On May 16, 2022, the state of epidemic in Poland, which had been in force for over two years due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, was lifted. As is known, the crisis situation required the introduction of special legal solutions aimed at resolving the problems caused by the coronavirus epidemic regarding the legality of foreigners' stay in Poland. Immediately after the declaration of a state of epidemic threat on March 14, 2020, and then a state of epidemic on March 20, 2022, these solutions were proposed in amendments to the so-called Special Act , i.e., the Act of March 2, 2020, on special solutions related to the prevention, counteraction, and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and the crisis situations caused by them (Journal of Laws, item 374), specifically through three new acts:
- Act of 31 March 2020 amending the Act on special solutions related to the prevention, counteraction and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, and certain other acts (Journal of Laws, item 568),
- Act of 16 April 2020 on special support instruments in connection with the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Journal of Laws, item 695),
- Act of 14 May 2020 amending certain acts regarding protective measures in connection with the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Journal of Laws, item 875).
The changes have brought many significant improvements for foreigners in terms of legalizing their stay and work. Their most important aspect is that most of the beneficial effects for foreigners occur by operation of law. Thanks to the introduced solutions, the following have been extended by operation of law (until the 30th day following the date of revocation of the last state in force):
- validity periods of temporary residence permits and residence cards
- periods of stay and validity periods of national visas in cases where the last day of the period of stay based on such visas would fall during the period of an epidemic threat or epidemic state
- validity periods of work permits and seasonal work permits as well as periods of permissible work based on declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner, entered in the register of declarations
- validity periods of documents issued for a fixed period to citizens of European Union Member States, European Free Trade Agreement countries – parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation and their family members who reside with them or join them, i.e. documents confirming the right of permanent residence, residence cards of a family member of an EU citizen and permanent residence cards of a family member of an EU citizen
- validity periods of Polish foreigner's identity documents and documents confirming possession of a permit for tolerated stay called "permit for tolerated stay"
- validity periods of temporary foreigner identity certificates
- deadlines for submitting an application for a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit, a long-term resident’s EU residence permit, for extending a visa or for extending the stay under visa-free travel, as well as deadlines for leaving the territory of the Republic of Poland, resulting from Article 299 paragraph 6 of the Act of 12 December 2013 on foreigners and deadlines for voluntary return specified in decisions on obliging a foreigner to return.
Additionally, the so-called "Covid" regulations assume that the stay of foreigners on the territory of the Republic of Poland will be recognized as legal by operation of law in cases where, on the day on which the state of epidemic threat was first announced, they stayed on that territory on the basis of short-term residence permits, i.e., for example, on the basis of visa-free travel, Schengen visas or visas/residence permits issued by other Schengen states or European Union countries that are not members of the Schengen area.
With the end of the state of epidemic in Poland, many foreigners and employers are wondering whether this change will affect the extension of residence permits and work permits, as well as the deadlines for foreigners to leave the territory of the Republic of Poland . Fortunately, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief, because the answer to this question is: no! Although the lifting of the state of epidemic is a significant step towards victory in the fight against the coronavirus, it does not yet mean a complete abandonment of the legislative changes introduced in 2020. The state of epidemic has been replaced by a state of epidemic threat . The provisions of the special act extend certain deadlines and validity periods for permits, visas, and documents until the 30th day following the date of revocation of the last state in force (Article 15zd, paragraph 3 of the special act). This means that both the state of epidemic and the state of epidemic threat maintain the validity of the so-called "Covid" regulations. Of course, if the number of infections increases, there is a possibility of a return from the currently reinstated state of epidemic threat to an epidemic state. However, this does not affect the situation of foreigners, who must be prepared for changes only in the event of the complete cancellation of one of the above-mentioned states.
This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
