On April 27, 2026, a new procedure for obtaining a residence permit in Poland—long announced by lawmakers and eagerly awaited by foreign nationals—went into effect. From now on, foreign nationals wishing to obtain a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit, or an EU long-term resident permit in Poland may submit applications exclusively in electronic form through the MOS system. This marks a revolution in immigration procedures, as until now, foreign nationals could submit such applications in written form. Currently, provincial governors will not process applications submitted in written form. Only electronic applications submitted through the MOS system will be considered. At first glance, this change seems to be a natural consequence of the ongoing digitization of every aspect of our lives, a trend that has also encompassed the operations of government offices and courts for several years now. For many years, it has been possible to handle official matters online. Court proceedings now include online hearings, etc. Therefore, the introduction of an exclusively online procedure for filing applications in residence matters seemed like a natural consequence of the ongoing digitization of administrative procedures.
The catch, however, is that submitting a residence permit application requires the foreign national to have a trusted profile. A foreign national cannot use someone else’s profile—for example, a representative’s profile. It must be their own personal trusted profile. However, creating such a profile is not possible without a PESEL number. This is where things get complicated, because not every foreign national arriving in Poland has a PESEL number right away. While until now it was possible to submit a written application practically immediately after a foreign national’s arrival in Poland, submitting an application under the new rules will not be possible at all for some foreign nationals who have just arrived in Poland and simply have not yet had time to obtain a PESEL number.
It therefore appears that that the introduction of the new rules for foreigners to submit residence permit applications is not so much a natural consequence of the ongoing digitization of legal procedures in our country, but rather was dictated by the desire to limit the ability of foreigners who have only recently arrived in Poland to submit applications. This is because if a foreign national does not create a trusted profile, they will not be able to submit the application at all. As a result, some foreign nationals will be unable to file such applications. A second effect of the procedural changes will be the shifting of queues from the immigration departments of provincial offices to municipal offices responsible for assigning PESEL numbers.
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