Free visa, work and discounts. Who can apply for the Pole's Card?

From January 12 to 14, people from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and those who have the so-called status in these countries stateless persons can register at the Podlaskie Voivodeship Office in Białystok to apply for a Pole's Card – the office informed PAP.

You can apply electronically, described in detail on the office's website. Only after this registration, dates of direct visits to the office will be agreed with interested parties; without such a visit, it is not possible to obtain a card. Visits will take place from March.

In 2022, the Podlaskie Voivodeship Office was the only voivodeship office in Poland that issued such cards – apart from diplomatic missions. Currently, card applications can be submitted at any voivodeship office – Inga Januszko-Manaches, spokeswoman for the Podlaskie Voivode, told PAP. She added, however, that the Podlasie office, due to the region's border location, is one of the ones that receives the most applications.

The Pole's Card is a document that confirms that a given person belongs to the Polish nation. Already during a direct visit to the voivodeship office, a person interested in obtaining a Pole's Card must, among others: provide information, e.g. about your Polish roots and submit a declaration of belonging to the Polish nation, Januszko-Manaches said. The application registration instructions state that, for example, if someone has documents confirming knowledge of the Polish language – a certificate of knowledge of the Polish language issued by the State Commission for the Certification of Knowledge of Polish as a Foreign Language, he or she must submit it. The spokeswoman noted that not everyone applying for the card receives it.

A person who has the Pole's Card has certain rights. This includes, for example, the right to receive a free one-year national visa, settle in Poland (permanent residence card), and after a year to obtain Polish citizenship. They can also attend Polish schools and universities on the same terms as Polish citizens, take advantage of facilities in applying for scholarships, and take up work on the same terms as Polish citizens – we read on the government website about the Pole's Card. A person with the card can also benefit from discounts on rail travel, free entry to state museums, and free medical care in emergency cases.

In 2025, the Podlaskie Voivodeship Office issued PLN 1,000. 334 Pole Cards to people from Belarus, 50 from Ukraine and 9 from Russia. From mid-July to the end of 2025, card applications were temporarily not accepted due to the renovation of the foreigners' service room at the office. In 2024, over 3.3 thousand were issued. cards to people from Belarus, 56 from Ukraine and 20 from Russia. (PAP)

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