How to submit a residence permit application in MOS

Before you start

• You must be staying in Poland legally. You submit an application for temporary residence and permanent residence no later than on the last day of your legal stay (Art. 105 para. 1 and Art. 202 para. 1 of the Act on Foreigners). You cannot submit an application in MOS from abroad.
• You need a trusted signature or a qualified electronic signature. See: Profil Zaufany (Polish government e-ID) and signature and proxy.
• Prepare a photo in a JPG file, a scan of all pages of your passport in PDF and - if the application requires it - the e-mail address of your employer.
• Check whether your case has to be submitted on paper: applications outside MOS.

Step by step

1. MOS account. You register an individual account on the portal mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl and log in to it through login.gov.pl. Details: account and login.
2. Form. You choose the type of permit and fill in the application. You can return to a saved application and correct it until you send it.
3. Employer's annex. For some permits, for example temporary residence and work or the EU Blue Card, you enter your employer's e-mail address. MOS sends the employer a link, and the employer fills in and signs the annex. See: Annex No. 1.
4. Photo and scans. You attach a current photo and a scan of all pages of your passport. You can attach the other documents straight away or deliver them at the request of the voivode. See: photo and attachments.
5. Signature. You sign the application with a trusted signature or a qualified electronic signature. For a child, the parent or guardian signs.
6. UPO. The system generates an official confirmation of receipt (UPO). The application is submitted when it is signed and you have the UPO (Art. 106d para. 6). Keep it.
7. Certificate. If the application was submitted on time and has no formal defects (or they were removed on time), the voivode issues a certificate confirming that the application was submitted. See: UPO and certificate.
8. Summonses from the voivode. The voivode summons you to the office for fingerprinting, a specimen signature and presenting your passport - with a deadline of at least 7 days - and to deliver documents - with a deadline of at least 14 days. See: fingerprints.
9. Decision. In a temporary residence case the voivode has 60 days to issue a decision. The period runs from the last of these events: the application is free of formal defects (or the defects were removed) and you have delivered the documents requested in the summons (or the deadline for delivering them has passed) - Art. 112a.

What happens after you send the application

MOS is used to submit the application and to deliver the certificate. According to the information on the MOS portal, the rest of the case is not currently handled through the portal - you receive summonses and the decision in the usual way. That is why, during the proceedings, you must notify the office of every change of address. If you do not, a letter sent to your old address is deemed to have been delivered (Art. 41 of the Code of Administrative Procedure).