Who the application concerns

You can obtain a permanent residence permit if you are married to a Polish citizen and the marriage is recognised by the law of the Republic of Poland, and you have been married to the Polish citizen for at least 3 years before the day on which you submitted the application for the permanent residence permit, and immediately before submitting the application you resided continuously on the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 2 years on the basis of a temporary residence permit granted in connection with a marriage to that Polish citizen or in connection with obtaining refugee status, subsidiary protection or a humanitarian residence permit.

How to submit an application

You submit the application for the permit in person, not later than on the last day of your legal stay in the Republic of Poland, to the voivode in charge of the place of your current stay. 

When submitting the application, you are required to provide fingerprints.

If you do not submit the application in person or you send it by post, after the application has been delivered to the voivod, you will be summoned to appear in person no later than 7 days from the date of delivery of the summons on pain of leaving the application unprocessed.

Essential documents

1. an application form completed in accordance with the instructions;
2. 4 recent, undamaged colour photographs, 45x35 mm, taken within the last 6 months on a uniform bright background, having good sharpness and clearly showing the eyes and face from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders; the face should take up 70-80% of the photograph; the photograph should show the person looking straight ahead with eyes open, not hidden by hair with a natural facial expression and closed mouth:

- if you have congenital or acquired visual impairment, you may enclose a photograph showing you wearing glasses with dark lenses. In this case you must enclose documents confirming your disability or, if you do not have any, your statement of disability.

- if you wear a headgear according to the rules of your religion, you may attach a photograph showing you wearing a headgear as long as the facial image is fully visible. In this case, you must include a statement of your religious affiliation.

3. photocopy of a valid travel document (original to be submitted for inspection), in a particularly justified case when the foreigner does not possess a valid travel document and it is not possible to obtain one, he/she may present another document confirming identity.

Note: If any of the above documents is missing, you will be requested to complete it within 14 days of the receipt of the request, or your application will not be recognised.

Typical documents supporting the circumstances indicated in the application:

Note: If you attach the documents listed below to your application when you submit it, you can reduce the amount of official correspondence and shorten the processing time.

• a recent copy of your marriage certificate (issued not more than three months before submitting the application);
• copy of spouse's identity card (original to be inspected);
• documents confirming that the stay on the Polish territory was uninterrupted or documents stating the reasons for breaks in the stay.

Note: In the proceedings on the granting of a permanent residence permit the authority which conducts the proceedings is obliged to establish whether the marriage was concluded in order to circumvent the provisions of the Law on Foreigners. If you need to clarify or specify the evidence held by the authority in the case, during the proceedings you may be called upon to provide other documents or to give testimony confirming the circumstances referred to in the application and the purpose of the marriage.

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