"My life has been on hold": Poland's migrants wait up to two years for residence permits under a wartime law that never ended

L2Who’s affected

Workers, entrepreneurs and refugees; foreigners pay 21.5 billion zloty (5.5 billion euros) a year into Poland's pension system, 6.2 per cent of contributions. Banks may refuse services without valid documents, and leaving the country can mean being unable to return. The Mazovian office says it handles more than 200,000 cases, over 3,500 per employee.

L3Why it’s quiet

Analysis · OVERLOOKED Delays are administrative and slow-moving rather than a single event, and many affected migrants fear speaking out; Medvedev says "one of the biggest obstacles was psychological."

L4Deeper impact

Article 100d suspends deadlines and restricts legal remedies. The Supreme Administrative Court in May 2025 refused to apply it after June 2024, but the Interior Ministry told offices to keep enforcing it. The Ombudsman's Marcin Kusy: "we're not talking about months of waiting, but years." The Ombudsman has received 1,161 complaints since April 2022.

L5Full context

Offices granted a record 190,900 temporary permits in the first half of 2026 but applications outpace staff. The provision was introduced under Law and Justice and repeatedly extended under Tusk's coalition. About 300 people protested in Warsaw on Aug 24. Migration is becoming a campaign issue before the 2027 election.

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