Reasons for removal of an alien

A foreign national who has no legal title to stay in Poland such as e.g. visa or residence permit, is considered an illegal alien and may be removed from Poland. An obligation to return is issued by the competent Commanding Officer of the Border Guard. The document may specify the date of a voluntary return falling within 15-30 days. However, if there are grounds to believe that a given alien is not likely to leave Poland voluntarily, such date is not specified, and the order is enforced immediately. As a consequence, the alien is expelled immediately and irrespectively of his/her right to appeal against it.

The obligation to return always contains a ban on further entry into the territory. As a result, the expelled alien may not return to Poland immediately.

Deportation proceedings

If deportation of an alien is imminent, we should make sure that the process is the least painful for him/her and ban on his/her re-entry to Poland is reversed as soon as possible. Moreover, even when the foreigner is already out of Poland, our law firm may also request, on his/her behalf, the Commanding Officer of the Border Guard to reverse such ban prematurely in order to enable him/her to return to Poland before expiry of the original prohibition.

However, not all foreigners staying illegally in Poland must be expelled. The law provides for a number of possibilities of authorisation of residence even in the case of illegal aliens.

Application for international protection

Many migrants wishing to avoid deportation file applications for international protection i.e. award of a refugee status.

A foreigner should not be expelled from the territory of Poland until his/her refugee status request has been fully considered. If the competent authority determines that such foreigner is at risk of being persecuted in his/her home country on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political convictions or social class, s/he is authorised to obtain protection in Poland and in such case, s/he must not been expelled from Poland as a refugee.

It should be noted, however, that the law also provides for more efficient ways of legalisation of stay in Poland in the case of illegal migrants.