on the website of the Office for Foreigners.