Conditions for a Ukrainian citizen

The CUKR card is received by a Ukrainian citizen whose stay is deemed legal under Art. 106 of the Act on Granting Protection to Foreigners. Three conditions must be met together (Art. 42c):

  • on 4 June 2025 they had UKR status,
  • on the day of submitting the application they have UKR status,
  • they had uninterrupted UKR status for at least 365 days.

The MOS portal states that the 365 days do not have to directly precede the day of the application (read on 10 October 2026). The system takes the data on the status from the PESEL register (Art. 42g para. 4). What the UKR status means is described in the guide UKR status and temporary protection.

A child born in Poland

For a child born in Poland to a mother with temporary protection, the conditions are different (Art. 42d). The child must have a legal stay under Art. 106 para. 2 of the Act on Granting Protection to Foreigners and UKR status on the day of the application. The mother must have been issued a CUKR card.

The application for a person without legal capacity or with limited legal capacity is submitted by one of the parents, a guardian, a curator or a temporary guardian (Art. 42f para. 4).

When the voivode refuses the card

The voivode refuses to issue the card when (Art. 42e para. 1):

  • you do not meet the conditions of Art. 42c,
  • you are on the list of foreigners whose stay is undesirable,
  • your data are in the Schengen Information System for the purpose of refusing entry and stay,
  • reasons of defence, state security or public order require it,
  • you do not pay the fee for the card or the stamp duty.

If the fee is missing, the office does not call on you to supplement it - it refuses the card (Art. 42e para. 3).

Check by the services

Before issuing the card, the voivode asks the Border Guard, the Police and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) whether your stay may threaten security. They have 30 days for this, and in special cases 60 days. No reply within the deadline means that the requirement is met. The check is not carried out for persons who had not turned 13 on the day of the application (Art. 42j).

If you do not meet the conditions

You may have another route to stay. You will find a comparison in the guide CUKR or an ordinary residence card. If the UKR status has been lost, see loss of UKR status.