The amnesty for aliens who are illegally staying in Poland comes into effect on 1 January 2012. Foreigners who want their stay to be legalized will have to submit applications to the competent voivode. Applications may be submitted during a period of six months. Amnesty will be granted for a period of 2 years.

Who may apply for amnesty?

Amnesty may be applied for by the foreigners who stay in Poland:

• continuously* at least since 20 December 2007 and whose stay is considered illegal on the date of entry into force of this Act i.e. on 1 January 2012

 Continuously means that any interval in the foreigner's stay in Poland has not exceeded 6 months and the total length of these intervals has not exceeded 10 months during the period considered, unless the interval was due to the exercise of professional duties or work outside the territory of the Republic of Poland (on the basis of an agreement with an employer whose head office is located on the territory of the Republic of Poland), or accompanying a spouse performing his/her professional duties or work in the conditions referred to above, or when it was due to medical treatment.

and foreigners who reside in Poland:

• continuously at least since 1 January 2010, who have been given the final decision refusing refugee status prior to that date, including the expulsion decision and whose stay in Poland is considered illegal on the date of entry into force of this Act;
• for whom the procedure to grant the refugee status, initiated due to a subsequent application, was ongoing on 1 January 2010.
  
  

For how long does a foreigner legalise their stay

The stay will be legalized in the form of a residence permit for a fixed period of time, i.e. for 2 years. During that time a foreigner may take up employment under a contract of employment without a permit and legitimise their further stay in Poland. The proceedings involving such cases are dealt with by voivodes and the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

When you have to apply for amnesty

Foreigners should submit applications to legalise their stay in Poland within 6 months from the date of entry into force of this Act, i.e. since 1 January 2012.

NOTE:

Applications will be accepted from 1 January 2012 on

Where can you apply for amnesty?

From 1 January 2012 on, to legalise their stay the illegal foreigners will have to submit applications to the voivode competent for their place of residence. These applications will be received by the employees of foreigners departments or divisions of the Offices of Voivodes.

When a residence permit will be refused to be granted under the amnesty Act

A foreigner will not obtain permit for temporary residence under the amnesty Act if:

• he/she does not meet the requirements for granting the permit;
• his/her personal data have been fed into the Schengen Information System for the purposes of refusing entry and were entered by another state of the Schengen area;
• during the permit granting procedure an application or documents containing false personal data or false information have been submitted;
• during the permit granting procedure he/she forged or reworked a document to be used as genuine, or used such a document as authentic;
• it is required for reasons of defence or national security or the protection of safety and public order or it is in the interest of the Republic of Poland;
• his/her data are on the list of foreigners whose residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland is undesirable and they were entered on the list under the Act on Aliens of 13 June 2003.

Phone Information on the amnesty

The Office for Foreigners has launched telephone information for foreigners staying in Poland illegally who would like to be informed on the amnesty.
The line (22) 601-75-25 is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:15 am to 5:00 pm. On Tuesdays and Fridays from 3:30 pm to 8:00 pm. The information is provided in languages: Polish, English, Russian, Vietnamese.

Legal basis:

The Act of 28 July 2011 legalising the sojourn of certain aliens within the territory of the Republic of Poland and amending the Act on granting protection to aliens within the territory of the Republic of Poland and the Act on aliens.

Addresses of the Offices of Voivodes

The Dolnośląski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 50-951 Wrocław
Phone: 71 340 66 55, 71 340 67 02
fax. 71 340 66 85
www.duw.pl

The Kujawsko-Pomorski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Konarskiego 1-3, 85-950 Bydgoszcz
Phone: (52) 349-7240
fax. (52) 349-7242
www.bydgoszcz.uw.gov.pl

The Lubelski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Spokojna 4, 20-914 Lublin
Phone: 81 74-24-732
fax. 81 74-24-432
www.lublin.uw.gov.pl

The Lubuski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Jagiellończyka 8, 66-400 Gorzów Wielkopolski
Phone: (95) 7 115 709; (95) 7 115 554
fax. (95) 7 115 361
www.wojewodalubuski.pl

The Łódzki Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Piotrkowska 103, 90-425 Łódź
Phone: (+48) 42 664-17-04, 42 664-17-01,
42 664-17-02
fax: (+48) 42 664-17-03
www.lodz.uw.gov.pl

The Małopolski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Przy Rondzie 6, 31-547 Kraków
Phone: 12 42 23 105
fax. 12 42 23 019
www.malopolska.uw.gov.pl

The Mazowiecki Office of Voivode
Department for Foreigners’s Affairs
ul. Długa 5, 00-263 Warszawa
Phone: (22) 695 65 75
fax. (22) 695 66 03
www.mazowieckie.pl

The Opolski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Piastowska 14, 45-082 Opole
Phone: (77) 45 24 324, (77)-4524610,
(77)-4524349
www.opole.uw.gov.pl

The Podkarpacki Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Grunwaldzka 15, 35-959 Rzeszów
Phone: (17) 867-19-15
fax. (17) 867-19-50
www.uw.rzeszow.pl

The Podlaski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Mickiewicza 3, 15-213 Białystok
Phone: 085 74-39-380
fax. 085 74-39-444
www.bialystok.uw.gov.pl

The Pomorski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Okopowa 21/27, 80-810 Gdańsk
Phone: (0-58) 30-77-427
fax. (0-58) 30-77-214
www.uw.gda.pl/

The Śląski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
ul. Jagiellońska 25; 40-032 Katowice
Phone: (32) 20 77 326; (32) 20 77 328, (32) 20 77 299, (32) 20 77 400
fax. (32) 20 77 327
www.katowice.uw.gov.pl

The Świętokrzyski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
al. IX Wieków Kielc 3, 25-516 Kielce
Phone: (41) 342 15 02, 342 15 70
fax: (41) 342 14 66
www.kielce.uw.gov.pl

The Warmińsko-Mazurski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
Al. Marsz. J. Piłsudskiego 7/9, 10-575 Olsztyn
Phone: (89) 523-23-62, 523-73-12
fax. (89) 523-65-30
www.uw.olsztyn.pl

The Wielkopolski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
Pl. Wolności 17, 61-739 Poznań
Phone: (61) 854 17 21
fax. (61) 854 18 43
www.poznan.uw.gov.pl

The Zachodniopomorski Office of Voivode
Department for Civil Affairs and Foreigners
Wały Chrobrego 4, 70-502 Szczecin
Phone: 91 4303 400
fax. 91 4225 712
www.szczecin.uw.gov.pl