A residence permit after 60 days? The government is preparing further simplifications for citizens of developed countries
The Ministry of the Interior and Administration has announced work on an amendment to the Aliens Act concerning citizens of selected developed countries, such as Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, the US, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
The draft aims to enable citizens of these countries to obtain most types of temporary residence permits in Poland through the tacit approval procedure, as regulated in the Code of Administrative Procedure. This should take place within 60 days of submitting the application.
However, this mechanism will not apply in situations where:
- the foreign national’s details appear in the Schengen Information System or on the list of foreign nationals whose presence in Poland is undesirable,
- there are security or public order concerns regarding the foreign national,
- the application contains formal deficiencies (in which case the 60-day period will be counted from the date they are rectified),
- the case is being considered in appeal proceedings.
The draft also provides for the possibility of revoking or terminating tacit consent. This will apply in the following cases:
- a security check carried out after the matter has been settled by tacit consent shows that the foreign national poses a threat,
- the foreign national fails to appear in person at the office before obtaining tacit consent and subsequently fails to fulfil this obligation within the time limit set after obtaining it.
The new draft is a further response to the problem of protracted proceedings concerning foreign nationals, which for years has discouraged developed countries from investing in the Polish economy. The government had previously announced that it would replace the requirement for citizens of these countries to obtain work permits with a simplified notification mechanism to district labour offices, currently applied to Ukrainian citizens and other foreign nationals benefiting from temporary protection in connection with the war in Ukraine.
The draft legislation has not yet been published. It is expected that the Council of Ministers will adopt the draft law in the second or third quarter of 2026, whilst the changes are likely to come into force in the third or fourth quarter of 2026.