Residence permits without promises nobody can keep
We run the case from the first conversation to the card in your hand: the full file, the application filled in together with you, deadlines watched and letters from the office answered.
Since 2023about 2,000 people placed in workKRAZ 29795office in central Warsaw
The voivode issues the decision. Our part is a complete file and dates that are kept.
You are applying for the first time
We check the grounds of your stay, gather the file and fill in the application together with you in MOS, the online portal of the Office for Foreigners.
How it works → Your situation changedNew job or new grounds
A new employer, a lost job, a card running out. Here the order of steps and the dates decide.
See the questions →Four things people ask about too late
We say them in the first conversation, because this is where people lose money and time. Each one rests on a rule.
You sign the application, not us
Since 27 April 2026 a residence application goes through the MOS portal, from your own account, signed with a trusted profile or a qualified electronic signature. For a child, a parent or guardian signs. The rules forbid using someone else's account, so no office can file it for you. We sit down together, dictate in Polish, check the attachments, and you click and sign.
You will still visit the voivodeship office
The office takes fingerprints when the voivode calls you in, and no representative can give them for you. The law has exceptions, such as a child under 6. We keep track of the appointment and tell you what to bring. The office's time limit runs from an application with no gaps and the documents filed on request, not from the visit itself.
Filing is not the right to work
Filing itself creates no new basis for employment. You keep working on the basis you hold today: a declaration, a permit or an exemption. We check this before filing anything, so there is no day of work without legal grounds.
The MOS confirmation works only in Poland
Your stay is legal until the decision becomes final because you applied while your stay was legal. The MOS certificate confirms this, but only on Polish territory: it is not a visa, on its own it does not get you back in from abroad, and it does not let you travel in the Schengen area. You return on the usual entry terms, with a valid passport. If you plan a trip, say so before we file.
Not sure yet which permit you need? The types of cards and the timelines are on a separate page: the residence card guide.
What we do in your case
What you will never hear from us
What people come to us with most often
Six situations that repeat every week. Find yours: at the first meeting we then start with the case itself.
Already allowed to work in Poland? See current job offers.
Hiring foreign nationals? See how we work with companies.
The questions we hear most often
May I work while waiting for the card?
Yes, if you had the right to work immediately before filing: a permit, a registered declaration or an exemption. With a permit or declaration you keep working in line with it, that is for the same employer and on the same terms. Filing itself creates no new right to work. We check your situation before filing and say plainly what is allowed.
Can I leave and come back?
Your stay is legal until the decision is final because the application arrived while your stay was legal and had no formal defects. The certificate of filing only confirms this, and only in Poland. You may leave, but the certificate alone does not let you return or travel in the Schengen area. Re-entry needs a valid passport plus a visa if you need one, a valid residence card, or unused visa-free days. Ukrainian citizens with a biometric passport need no visa.
How long does it really take?
The statutory 60 days run not from sending the application but from the later of two events: an application with no formal gaps, and filing the documents the voivode asked for (art. 112a of the Act on Foreigners). The fingerprint visit does not start the clock. In practice Warsaw takes longer. Only one thing can be shortened: time lost to formal gaps, because every request from the office adds weeks.
I have no trusted profile. What then?
We set it up together at the first meeting. It needs a PESEL number: if you do not have one, we arrange the PESEL at the city office first, then the trusted profile and the MOS account.
What if I am refused?
We read the reasoning and say plainly whether an appeal makes sense. An appeal to the Head of the Office for Foreigners is filed within 14 days. In a temporary or permanent residence case it must be decided within 90 days. If we see no chance, we say so at once and take no money for a pointless letter.
What does running the case cost?
It depends on the type of permit and the work involved: a first card and a change of employer are different cases. We give the price after a conversation and do not add sums along the way. State fees are paid separately.
Describe your situation
A few sentences are enough: what document you hold today and what has changed. We answer during office hours.