A non-EU citizen who wants to live in Poland for more than three months legalises the stay with a temporary residence permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy, the karta pobytu). You apply online through MOS while your visa or visa-free stay is still valid; the state fee is 440 PLN for work or a Blue Card, 340 PLN for most other grounds, plus 100 PLN for the card. After five years of legal, continuous residence most people move on to EU long-term resident status (640 PLN, Polish at B1 level), and three years after that can apply for citizenship (1,000 PLN). In Warsaw every one of these cases is handled by the Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki, ul. Marszałkowska 3/5.
This page is the map: which permit fits which situation, what comes after it, and which office in Warsaw does what. Each stage has its own detailed guide, linked below.
Where you start: your current basis of stay
What you can apply for depends on how you are in Poland today.
| Your basis of stay now | What it means for the next step |
|---|---|
| Visa-free entry (for example citizens of the US, UK or Colombia): 90 days in any 180 | You can apply for a residence permit during these 90 days, as long as you file before they run out |
| National visa D for work | The usual starting point for a work-based permit. Apply before the visa expires |
| Schengen or national visa issued for tourism, visiting family, conferences, transit or medical treatment | The Mazowiecki office states that an application for a temporary residence and work permit filed on such a visa will not be opened. You need a different basis first |
| Visa issued for studies | Same restriction for the work permit route; a permit for studies is possible |
| Temporary protection (Ukrainian citizens with UKR status) | Separate route: the CUKR card, see below |
Citizens of India, the Philippines, Nepal and Turkey need a visa to enter Poland, so for them the route almost always starts with a visa D obtained at a consulate on the basis of a work permit or university admission.
Whatever the basis, the application has to be in MOS before your current stay ends. The day it is filed correctly, your stay counts as legal until the final decision.
Step 1. The first residence permit: which ground
| Ground | Who it suits | State fee | Main condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary residence and work (art. 114) | Employees of a Polish employer | 440 + 100 PLN | Salary at least 4,806 PLN gross a month in 2026; employer fills in Załącznik nr 1 |
| EU Blue Card (art. 127) | Highly qualified specialists | 440 + 100 PLN | Contract for highly qualified work at the statutory salary threshold |
| Studies (art. 144) | Students of Polish universities | 340 + 100 PLN | University fills in its annex in MOS; free access to the labour market |
| Family reunification (art. 159) | Spouses and children of foreigners with a qualifying permit in Poland | 340 + 100 PLN | Sponsor's income, housing and health insurance |
| Spouse of a Polish citizen | Married to a Polish citizen | 340 + 100 PLN | Marriage recognised in Poland, real family life |
| Business (JDG or sp. z o.o.) | Company owners and board members | 340 + 100 PLN | Business that generates income or jobs; rules differ by company form |
| CUKR card | Ukrainian citizens who had UKR status on 4 June 2025 and have held it for at least 365 days | 340 + 100 PLN | Filed in MOS; Ukrainians who file by 4 March 2027 stay legal until they collect the card |
A temporary permit is issued for up to three years. A work-based permit ties you to one employer and one set of terms; how changing jobs works is explained in our article on changing employer on a TRC. The filing itself, step by step, is in our MOS guide.
Step 2. Renewals and the five-year count
A "renewal" is a new application, filed in MOS before the current permit expires. If it is filed in time, you stay legally while it is processed; if it is filed even a day late, those days are illegal stay and they can break your five-year count. Our renewal guide covers the timing.
For EU long-term resident status, the law (art. 212 of the Act on Foreigners) counts the five years like this:
- no single absence from Poland longer than 6 months, and no more than 10 months of absences in total over the five years;
- time on a residence permit for studies counts at half;
- time spent as a posted worker of a foreign service provider, on a Schengen visa valid only for Poland issued for humanitarian reasons or state interest, or on small border traffic does not count at all.
Keep a list of every trip abroad from your first year: dates out, dates in, and a boarding pass or ticket for each.
Step 3. After five years: EU long-term resident, usually not "permanent residence"
This is the step most guides get wrong. Five years on work-based permits do not by themselves lead to a karta stałego pobytu (permanent residence permit). That permit (art. 195) is for specific groups: people of Polish origin, Karta Polaka holders, spouses married to a Polish citizen for at least three years who have lived in Poland for two years on a permit granted for that marriage, children of Polish citizens or of permanent residents, refugees after five years, and people who held a temporary residence and work permit for four years in an occupation the Polish economy needs (art. 114 ust. 1a) with a stable income.
For everyone else the five-year route is the EU long-term resident permit (zezwolenie na pobyt rezydenta długoterminowego UE, art. 211). Conditions:
- five years of legal and continuous stay in Poland immediately before applying;
- a stable and regular income sufficient for you and your dependants, shown for the last three years;
- health insurance;
- Polish confirmed by a B1 state certificate, or by a school certificate or university diploma from studies taught in Polish.
The fee is 640 PLN plus 100 PLN for the card, and it is filed in MOS like a temporary permit. You cannot file it while you are in Poland on temporary protection or for studies (art. 213). Both permits are issued without an end date; the card itself is replaced every ten years (permanent residence) or five years (EU long-term resident). The differences are in our EU long-term resident guide and the permanent residence guide.
Step 4. Polish citizenship by recognition
Under art. 30 of the Polish Citizenship Act, the voivode recognises as a Polish citizen a foreigner who, among other routes:
| Route | Time on permanent residence or EU long-term resident status | Other conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3 years | Stable, regular income and a legal title to your home |
| Married to a Polish citizen for 3 years | 2 years | |
| Stateless | 2 years | |
| Permanent residence granted for Polish origin or Karta Polaka | 1 year | |
| 10 years of continuous legal residence | Must hold one of these permits at the time | Income and housing title |
All adult applicants need Polish at B1, confirmed by a state certificate or a Polish school certificate (a certificate from a post-secondary szkoła policealna does not count). The stamp duty has been 1,000 PLN since 1 August 2025. The law gives the voivode six months from receipt, but before deciding the Mazowiecki office asks the police and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) whether there are objections; they have 30 days to answer, extendable to 3 months in some cases. A refusal can be appealed within 14 days to the Minister of the Interior (MSWiA), through the voivode.
A presidential bill to raise the residence requirement to 10 years was sent to the Sejm in September 2025 (print no. 1759). As of October 2026 it is still at the committee stage and has not become law; the current rules above apply. We follow it in a separate article on the citizenship reform.
For the standard work route, the legal minimum is therefore eight years from your first permit to a citizenship application: five years to EU long-term resident status, then three years on it. Processing time for each application comes on top.
Which office in Warsaw does what
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| PESEL and address registration (zameldowanie) | The Urząd Dzielnicy (district office) for your address, in person |
| Temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident applications | Online in MOS; the case is handled by the Wydział Spraw Cudzoziemców, Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki, ul. Marszałkowska 3/5. The office summons you in person for fingerprints |
| Paper filings: change of a work permit (zmiana zezwolenia), card replacement, appeals | By post to ul. Marszałkowska 3/5, 00-624 Warszawa, or in person at the customer point, pl. Bankowy 3/5, entrance F, Monday to Friday 8:00-16:00, with a ticket or a booking on e-uslugi.mazowieckie.pl |
| Citizenship by recognition | Oddział Obywatelstwa i Repatriacji, ul. Marszałkowska 3/5, room A2, only by appointment booked in the inPOL portal |
| Case status | inPOL foreigner portal; case line 22 695 67 73 |
| Appeals in residence cases (second instance) | Office for Foreigners (Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców), ul. Koszykowa 16, but the appeal is filed through the voivode |
One Warsaw-specific detail for citizenship: the Mazowiecki office requires a residence card issued by the Mazowiecki voivode. If your card comes from another voivodeship, it has to be exchanged before you apply.
Mistakes that set people back by a year or more
- Coming on a tourist visa and planning to "switch to work" in Poland. A temporary residence and work application on that visa will not be opened.
- Filing a renewal after the old permit has expired. Even a short gap of illegal stay can break the five-year count for EU long-term resident status.
- Spending seven months abroad in one year. One absence over 6 months breaks continuity, and the count starts again.
- Counting on permanent residence after five years of work permits and leaving Polish for later. The EU long-term resident permit and citizenship both require a B1 state certificate or a diploma from education in Polish, so plan the exam early; see our B1 exam guide.
- Applying for citizenship in Warsaw with a card from another voivodeship. The office will ask you to exchange it first.
How we help
We check which route fits your situation before you file, prepare the documents and go through the MOS application with you. A consultation costs 300 PLN, you receive a written plan, and the amount is credited if you then order the service. Handling a temporary residence card, permanent residence, EU long-term resident status or citizenship starts from 2,000 PLN. If a case is already stuck, a status check at the office with a written report costs 250 PLN, and a ponaglenie (formal complaint about delay) that we draft for you to file costs 300 PLN.
Plan your residence card in Warsaw →
This article is informational and reflects the law as of October 2026. Requirements in your case depend on your nationality and history in Poland.
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