Collection of a residence card

Booking an appointment to collect your residence card – an explanation of the process for collecting your residence card. We provide detailed information on how to book an appointment to collect your residence card at specific provincial offices, and what you should bear in mind before your visit. All this is to help you avoid queues and sort out your matter without any hassle.

Collecting your residence card – what do you need to know?

Remember that to obtain a residence card, you first need:

• a permanent residence permit,
• a temporary residence permit,
• an EU long-term resident’s residence permit, or
• a residence permit on humanitarian grounds.

As a general rule, once you have obtained one of the above-mentioned authorisations or permits, your first residence card is issued automatically. However, there are situations in which you must submit a separate application for it. We have covered this in great detail in the article entitled ‘RESIDENCE CARD – WHAT IS IT?’, to which we refer you.

Regardless of whether you have applied for a residence card or whether it will be issued to you automatically, you need to know when and how to collect it.

Waiting time for collecting a residence card

The actual waiting time for the physical residence card varies depending on the specific provincial office, but is usually around one month from the date all the required documents and information have been correctly submitted (or the relevant permit has been obtained). It’s worth making good use of this time and preparing properly for the visit when you’ll collect your residence card. How can you do this?

Preparing to collect your residence card – what should you bear in mind?

1. Where to collect your residence card

First and foremost, make sure you know where you’ll be collecting your residence card. Some provincial offices have numerous branch offices – sometimes as far as several hundred kilometres away. A mistake could therefore prove very costly.

• A residence card for a child?

Remember that in the case of a residence card for a child, the card must be collected by their parent or legal guardian. However, if the child’s fingerprints were taken when the application for the residence card was submitted, they must also be present when the residence card is collected.

• Appointment

Plan your visit to the provincial office by booking an appointment in advance.

Registration – residence card (booking an appointment to collect a residence card)

The procedure for collecting a residence card varies depending on the specific provincial office. In most offices, however, you are required to book an appointment in advance to collect your residence card. Where this is not required, registering in advance will help you avoid queues.

So how do you book an appointment to collect your residence card? We provide links, telephone numbers or email addresses (depending on the method of booking an appointment accepted by the relevant office).

• Lower Silesian Provincial Office in Wrocław: https://rezerwacje.duw.pl/img/login (you must be logged in);
• Kuyavian-Pomeranian Provincial Office in Bydgoszcz: https://bezkolejki.eu/kpuw_bydgoszcz;
• Lublin Provincial Office in Lublin: https://bezkolejki.eu/luw-cudzoziemcy;
• Lubusz Provincial Office in Gorzów Wielkopolski: https://bezkolejki.eu/luw-gorzow;
• Łódź Provincial Office in Łódź: legalizacjapobytu@lodz.uw.gov.pl (email bookings only);
• Małopolska Provincial Office in Kraków: https://app.malopolska.uw.gov.pl/forms/form/okpwizard;
• Mazovia Provincial Office in Warsaw: https://www.e-uslugi.mazowieckie.pl/umow-wizyte#/visit-selection;
• Opole Provincial Office in Opole: 77 45 24 691, 77 45 24 546 (telephone bookings only);
• Podkarpackie Provincial Office in Rzeszów: https://bezkolejki.eu/puw_rzeszow2;
• Podlaskie Provincial Office in Białystok: NONE (residence cards are collected without the need for prior registration and without collecting a ticket from the ticket machine, in the Foreigners’ Service Hall – counter no. 5 on Mondays from 7.15 am to 5.45 pm and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm);
• Pomeranian Provincial Office in Gdańsk: https://kolejkagdansk.ajhmedia.pl/branch/5;
• Silesian Provincial Office in Katowice: https://bezkolejki.eu/suw;
• Świętokrzyskie Provincial Office in Kielce: 41 342 16 68 (telephone bookings only);
• Warmian-Masurian Provincial Office in Olsztyn: rezerwacje_cudzoziemcy@uw.olsztyn.pl (email bookings only; detailed instructions: https://www.uw.olsztyn.pl/rezerwacje_cudzoziemcy/);
• Wielkopolska Provincial Office in Poznań: https://www.poznan.uw.gov.pl/rejestracja/
• West Pomeranian Provincial Office in Szczecin — Branch Office in Koszalin: https://rezerwacja2.zuw.szczecin.pl/.

Not sure how to collect your residence card?

Are you a foreign national applying in Poland for a permanent or temporary residence permit and a residence card, and not sure how to go about it? The ‘Firma Dla każdego!’ Foundation could be your lifeline!

The Foundation provides assistance to foreign nationals from various countries in dealing with official matters. It also helps with, amongst other things, legal and insurance issues, as well as with the translation of documents.

You can find out more about the support offered to foreign nationals by the “Firma Dla Każdego” Foundation on their website: https://firmadlakazdego.pl/cudzoziemcy/.