Who signs the application
| Whose application | Who signs | With what signature |
|---|---|---|
| an adult foreigner | the foreigner personally | trusted signature or qualified electronic signature |
| a child | one of the parents or one of the guardians | trusted, qualified or personal signature |
| a fully incapacitated person | the guardian | trusted, qualified or personal signature |
| an unaccompanied minor | the curator | trusted, qualified or personal signature |
Basis: Art. 106d para. 3 of the Act on Foreigners. An application is considered submitted only when it is signed and the person submitting it has received the official confirmation of receipt (Art. 106d para. 6).
Types of signature
- Trusted signature - you make it through Profil Zaufany (Polish government e-ID), which requires a PESEL number. See: Profil Zaufany (Polish government e-ID).
- Qualified electronic signature - you buy it from a qualified trust service provider. Under the eIDAS Regulation it has a legal effect equivalent to a handwritten signature.
- Personal signature - a signature from the Polish identity card with an electronic layer. For applications in MOS it can be used by a parent, guardian or curator, for example a Polish citizen signing a child's application.
What a proxy can do
A proxy does not sign the application for an adult foreigner and does not use the foreigner's MOS account. A proxy can, however:
- be present while you fill in the application, and help check it,
- after the application is submitted, act on your behalf in the proceedings before the voivode - collect letters, reply to summonses, submit explanations and documents.
A proxy cannot attend the office in person for you - fingerprints, a specimen signature and presenting your passport.
A proxy may be a natural person with legal capacity. A power of attorney is granted in writing or recorded in the minutes, and the proxy adds the original or an officially certified copy to the case file (Art. 33 of the Code of Administrative Procedure). Submitting a power of attorney document is subject to a stamp duty of 17 PLN (Act on Stamp Duty, Part IV of the annex).
Leaving Poland during the proceedings
The MOS portal reminds you that if you leave Poland during the proceedings, you should appoint a proxy for service of documents in Poland, who will collect letters. The Code of Administrative Procedure requires this of a party who does not live in Poland, in another EU state, in the EEA or in Switzerland and has no proxy for conducting the case who lives in Poland. Without such a person, letters remain in the case file with the effect of service (Art. 40 paras. 4 and 5).