Can you submit the application

Yes. You submit the application for a temporary residence permit no later than on the last day of your legal stay in Poland (Art. 105 para. 1 of the Act on Foreigners). Under visa-free travel the legal stay lasts until the end of the permitted period: the foreigner must leave Poland before the deadline provided for in the regulation expires (Art. 299 para. 2). For the states in Annex II to Regulation 2018/1806 it is 90 days in any 180-day period (Art. 4 para. 1). You count the days according to the guide 90 days in a 180-day period.

You submit the application in MOS, so you must be in Poland. If you are abroad, the voivode refuses to initiate the proceedings (Art. 99 para. 1 point 10), with the exceptions in Art. 99 para. 2. See: how to submit an application in MOS and applications outside MOS.

Legal stay after submitting the application

If you submitted the application on time and it has no formal defects, or you removed them on time, your stay is legal from the day of submitting the application until the day the decision becomes final (Art. 108 para. 1 point 2). This also applies when your period of visa-free stay ends in the meantime. From 27 April 2026 this is confirmed by the voivode's certificate (Art. 108 para. 1 point 1). The protection does not apply when the proceedings were suspended at your request (Art. 108 para. 2). See: legal stay after submitting an application.

Limits

  • An application after the deadline. An application submitted during an illegal stay ends in a refusal (Art. 100 para. 1 point 9). A foreigner who did not leave after using up the visa-free stay may receive a decision obliging them to return (Art. 302 para. 1 point 2).
  • The purpose of stay. The circumstances must justify a stay longer than 3 months, and you must meet the conditions of the chosen purpose (Art. 98 para. 1 and Art. 100 para. 1 point 1). Visa-free travel itself is not such a purpose.
  • After a final refusal. You have 30 days to leave. During that time the voivode refuses to initiate proceedings on a new application (Art. 99 para. 1 point 9). See: refusal - what next.
  • The fee. For an application submitted from 5 March 2026 the stamp duty is not refunded after a refusal or discontinuation (Art. 113c). See: fees.

Work and travel while waiting

The certificate confirms a legal stay, not the right to work. A work permit or a declaration works while you wait only if immediately before submitting the application you were entitled to work (Art. 3 para. 3 point 2 of the Act on Entrusting Work). The rules for citizens of Venezuela, Georgia and Colombia are described in the guide visa-free travel and work. Planning a trip? See leaving Poland while waiting.

Do not wait until the last days of a visa-free stay. The application requires attachments and an electronic signature: Profil Zaufany or a qualified signature (Art. 106d para. 3).