Karta Pobytu in Poland in 2026: Timelines, Cost and Documents

"How much does a karta pobytu cost" is a question with no single answer, and lawyers' fees are not the reason.

You pay twice because "karta pobytu" is two different things. The first is the permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy) — the voivode's decision that you may live in Poland. The second is the card (karta pobytu) — the plastic document that evidences it. They carry different fees under different provisions, and even go to different recipients: the permit fee to the city treasury, the card fee to the voivodeship office.

Two consequences follow from the same distinction. First, there is no such thing in law as "renewing a karta pobytu" — each time it is a fresh application for a new permit (covered in our article on an expiring card). Second, the card's validity and the permit's validity are not the same thing, and the card's can be shorter.

What follows are the figures, the timelines and the documents, with provisions. Verified 22 October 2026.

What it costs: two separate fees

The permit fee (opłata skarbowa) is paid on filing. The amount depends on the basis:

Karta Polaka holders are exempt from the permanent-residence fee.

The document fee is separate, and its amount is set by the MSWiA regulation of 26 July 2022 (Dz.U. 2022 item 1583):

Who gets the 50% reduction

Barely written about anywhere, and it halves the bill. The reduction on the document fee goes to three groups:

For a first card the age is counted differently: not on the date of the card application, but on the date the underlying permit application was filed — temporary residence, permanent residence or EU long-term resident. A few weeks can cost 50 zł here, and this is not the only point in the procedure where the filing date is what matters.

What else you will pay for

These are market prices rather than statutory fees, so we give ranges:

• biometric photo 35×45 mm — 30–50 zł. An ordinary portrait will not do;
• sworn translations of documents not in Polish — typically 200–400 zł depending on volume;
• apostille on birth and marriage certificates — needed only for proof-of-relationship documents in family reunification cases, and only where the issuing country is a party to the Hague Convention. Documents from EU states need no apostille at all; other countries require consular legalisation. On work, business and study grounds an apostille is normally unnecessary: the only foreign document there is a passport;
• health insurance — needed by anyone not yet covered by NFZ through employment. On work grounds the requirement counts as met if the insurance will arise from the very employment underlying the application (art. 114(4a)).

The permit fee is not refunded if you are refused. If the case ends in a refusal and you file again, you pay again.

How long it takes

The honest answer: there is currently no guaranteed deadline, and that is not an estimate but a consequence of a provision. Art. 100d of the act of 12.03.2022 on assistance to Ukrainian citizens suspended the running of decision deadlines for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident applications until 4 March 2027 — and despite that act's title the provision applies to all foreigners regardless of nationality. The case law is covered in our article on the deadline freeze.

So what follows is our practice, not statutory periods. Mazowieckie voivodeship, as at September 2026:

This is practice, not law: another voivodeship in another month will look different, and differences of several times over are routine. Across our cases, temporary residence in Warsaw runs to about a year, permanent residence about a year, and EU long-term resident status longest of all.

Where the spread comes from matters. The timeline depends not on your filing date but on where the case actually stands. Any unanswered summons adds months — and the procedure has two different summonses, with different deadlines:

The second carries a detail worth knowing: the statute expressly directs the voivode, when setting the deadline, to assess the time the foreigner needs to obtain the particular document. If a certificate physically cannot be obtained in two weeks, that is something to write to the office about rather than stay silent on.

What documents are required

Since 27 April 2026 a temporary residence application is filed electronically only, through MOS (art. 106c(1)). The switch date was set by the MSWiA communiqué of 10.04.2026, M.P. 2026 item 370.

Attached to the application (art. 106d(1)):

Documents evidencing the circumstances of the case may be attached at once, as electronic documents or scans of paper ones (art. 106d(2)). That is a right, not a duty: if they are not attached, the voivode will summon you under art. 106f. Originals may be demanded later.

On work grounds the substantive requirements sit in art. 114(1):

Point (5) deserves a pause. The 2026 minimum wage is 4,806 zł gross (Council of Ministers regulation of 11.09.2025, Dz.U. 2025 item 1242). The provision says "regardless of working time", which means half-time does not mean half the wage. A 0.5 FTE contract at 2,403 zł does not satisfy point (5), even though it breaches no labour law.

The statute also supplies a way out: art. 114(4b) allows wages to be added together where you work for more than one employer. The requirement is met if the sum of the wages stated in the annexes is not lower than the minimum.

How the procedure runs

1. Fill in the application in MOS — the form is made available in MOS itself (art. 106c(1)).
2. The employer's annex. MOS emails a link to the employer address given in the application, through which the employer completes its annex (art. 106c(3)).
3. Signatures. You sign the application with a qualified electronic signature or with the trusted profile signature — podpis zaufany (art. 106d(3)). The employer signs its own annex (art. 106d(4)). For a minor one of the parents or guardians signs; for a fully incapacitated person, the guardian; for an unaccompanied minor, the court-appointed curator.
4. UPO. MOS automatically generates the urzędowe poświadczenie odbioru — the official confirmation of receipt (art. 106d(5)).
5. Pay the fee — by separate transfer; the voivode may summon you to pay alongside other summonses (art. 106e(2)).
6. Appear in person — passport, fingerprints, signature (art. 106e(1)).
7. Decision, then the document fee and card production.

Steps 2–4 matter more than they look, which is what the next section is about.

The turn: your filing date is not only up to you

Here is the fact that changes all your planning, and the guides do not carry it.

Art. 106d(6) says the application counts as filed once both conditions are met:

1. the application together with its annexes has been signed — by you under (3) and by the employer under (4);
2. the UPO has been received.

Put that together with art. 105(1): the application is filed no later than the last day of your legal stay. And with art. 108(1): the protection — legal stay and a certificate for the duration of the proceedings — operates only "jeżeli termin… został zachowany", if the filing deadline was met.

The chain comes out like this: until the employer has clicked the link in the email and signed its annex, the application has not been filed. Not "filed with defects" — not filed at all. If your card expires on Friday, you completed everything on Thursday, and the HR officer opened the email on Monday, the deadline was missed, and missed by someone else's act.

What follows practically: file with a margin rather than on the last day, and the margin is not for you but for the other party. Before starting, confirm that the employer has a podpis zaufany or a qualified signature, and that the MOS email will reach a live person rather than a shared biuro@ inbox. Next to income and insurance requirements this sounds minor — which is exactly why it fails more often.

Missing the deadline, incidentally, does not mean the application will not be taken: art. 99(1) is a closed list of grounds for refusing to open proceedings, and lateness is not on it. The application will be examined; what you lose is the protection of art. 108(1). Covered in full in our article on the missed filing deadline.

Four different kinds of "no"

A negative outcome comes in four forms, and they must not be confused: what you do next depends on which one you got.

Two cases are exempt from appearing in person (art. 106h(1)): a minor who had not turned 6 by the filing date, and a person who cannot attend because of illness or disability — evidenced by a specialist's certificate issued no earlier than 3 months before filing.

Separately: if fingerprints could not be taken for reasons on the voivode's side, a fresh deadline of no less than 7 days is set (art. 106g). Discontinuance under art. 106i(1)(2) does not apply in that case — the fault is not yours.

The duty people forget once the card arrives

The card in hand does not end the procedure. Art. 113(1) requires a foreigner to notify the voivode who granted the permit, within 15 working days, that the reason for granting it has ceased.

Leaving the job the single permit was granted for is exactly such a cessation. The deadline is short, counted in working days, and almost nobody remembers it. Where the employer or the terms change there is a separate mechanism — amendment of the permit (art. 119), fee 220 zł.

Frequently asked questions

Can I leave Poland while my case is pending? Leaving is not formally prohibited, but proof of filing — neither the old stamp nor the electronic certificate under art. 108(1)(1) — does not confer a right of entry. It evidences the legality of your stay inside the country. Without another valid basis for entry, you risk not being able to return before the decision.

Can I work while the application is pending? Waiting for a decision does not itself create a right to work. You need to check separately whether you hold a valid basis for work during that period.

I submitted my application but the employer's annex is unsigned. Is it filed? No. Art. 106d(6) requires signatures on the application and the annexes, plus a received UPO. Without the employer's signature the application does not count as filed.

How long do I have to respond to a summons? It depends which. Appearing in person — no shorter than 7 days (art. 106e(1)). Producing documents — no shorter than 14 days (art. 106f), and the voivode is obliged to account for the time needed to obtain the document.

What happens if I miss the biometrics appointment? The proceedings are discontinued — umorzenie under art. 106i(1)(1). That is not a refusal on the merits: there will simply be no decision in your case, and the fee is not refunded.

My child is five. Does he have to come to the office too? No. Art. 106h(1)(1) exempts from personal appearance a minor who had not turned 6 by the filing date. Instead the voivode will summon the parent to present the child's document, on a deadline of no less than 7 days.

My contract is half-time at 2,403 zł. Is that enough? No. Art. 114(1)(5) requires pay no lower than the minimum wage regardless of working time — in 2026 that is 4,806 zł gross. With more than one employer, the wages are added together (art. 114(4b)).

Can I pay 50 zł for the card? Yes, if you study at a post-primary school or a higher education institution in Poland, receive social assistance, or had not turned 16 on the date the application was filed. A supporting certificate or birth certificate is required.

What is in this article and what is not