Your residence card was refused. What to do in the first days

People skim the envelope with the decision of the voivode (wojewoda), see the word odmawiam and panic. Yet it is the first days after receiving the decision that determine whether the case can go on.

First: look at the date

You have fourteen days to appeal a refusal decision. The time limit is counted not from the date written on the decision, but from the date of delivery, that is, the day you received the letter.

If the letter came to the post office and you did not collect it, the double notice rule applies: the post office keeps the item, leaves two notices, and when the storage period ends, the letter is considered delivered. The time limit for the appeal runs as usual. People lose the right to appeal simply because they did not check their mailbox.

So the first thing to do is to find the exact date of delivery and count how many days are left.

Second: read the justification

A decision has an operative part, which says what exactly was decided, and a justification (uzasadnienie), which explains why. You need to read the second one.

The reasons for refusal fall into three groups, and the strategy depends on the group.

Formal. A document was missing, a request was not answered, the time limit for corrections passed. These refusals are the easiest to appeal, because what is missing can be added to the appeal.

Substantive. The voivodeship office decided that the grounds for your stay were not proven: income too low, work not matching the permit, doubts about the marriage. Here the dispute is about how the facts are assessed, and you need new evidence, not a repeat of the old.

Hard. The case file contains information that blocks the card: data from the Border Guard, an entry in the register of undesirable foreigners, signs of fictitious arrangements. These cases are the most difficult, and the honest answer is sometimes that the chances are low.

Third: decide between an appeal and a new case

The appeal is addressed to the Office for Foreigners (Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców) and is filed through the same voivodeship office (urząd wojewódzki) that issued the decision. An important point: an appeal filed on time suspends the decision, which means your stay remains legal until the appeal is decided.

A new case looks simpler, but it has a price. If you do not appeal, the old decision becomes final, and with it comes the obligation to leave the country within the set time. If the reason for refusal has not been removed, you will be in a worse position than before.

The general rule: if the reason for refusal can be fixed with documents, an appeal is the smarter choice. If the circumstances themselves have changed, for example you have a new job with a normal income, a new case is sometimes more logical. Make the decision after reading the justification, not at random.

What happens next

Appeals are decided in Warsaw. The official time limit is one month, in practice it takes from a few months to a year. There are three possible outcomes: the decision is cancelled and the card is issued, the decision is cancelled and the case goes back to the voivodeship office for a new review, or the refusal is upheld.

If the appeal does not help, you can still file a complaint with the voivodeship administrative court (wojewódzki sąd administracyjny). The time limit for it is thirty days, and this is a full court procedure with its own rules.

What you must not do

Do not ignore the decision and hope that you will be forgotten. The refusal becomes final, and staying after that is illegal, with all the consequences, up to a ban on entering the Schengen area.

Do not miss the time limit hoping to file later. The time limit can be restored, but only for a valid reason that you will have to prove.

Do not write the appeal as an emotional letter about how unfairly the voivodeship office acted. An appeal is a document that refers to legal provisions and states which conclusions of the authority do not match the facts.

In short

Fourteen days from the date of delivery, read the justification, choose between an appeal and a new case. An appeal filed on time keeps your stay legal, and this is the main reason not to delay the decision.

This material is for general information only. Procedures and requirements change, and the details depend on the specific situation. Before you submit documents, check the current requirements.

Topic: Refusals and disputes