Legal changes applicable to the Ukrainians’ stay in Poland

Russian aggression against Ukraine and the related influx of refugees from war-affected areas to the territory of our country resulted in the need to take legislative measures to regulate the legal situation of Ukrainian citizens who are leaving their country, and to provide them with the necessary humanitarian aid.

Government aid plans

Russian aggression against Ukraine and the related influx of refugees from war-affected areas to the territory of our country resulted in the need to take legislative measures to regulate the legal situation of Ukrainian citizens who are leaving their country, and to provide them with the necessary humanitarian aid.

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration is currently working on an act that will regulate the legal basis for legal stay in Poland and enable the use of financial support by Ukrainian citizens. This applies to those citizens who have entered the territory of Poland directly from Ukraine in connection with the armed conflict taking place in that country.

According to the available information, the draft act assumes, among other things, that the stay of Ukrainian citizens in Poland will be considered legal for a period of 18 months, counting from 24 February 2022. Two conditions will have to be fulfilled to consider stay in Poland as legal in view of the planned act. First, a Ukrainian citizen will have to come to Poland directly from Ukraine. Second, this arrival will have to take place in the period from 24 February 2022 to the date specified in the regulation issued by the Council of Ministers. This day will be the last day of the period in which entry to Poland will result in the legal stay of a Ukrainian citizen in Poland.

The draft act is also intended to enable Ukrainian citizens residing in Poland during this period to undertake job and to introduce simplified rules according to which Polish employers will employ them. If the draft act enters into force, Ukrainian citizens whose stay in Poland will be considered legal will also be granted a temporary residence permit for a period of 3 years on the basis of their applications.

What is important, the Act is to assume that if, for whateover reason, a Ukrainian citizen was not registered at the time of arrival in Poland by the commander of the Border Guard post during the border control, such person will have the possibility to register his or her stay in Poland in the commune. For this purpose, the foreigner only needs to submit the application no later than 90 days from the date of entry to Poland.

In addition to the rules on legalizing Ukrainian citizens' stay in Poland and entrusting work to them, the draft Act specifies what support they will be able to get while staying in Poland. In this regard, the Act is to enable voivodes to provide Ukrainian citizens with assistance in accommodation, meals and transport. Pursuant to the draft Act, Ukrainian citizens whose stay in Poland will be considered legal will also be entitled to receive Polish family and social benefits. The Act also provides for assistance in the form of a one-time cash benefit in the amount of PLN 500 for a single person or PLN 300 per person in a family. The benefit is to be used for maintenance purposes, in particular to cover costs of food, clothing, footwear, personal hygiene products and housing fees. Ukrainian citizens will also be able to use medical care in Poland.

It should be underlined, however, that at this stage of legislative work, the above-mentioned assumptions may be modified or  completely removed from the draft. As announced, voting on the Act is to take place at the beginning of next week. We will keep you informed on the course of legislative work on the draft Act and the final shape of solutions adopted by the legislator.

EU aid plans

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the European Union has also taken steps to help refugees. The European Commission proposed to launch the so-called Temporary Protection Directive to support people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The launch of the directive will enable granting of temporary protection to refugees from Ukraine and simplification of border controls at the EU's borders with Ukraine.

In the first place, the directive concerns, inter alia, limiting formalities and granting refugees the right of residence, access to the labor market, access to housing, social assistance, medical assistance and means of subsistence.

As regards border protection, the directive will provide for the simplification of border controls, greater flexibility in terms of entry conditions into the territory of the EU as well as introduction of special organizational measures to facilitate the entry and exit of emergency services, police and fire services, to provide medical assistance as well as food and water supplies to people waiting to cross the border.

It is up to the Council to adopt the proposal to activate the Directive. At the extraordinary meeting held on 27 February 2022, the Council already expressed its broad support and committed itself to discussing the matter at the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 3 March 2022. However, no information has yet been provided on the activation of the Directive. We will therefore follow-up this matter and inform you of the decision taken by the Council.

We encourage you to contact our experts:

• ines.borkowska@gww.pl 
• marta.wegner@gww.pl
• piotr.swistak@gww.pl
• jacek.olma@gww.pl