National protection statuses and return procedure

National forms of protection

The oldest form of protection in Poland is ‘asylum’. A foreigner may be granted asylum, if it is necessary to protect them and the interest of the Republic of Poland requires so.[1] This is a separate procedure and requires an explicit application for asylum. Due to its political nature, it is the least used type of protection (13 positive cases in 2025, 11 positive cases in 2024,).[2] The institution of asylum is a unique form of protection because the foreigner can submit a relevant application while staying outside the territory of the Republic of Poland and then obtain a visa to attend the procedure. The responsible authority is the Office for Foreigners. The asylum procedure does not in any way suspend the return or permits for legalising temporary stay of a foreigner in Poland for the duration of the procedure. The foreigner being the subject of this specific asylum procedure may submit an application for international protection or another form of legitimising their stay.

The permit for humanitarian stay and the permit for tolerated stay are forms of protection which complement the international protection system, i.e. refugee status and subsidiary protection. A foreigner may be granted such a permit once the proceedings on granting international protection are concluded negatively. It is not possible to submit a separate application for a permit based on humanitarian reasons or tolerated stay. Both permits are granted in return proceedings ex officio or upon the request of certain authorities. The responsible authority is the Commander of the Border Guard Unit/Outpost; the Head of the Office for Foreigners act as a second instance.

Permit for humanitarian stay should be granted to a foreigner if their obligation to return:

1. Can be exercised solely to a state in which, within the meaning of the ECHR:
   1. Their right to life, freedom and personal security might be threatened, or;
   2. They could be subjected to torture or inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, or;
   3. They could be subjected to forced labour, or;
   4. They could be deprived of the right to a fair trial or
2. Would violate their right to family or private life within the meaning of the ECHR or
3. Would violate the rights of the child, as defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in a manner which may represent a serious threat to their psychophysical development.[3]

In practice, authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons is most often granted to individuals who lead a family life in Poland, whose children are significantly integrated into the Polish society, attend a Polish school and their expulsion would negatively impact their mental and physical state.[4] In 2025, all 86 decisions granting humanitarian permit were based on these circumstances.[5]

Permit for stay for humanitarian reasons is refused if there are substantial grounds to believe that:

1. They have committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of the international law; or
2. They are guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations set out in the Preamble and Article 1 and 2 of the Charter of the United Nations; or
3. They have committed a crime within the territory of the Republic of Poland or committed an act outside this territory that is a crime under the Polish law; or
4. They represent a threat to national security or defence, the protection of public order and safety, or
5. They have instigated or otherwise participated in the perpetration of crimes or offences referred to in point 1–3.

Furthermore, a foreigner who, prior to arriving in the territory of the Republic of Poland, has committed an act other than the ones specified in points 1–3 that is an offence under the Polish law and is punishable by imprisonment, may be refused authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons if they left the country of origin for the sole purpose of avoiding punishment.[6]

Legal conditions to grant permit for tolerated stay partially overlap with those listed above. That is because the permit for tolerated stay granted if a return obligation for a foreigner:

1. can be exercised solely to a state in which within the meaning of the ECHR:
   1. their right to life, freedom and personal security might be threatened, or
   2. they could be subject to torture or inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, or
   3. they could be subject to forced labour, or
   4. they could be deprived of the right to fair trial or be punished without a legal basis – if there are reasons for refusing the issuance of a permit for stay for humanitarian reasons.[7]

2. The second group of legal conditions for granting permit for tolerated stay refer to returns that are not feasible for reasons beyond the control of the authority responsible for the forced execution of the decision on obliging a foreigner to return, and beyond the control of the foreigner, or can be effected only to a country to which expulsion is inadmissible under a ruling of a court of law or because of a decision of the Minister of Justice on the refusal to expel a foreigner.[8] Foreigners granted tolerated stay permit for the latter reasons are placed on the list of foreigners whose stay within the territory of the Republic of Poland is undesired.

In practice, a permit for tolerated stay is issued to foreigners when there is no actual or legal possibility of obliging them to return.[9] In 2025, 7 permits for tolerated stay were issued by both instances (while the 14,765 persons had a decision on return issued against them in 2025).[10] What makes it different from authorising the stay for humanitarian reasons is that in the case of a permit for tolerated stay, foreigners’ rights were set at a minimum level and they need to periodically report their place of residence to the Border Guards.[11]

Return procedure

The return decision is issued separately, independently of the asylum decision.

Under the law, a third-country national who has received a decision refusing to grant refugee status or subsidiary protection, a decision declaring an application for international protection inadmissible, a decision to discontinue proceedings on the application for international protection, or a decision withdrawing refugee status or subsidiary protection, is required to leave Poland within 30 days from the date of receiving such a decision.[12] If the individual fails to do so, a return decision is issued.[13] It may also be issued before the deadline for leaving Poland if the third-country national is staying in a guarded facility for foreigners.[14] During a subsequent asylum procedure, a return procedure may be initiated; however, if it is the first subsequent application, the return decision cannot be enforced until the conclusion of that procedure, provided that the submission of this application was not made solely for the purpose of delaying the issuance of the return decision or for delaying or preventing its enforcement.[15]

As of 31 December 2024, according to the Border Guard, there is no list of countries to which returns are not carried out.[16] In 2023 countries to which no returns are carried out were the following: Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, Ethiopia, Sudan and Ukraine (for more on returns of Ukrainian nationals, see Annex on temporary protection).[17]

According to the Rule of Law Institute, in November 2025 Frontex halted an operation to return Pakistani nationals due to Poland’s failure to ensure their right to apply for asylum, after being informed by an NGO of a possible violation of the principle of non-refoulement. The migrants were to be transported to Frankfurt am Main and from there to Pakistan, together with foreign nationals deported from Germany. The operation was to be carried out in cooperation with Frontex.[18]

In April 2026, a deportation to Afghanistan was carried out despite the interim measure issued by the ECtHR under Rule 39 ECHR. The Human Rights Commisioner also called on the Border Guard to consider suspending the deportation operation given the ongoing armed conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the safety situation in Afghanistan. According to reports by NGOs, the men concerned had no prior criminal convictions, and their applications for international protection had not been accepted due to the fact that they had crossed the Polish–Belarusian border.[19]

[1] Article 90 of the Law on Protection.

[2] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 10 April 2026, 19 February 2025.

[3] Article 348 of the Law on Foreigners.

[4] European Migration Network, National forms of protection Non-EU harmonised national forms of foreigner protection in Poland, 2019, available here, 20.

[5] i.e. on the basis of Artice 348(2). Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 10 April 2026.

[6] Article 349 of the Law on Foreigners.

[7] Article 351(1) of the Law on Foreigners.

[8] Article 351(2) and (3) of the Law on Foreigners.

[9] European Migration Network, National forms of protection Non-EU harmonised national forms of foreigner protection in Poland, 2019, available here, 23.

[10] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners and the latter by the Border Guard.

[11] Article 358 of the Law on Foreigners.

[12] Article 299(6)(b) of the Law of Foreingers.

[13] Article 302 (1)(16)(a) Law on Foreingers.

[14] Article 302 (1)(16)(b) Law of Foreingers.

[15] Article 330(2) and 330(3) Law on Foreingers,

[16] Information provided by the Border Guards, 7 March 2025.

[17] Information provided by the Border Guard, 18 March 2024.

[18] The Rule of Law Institute, ‘Frontex v. Poland. Has the EU stopped funding unlawful deportations from Poland?’, available here.

[19] Okopress, ‘Polska deportowała trzech Afgańczyków mimo zakazu ETPCz. Pytamy Straż Graniczną i MSWiA, dlaczego’, 22 April 2026, available in Polish here.