Mazobosz definitely dominates as the preferred region for foreigners seeking legalization of their stay in Poland. Over the last 3 years, the Mazowieckie provincial office has received nearly 396,000 applications for temporary stay, permanent and long-term resident of the European Union. For comparison, Świętokrzyskie - the region least popular among foreigners - recorded only 17,000 specified applications.
According to the data of the Office for Foreigners, applications are submitted in Poland in an uneven way. Foreigners focus in regions with large urban agglomerations that offer better employment opportunities. Following Mazowsze the following places are occupied by Wielkopolska (182,000 applications) and Lower Silesia (165,000). At the another end of the rate are Opolskie (23 thousand) and Podkarpackie (24 thousand).
Massive differences during the examination
The timing of the examination of applications is equally uneven. The fastest cases are the offices in Małopolska - on average in 172 days. The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (201 days) and Lublin Voivodeship (223 days) are not much worse. At the second pole there is Silesia, where you gotta wait on an average of 640 days to decide. Long procedures besides apply to Opole (623 days) and Pomerania (537 days).
UdSC spokesperson Jakub Dudziak explained in an interview with PAP the reasons for the increased burden on offices. «For example, in 2019, 250 000 people submitted specified applications, in 2021 it was 393 000 people, and in 2023 it was 609 000 people. Only last year this trend stopped and the number of applications submitted was little than in 2023", he stressed.
Dudziek pointed out the factors slowing down the procedures. «The pace of proceedings besides has a crucial impact on the cognition of law and procedures by foreigners and their representatives. The formal deficiencies in the requests made or the deficiency of cooperation with the investigating authority prolong the time taken to settle the matter”, explained the spokesman.
Digitisation to accelerate procedures
The Council of Ministers adopted a draft amendment to the Foreigners Act in August. The parliament passed a task that is now awaiting consideration by the Senate. The fresh rules will introduce an work to apply only online through the Support Module. «This will, among another things, reduce the time of procedures, destruct the actions of unfair intermediaries and attorneys and improve the exchange of information between provincial offices and the ABW», announced Jakub Dudziak.
Note: This article was created utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI).
