Foreigners who are willing to stay in Poland for a longer peroid of time than 3 months are obliged to have a residence permit. The first type of a residence permit which I would like to describe is temporary residence permit, which is given for up to 3 years. However, the peroid of time for which permit is given may be shorter – it’s connected to the grounds of the application.
Below, you will find the five most popular grounds, on which you can apply for temporary residence permit:
- work in an occupation requiring high skills;
- starting or continuing work in Poland (when you’re employed in a company);
- business activity in Poland;
- starting or continuation of studies in Poland;
- visiting family members by a Polish citizen or family member of a foreigner.
It’s important that the list of the grounds is open, it means that if the ground on which you want to apply is not listed, and you will justify that the ground is important for you, it can be accepted and there is a chance to obtain temporary residence permit.
Important!
Application for temporary residence permit must be filed during your legal stay in Poland. When the right Voivodeship Officer accepts your application, he will put a stamp in your passport, confirming that you have applied for a temporary residence permit. This stamp legalises your stay in Poland, even though your visa or previous temporary residence permit has expired.
After granting a positive decision, you will receive residence card, which is a document confirming that you have temporary residence permit. If the decision is negative, you can appeal from it in 14 days. I will write how to appeal from a negative decision in the next post.