The UKR status, introduced in March 2022, gives legal residence (currently until March 4, 2026) and access to the labor market, education and social benefits. At the same time, you can lose it after leaving Poland for more than 30 days – but you can also quickly get it back by re-submitting the application.
As we read in the diary, the new group of migrants is different from the one that arrived just after the outbreak of the war.
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The influence of Ukrainians on the Polish economy. There are questions about safety
Experts indicate that young men are less likely to integrate culturally and socially. – They work mainly in their “bubbles”, in professions that do not require language or contact with the environment – emphasizes Cezary Przybył from the Polish Economic Institute in an interview with “Rzeczpospolita”. This applies primarily to the construction, transport and industrial sectors.
There are also questions about security – especially after high-profile cases of detention of Ukrainian citizens suspected of cybercrimes or involvement in acts of sabotage. The police report that in the first half of 2025, foreigners committed 8,994 crimes, of which almost 60 percent it concerned Ukrainians. The most common are driving under the influence of alcohol and fraud, including phishing.
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At the same time, experts cool down emotions. — I do not expect the current wave to be a migration “breakthrough”. – says Tomasz Safjański, a former Central Bureau of Investigation officer, quoted by the daily. In his opinion, real challenges may come only after the end of the war, when soldiers with front-line experience will start returning to Europe.
The migration change is also felt in Germany, where – according to the local Ministry of the Interior – in October, up to 1,800 young Ukrainians a week applied for temporary protection. This sparked political tensions, with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder calling on the EU to “stop the wave” and appealing for Kiev to withdraw the new regulations.
Ukrainian passport
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The effect of changing the law and the new dynamics of migration
According to the findings of “Rzeczpospolita”, In just a dozen or so weeks, nearly 50,000 applications were submitted. people — that's three times more than in the first months of the year. Importantly, the structure of this group has also changed: for the first time it is dominated by young men, not women and children as before.
At the same time, the number of people abandoning their UKR status and applying for asylum is growing, therefore, only 964.4 thousand retained their active status. with over 2 million applicants.
The sudden influx of young men is responsible for the change in Ukrainian law at the end of August, which allowed men aged 18-22 to leave the country legally. Data from the Border Guard confirm the scale of the phenomenon: from August 29 to November 24, over 121,000 people entered Poland. men from this age group. About 62 thousand of them stayed in Poland or moved on to EU countries.
