ONE PLUS - Poland Immigration Support

📢 Important Information for International Students in Poland

Starting July 1, 2026, the rules for employing international students in Poland will change.

✅ Until June 30, 2026, full-time students (studia stacjonarne) may work without a work permit, even if their university has not yet received approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA).

⚠️ From July 1, 2026, student status alone will no longer be sufficient.

To retain the right to work without a work permit, your university must:
✔️ have approval from MSWiA;
✔️ or be exempt from this requirement;
✔️ or not be included on the list of institutions subject to restrictions on admitting foreign students.

If the university does not meet these requirements:

🇺🇦 Ukrainian citizens will need an employment notification submitted to the Labour Office (PUP);

🌍 Citizens of other countries will need a document authorizing employment (oświadczenie or work permit).

📌 Important:
These changes apply to full-time students. Part-time students (studia niestacjonarne) have generally not been exempt from work authorization requirements.

Before starting employment after July 1, 2026, we recommend checking the status of your educational institution to avoid any issues with the legality of your employment.

📌 How Long Does It Take to Get a Residence Card in Poland?

The Office for Foreigners has published updated statistics on the average processing times for residence card applications across Poland. The data is current as of 28.02.2025.

🟢 Fastest Voivodeships:
✅ Małopolskie – 170 days
✅ Warmińsko-Mazurskie – 185 days
✅ Podkarpackie – 223 days

🔴 Longest Waiting Times:
❌ Śląskie – 687 days
❌ Kujawsko-Pomorskie – 580 days
❌ Pomorskie – 483 days

📊 The average waiting time across Poland is 366 days.

It is important to remember that these are average figures. Processing times may vary depending on the basis of the application, the completeness of the documents submitted, additional requests from the authorities, and the workload of the specific Voivodeship Office.

⚠️ Many foreigners are still waiting more than a year for a decision, and in some regions the process can take almost two years.

💼 The ONE PLUS team supports residence card cases throughout Poland. We assist with both standard and complex cases, including excessive delays, requests for additional documents, refusals, appeals, and administrative inactivity.

📍 We know which legal mechanisms can be used to speed up proceedings and help bring even the most challenging cases to a successful conclusion.

📩 If your case has been pending for a long time or you are unsure about the next steps, contact us for a consultation.

🚨 Polish Language Exam Fees Are Set to Increase! The President Has Signed the New Law 🇵🇱

On May 21, 2026, the President of Poland signed a law introducing significant changes to the certification system for Polish as a foreign language.

What will change?

💸 A new system for calculating exam fees

The maximum exam fee will no longer be linked to the euro. Instead, it will be based on the average salary in Poland:

▪️ A1-A2 levels: up to 6% of the average salary
▪️ B1-B2 levels: up to 7% of the average salary
▪️ C1-C2 levels: up to 9% of the average salary

This means exam fees may increase in the coming years.

👦 New age categories for candidates

✅ Candidates aged 16 and older: A1-C2 levels
✅ Candidates under 16: A1-B2 levels

📄 Duplicate certificates will become available

Applicants will be able to request a duplicate certificate within 25 years of receiving the original document.

👥 More examiners for larger exam sessions

When the number of candidates exceeds 30, additional members of the examination board will be appointed.

🏫 Stricter requirements for examination centers

Only institutions with proven experience in teaching Polish as a foreign language and meeting specific legal requirements will be authorized to organize exams.

📅 Most of the new regulations will come into force on January 1, 2027.

⚠️ Remember: a Polish language certificate is often required when applying for Polish citizenship and in various immigration procedures.

❓What do you think? Will these changes improve the quality of the system, or simply make the exam more expensive?

🏆 We are proud to announce that ONE PLUS Sp. z o.o. has become a laureate of the prestigious ORŁY PRAWA 2026 award!

⚖️ This distinction confirms the high level of trust from our Clients, the professionalism of our team, and the quality of legal services we provide every day.

🤝 We would like to thank every Client and Partner for your trust, support, and for choosing our company.
Thanks to you, we continue to grow, raise our standards, and achieve new successes.

🚀 For us, this award is not only a great honor, but also an additional motivation to keep moving forward, maintain the highest quality of service, and deliver effective results for our Clients.

💙 At ONE PLUS, we work for your success.

🇵🇱 Poland may introduce a “silent approval” system for residence permits

The Polish Ministry of Interior is preparing amendments to the law on foreigners aimed at speeding up temporary residence permit procedures.

What does this mean in practice? 👇

If the voivode does not issue a decision within 60 days, the application may be considered automatically approved.

However, there are important details ⬇️

❗ The new rules will NOT apply to all foreigners.
They are expected to cover only citizens of selected countries considered low migration risk and strategically important for the Polish economy.

Potentially included countries may be:
🇺🇸 USA
🇨🇦 Canada
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇯🇵 Japan
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇸🇬 Singapore
🇦🇺 Australia and others.

⚠️ For citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, and most other countries, nothing changes for now.

It is also important to understand:
- the 60-day period may start only after all formal deficiencies are corrected;
- applicants will still need official confirmation that the case was resolved through “silent approval”;
- even with a positive outcome, delays in issuing the residence card may still occur.

📌 At the moment, this is only a draft proposal.
The planned approval period is the second quarter of 2026.

🇵🇱 Your legalization process in Poland can be simple — with professionals by your side.

Since 2018, we have helped hundreds of clients successfully go through the journey from a residence permit to Polish citizenship with confidence, ease, and support at every stage.

We take care of your case, monitor the entire process, and provide full support from start to finish.

📍We work throughout all of Poland.

📞 +48 537 272 400

📌 What is UPO in MOS 2.0 and why is it important?

After submitting your application through the MOS 2.0 system, you receive a UPO — Urzędowe Poświadczenie Odbioru 📄

This is an official electronic confirmation that your document has been successfully submitted to the immigration office ✅

❗️Important:
UPO is NOT:
• the yellow postal receipt (zwrotka)
• a stamp in your passport

UPO confirms the actual submission of your application through the MOS 2.0 system.

Save this document immediately after submission — it may be needed later to verify your application status or confirm the submission 📂

If you have questions about MOS 2.0, residence permit applications, or immigration documents — we’re here to help 👌

📸 Free ONE PLUS tool for photos for the MOS 2.0 system

Prepare your photo for a residence card application in seconds — no installation or registration required.

✅ Upload your photo on the website
✅ Automatic adjustment to 684×883 px
✅ Download and submit your application in MOS 2.0

⚡️ Ready in just a few seconds
🔒 Photos are not stored on the server

👉 Try it for free: https://one-plus.pl/docphoto-online/

📸 Free ONE PLUS program for preparing a photo for the MOS 2.0 system

Applicants submitting a residence permit (karta pobytu) application via the MOS 2.0 system often face difficulties in preparing a photo that meets the required technical specifications.

Searching for suitable solutions online can be time-consuming and does not always lead to correct results.

In response to this need, we have implemented our own solution — the ONE PLUS Photo Tool program, available directly on our website.

The program works fully online, requires no installation or registration, and uploaded photos are not stored on any external servers.

🌍 Available in 4 languages: 🇵🇱 PL · 🇬🇧 EN · 🇺🇦 UA · 🇧🇾 RU

How it works:

✅ Upload your photo directly in the browser
✅ The program automatically adjusts it to the required 684×883 px format
✅ Download the ready-to-use file and submit your application

👉 Use it for free: https://one-plus.pl/en/docphoto/