The reform in brief

The Act of 21 November 2025 amending the Act on Foreigners (Journal of Laws 2025, item 1794) was published on 17 December 2025. Among other things, it introduced the electronic submission of residence applications through the MOS system. The provisions entered into force on three dates.

  • 1 January 2026 - provisions for which the Act did not set a later date, for example Art. 58a and 58b of the Act on Foreigners (exceptions to the visa requirement).
  • 1 April 2026 - among others, the first residence card is issued ex officio (Art. 229 para. 2).
  • 27 April 2026 - the day MOS was put into operation, announced by the announcement of the Minister of the Interior and Administration (M.P. 2026, item 370). From that day the provisions on applications submitted in MOS apply.

What MOS changed from 27 April 2026

  • An application online. You submit the application for temporary residence in electronic form through MOS. An application submitted otherwise is left unexamined, with the exception of a few paper cases (Art. 106c paras. 1 and 5). See: how to submit an application in MOS and applications outside MOS.
  • UPO and signature. The application is deemed submitted when it is signed and you receive the official confirmation of receipt (Art. 106d para. 6).
  • A certificate instead of a stamp. The voivode issues a certificate of submitting the application, and not a stamp in the passport (Art. 108 para. 1 point 1). See: UPO and certificate.
  • A visit to the office. A summons for fingerprints, a specimen signature and presenting the passport sets a deadline of not less than 7 days from delivery (Art. 106e para. 1). Failure to appear usually ends in discontinuation of the proceedings (Art. 106i). See: fingerprints and the visit.
  • Documents on summons. The voivode sets a deadline of not less than 14 days for submitting them (Art. 106f).

A new way of counting the deadline

The voivode issues the decision on temporary residence within 60 days (Art. 112a para. 1). The deadline runs from the later of two events: the application has no formal defects, and you have submitted the documents on summons or the deadline for submitting them has expired (Art. 112a para. 2 points 2 and 3). Appearing in person is no longer a condition for the deadline to start running. Details: waiting time for the residence card.

Fees not refunded after a refusal

The Act of 23 January 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 203) introduced from 5 March 2026 the rule that the stamp duty for a temporary residence permit is not refunded after a refusal or discontinuation of the proceedings (Art. 113c of the Act on Foreigners). This applies to fees paid with applications submitted from that day. See: fees for the permit and the card.

Cases initiated before the change

The previous provisions apply to proceedings initiated and not finished before 27 April 2026 (Art. 12 of the Act of 21 November 2025). The reform concerns foreigners submitting applications for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident residence, and their employers who fill in the annexes in MOS. More about the system: MOS, and about the whole procedure: residence card.