Conditions

A permanent residence permit is granted to a foreigner who has a valid Pole's Card and intends to settle in Poland permanently (Art. 195 para. 1 point 9 of the Act on Foreigners). You do not need to have lived in Poland before on the basis of another permit.

Step by step

  1. You come to Poland, e.g. on a national visa for using the rights of the Pole's Card - without a consular fee (Art. 5 of the Pole's Card Act).
  2. During your legal stay in Poland you submit the permanent residence application in MOS (Art. 202 para. 1 and Art. 203c of the Act on Foreigners) - see how to submit an application in MOS.
  3. You do not pay the stamp duty for the permit - a Pole's Card holder who intends to settle in Poland is exempt (Stamp Duty Act, annex, part III para. 3).
  4. The voivode has 6 months to issue a decision (Art. 210 para. 1).

Once you get the permanent residence permit, your Pole's Card loses validity by law (Art. 20 para. 1a of the Pole's Card Act) - see Pole's Card validity.

Cash benefit

A person who applied for permanent residence on the basis of the Pole's Card can get a benefit to partly cover the costs of settling in and living - for a period of up to 9 months (Art. 8a para. 1).

  • You submit the first benefit application to the same voivode within 3 months of submitting the permanent residence application. An application submitted later will not be examined (Art. 8a paras. 2 and 3).
  • For the first 3 months the benefit is 50% of the minimum wage for you and your spouse and half of that amount for each minor child, and from the 4th to the 9th month - 60% of these amounts (Art. 8c para. 1). The minimum wage in 2026 is 4 806 PLN.
  • Only family members who are with you in Poland count (Art. 8c para. 2). The district head (starosta) pays it monthly (Art. 8b para. 2).
  • After a refusal of permanent residence the payment is suspended, and when the refusal becomes final - the benefit is lost (Art. 8d paras. 2 and 3).

Payments depend on funds in the state budget. When applications reach 75% of the planned amount, the minister announces that examination of applications for that year is suspended (Art. 24c para. 2).

Next: citizenship

After a year of continuous permanent residence obtained on the basis of the Pole's Card, you can apply for recognition as a Polish citizen - see Pole's Card and citizenship.