🛡️ How to Get Asylum in Poland

International protection is available to foreigners who cannot safely return to their home country because they risk persecution or serious harm.

In Poland, international protection includes:

Refugee Status
Subsidiary Protection

Applications are examined by the Head of the Office for Foreigners, but they must first be submitted through the Border Guard.

👤 Who Can Apply?

You may qualify for refugee status if you cannot return to your country because of:

Race
Religion
Nationality
Political opinion
Membership of a particular social group

You may qualify for subsidiary protection if returning home would expose you to:

Death penalty
Torture or inhuman treatment
Serious threat to life or health caused by armed conflict

❗ At present, Poland is very reluctant to grant international protection to citizens of the Middle East. What’s more, if you apply at the border with Belarus, your application for protection may be refused.

✅ Rights After Receiving Protection

If international protection is granted, you may:

Live legally in Poland
Receive a temporary residence card
Work without a work permit
Open a business
Use public healthcare
To be protected from deportation
Receive social assistance

People granted refugee status also receive a Geneva Travel Document, which allows international travel under the rules established by the Geneva Convention.

⚠️ In addition:

Five years of continuous residence with protection entitles you to apply for permanent residence in Poland.
Two years after being granted permanent residence under protection, you can apply for Polish citizenship.

📍 Where Can You Apply?

You can apply:

At any Polish border crossing when entering Poland
At any Border Guard office if you are already in Poland (even if you don’t have valid visa)

If you have travelled with your family, they must apply for protection with you in a single application.

🔢 Step-by-step Guide

Inform the Border Guard that you want to apply for international protection
Submit your application
Present documents proving that you are unable to return to your home country (e.g. police reports of arrest, court documents, and so on)
Provide fingerprints and a photograph
Attend an interview
Wait for the decision of the Head of the Office for Foreigners

❗If you entered Poland via another EU country, and the border guard is able to verify this, then by law you must be sent back to the first EU country you arrived in so that you can apply for protection there.

If you get a positive decision on the granting of international protection, you will be issued with a residence permit valid for a period of 2 to 3 years.

🗣️ Interview

During the interview you will explain:

Why you left your country
Why you cannot return
What threats you face
Whether you asked your own authorities for protection
Any evidence supporting your application

If you do not speak Polish, an interpreter must be provided free of charge.

📄 Temporary Foreigner’s Identity Certificate

After your application is registered, you receive a Temporary Foreigner’s Identity Certificate (TZTC).

This document confirms that your stay in Poland is legal while your application is being examined, but it does not permit to cross the border or visit other countries. A foreign national may return to their home country by submitting an application to suspend consideration of their previous request.

If your application for refugee status or subsidiary protection is successful, the certificate will be withdrawn (and a residence card will be issued). If you are leaving the country after withdrawing your application, you can hand in the certificate at the border.

⛓️ Detention Centre

In most cases, a refugee from the Middle East will be placed in a secure centre, and sometimes even in a remand centre. Only a court may make such a decision, and the initial period of detention may not exceed 60 days. The court has the power to either extend or reduce this period of detention.

🏠 Accommodation and Financial Support

If you do not have your own accommodation, you may request assistance.

Applicants may receive:

Accommodation in a reception centre
Meals or a financial allowance
Medical care
Social assistance
Basic financial support
Education for children

💼 Can You Work?

If no decision is issued within 6 months, and the delay was not caused by you, you may obtain the right to work in Poland without a work permit.

You will be issued with a special certificate confirming this, which, together with a temporary identity card, will grant the foreign national access to the labour market. Until then (or until a residence card is obtained), it is not permitted to work without authorisation.

⏳ Processing Time

The authorities should normally issue a decision within 6 months.

More complicated cases may take longer if additional evidence or verification is required.

⛔ Reasons for Refuse

You has submitted a request to withdraw application
Failed to report to the designated location within two days of the date on which the application was accepted, without providing an alternative address
Failed to report within two days of being released from a secure centre or from custody, unless required to remain at a specific location, without providing an alternative address
Left the centre and failed to return within 7 days or more without a valid reason
Left, without authorisation, the place of residence specified in the decision of the Head of the Office on the release of a foreign national from a secure centre or from custody, or failed to report at the specified time to the authority indicated in the decision
Left the territory of Poland
Failed to attend an interview and did not prove (within the following 7 days) that this was through no fault of their own

❌ If Your Application Is Refused

A negative decision by the Head of the Office may be appealed to the Council for Foreigners’ Affairs. You have 14 days from the date of receiving the decision to do so. The appeal must be lodged through the same office that issued the refusal.

It is also possible to challenge a negative decision by the Council. To do so, an application must be lodged with the Provincial Administrative Court within 30 days.

During the appeal procedure, your stay in Poland generally remains legal until a final decision is issued.

❗If you got a negative decision and if you does not appeal, as well as your appeal was rejected, you must leave Poland within 30 days.

During this period, you has the right to submit an application for assistance with return.