Information for people arriving to Poland from Ukraine

 The entry to Poland of Ukrainian citizens takes place on the basis of:

• visa-free travel and biometric passport;
• national visa (D) or Schengen visa (C);
• a visa with a D or C designation, or a residence permit issued by another Schengen state;
• possession of a temporary residence permit, permanent residence or long-term resident's EU residence permit and a valid residence card;
• an application for international protection, submitted at the Polish border crossing;
• consent of the commander of the Border Guard, given when crossing the border.

 When entering the territory of the Republic of Poland, all documents confirming identity are useful. If the child does not have an identity card or passport, a birth certificate is useful. However, in the current situation, the Polish government decided to cross the Polish-Ukrainian border without any documents. Persons crossing this border are also exempt from quarantine.

If a Ukrainian citizen entered Poland on the basis of:

• visa-free travel and biometric passport - legal stay lasts up to 90 days;
• national visa or Schengen visa, issued by the Polish authority - stay is legal in accordance with the validity period of the visa and the period of stay indicated therein;

After the expiry of the stay on the basis of a national visa, you can continue your stay without departure under the visa-free regime for up to 90 days with a biometric passport;

• a D or C visa, issued by another Schengen state, or a residence permit issued by another Schengen state - legal stay lasts up to 90 days;
• consent of the commander of the Border Guard - legal stay lasts 15 days.

For people staying in Poland, who end their legal stay within a few days, there will be special, detailed information on this subject at ua.gov.pl. The stay of these people in Poland will still be legal!

Extension of legal stay is possible before its expiry by submitting an application for a temporary residence permit or if the conditions for the application for a permanent residence permit are met. Applications are submitted to the voivodeship office competent for the place of stay.

Later, such people will be able to decide whether they stay in Poland, whether they want to go further or return to Ukraine, when the situation normalizes.

People coming from Ukraine to Poland can also apply for refugee status (the procedure for obtaining this status will be described in the next article).

The duties of asylum seekers include:

• transfer of the travel document via the Border Guard body to the deposit of the Head of the Office for Foreigners,
• appearing at the summons of the Head of the Office for Foreigners for the purpose of questioning or giving explanations,
• notification of any change of one's place of stay,
• staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland until the delivery of the final decision on granting international protection.

Due to the above, persons applying for the refugee status will not be able to leave the territory of Poland (including returning to their homeland) until the decision on granting them has been issued. Therefore, it is worth taking advantage of the possibility of staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland at the beginning on the basis of other documents or procedures legalizing the stay.