Deadlines in the Act

  • Temporary residence - the decision is issued within 60 days (Art. 112a para. 1 of the Act on Foreigners).
  • Permanent residence - within 6 months (Art. 210 para. 1).
  • EU long-term resident residence - within 6 months (Art. 222d para. 1).
  • Appeal - appeal proceedings before the Head of the Office for Foreigners end within 90 days (Art. 112a para. 4, Art. 210 para. 3 and Art. 222d para. 3).

These deadlines concern the decision, not the card. The card is issued after the decision - see what happens after the decision.

When the deadline starts

The deadline does not run from the day you send the application in MOS. For temporary residence it counts from the last of these events (Art. 112a para. 2):

  1. the application has no formal defects or you have removed them,
  2. you have delivered the documents the voivode summoned you to deliver, or the deadline set in the summons has passed.

The voivode gives at least 14 days to deliver documents (Art. 106f). The deadline is counted in the same way for permanent residence and EU resident residence (Art. 210 para. 2 and Art. 222d para. 2).

An application submitted before 27 April 2026 is examined under the former rules (Art. 12 of the Act of 21 November 2025 amending the Act on Foreigners). In such a case the deadline also counts from the day of personal appearance at the office.

What prolongs the case

The deadline does not include, among other things (Art. 35 para. 5 of the Code of Administrative Procedure):

  • deadlines for actions provided for in the regulations,
  • the period of suspension of the proceedings,
  • delays through the fault of a party or for reasons independent of the office.

The deadline starts later when the application has defects or when you deliver documents at the end of the set deadline. Respond to summonses at once - see summons to supplement.

The voivode examines first the applications of people admitted to a doctoral school and of researchers from academic universities, institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences and research institutes (Art. 112a para. 3b).

When the deadline has passed

If the office does not issue the decision on time, it must notify you of this. It gives the reason for the delay and a new deadline and informs you of the right to file a reminder (Art. 36 para. 1 of the Code of Administrative Procedure). A reminder filed before the deadline has passed is left unexamined (Art. 37 para. 3a). Details: the case is taking too long.

You can check the stage of the case at the office - see case status.

Your stay while waiting

If you submitted the application on time and without formal defects, your stay is legal until the day the decision becomes final (Art. 108 para. 1 point 2). See: legal stay after submitting an application. We write about work and travel during this time in the guides working while waiting and leaving Poland while waiting.