Permanent residence card of a family member of an EU citizen

Documents

A family member of an EU citizen who does not have EU citizenship them self, who intends to obtain a permanent residence card, submits to the voivode competent for the place of their residence:

• completed, in accordance with the instruction, the application form for issuing a permanent residence card – under pain of leaving the application unexamined.

  The rules for completing the application are presented in the next stage: "Filling in the application".

• 4 up-to-date photographs that clearly show the foreigner's face, without a hat and obscuring lenses, meeting the detailed criteria defined by law, i.e., undamaged, in colour, with good sharpness; 35 mm x 45 mm; made not earlier than 6 months before the date of submitting the application; showing the face from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders, so that the face covers 70-80% of each photo, against a uniform light background, showing the foreigner facing straight, with open eyes, uncovered hair, with a natural face expression and closed mouth, as well as showing the natural the colour of their skin; clearly showing the foreigner's eyes, especially their pupils, and the foreigner's eye line parallel to the upper edge of the photograph - under pain of not processing the application.

  The regulations allow for a situation in which:

• a foreigner who wears a headgear in accordance with the rules of their religion attaches to the application photographs showing their in this headgear, provided that the headgear cannot cover or distort the oval of the face, and they will attach a declaration of the foreigner on belonging to a religious community;

• a foreigner with congenital or acquired eye defects may attach to the application photographs showing their wearing glasses with dark lenses. In this case, however, they should attach documents confirming the disability, and if it is not possible to present them, submit a declaration of disability,

• the application will be accompanied by photographs with closed eyes, other than a natural expression of the face or with an open mouth, if it is objectively justified (e.g., by their health condition).

• a photocopy of a valid travel document (at the same time presented to the person accepting the application with its original for inspection - under pain of no processing the application);

• Documents confirming a 5-year uninterrupted stay on the territory of Poland and confirming that during this stay, as a family member of an EU citizen at least one of the conditions of stay listed in the Act (as explained in the "Requirements" stage and in the "Residence card" tab - stage: "Requirements"). In the case of permitted stays shorter than 5 years, the documents listed in the "Right of permanent residence" tab – stage "Documents" – in relation to such stays should be presented.

• certificates stating the reasons for interruptions in stay, if they have entered (e.g., medical certificate, certificate from a university) – in any case making the acquisition of the right of permanent residence dependent on uninterrupted residence in Poland.

Remember!

• The documents should be attached in the original or in a copy certified to be a true copy of the original by a notary public or the party's attorney who is an attorney-at-law or legal advisor. Certification of the compliance of the copy with the original may also be done by an authorized employee of the voivodeship office in the administration office, upon presentation of the original document;

• Documents drawn up in a foreign language must be presented together with a sworn translation into Polish. The register of sworn translators is kept by the Ministry of Justice and is available at the link: https://arch-bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/rejestry-i-ewidencje/tlumacze-przysiegli/lista-tlumaczy-przysieglych/search.html

• documents closely related to each other should be presented jointly and remain valid on the date of presentation (copies of marital status records should be issued not earlier than 3 months before submitting the application).