Overview of the main changes since the previous report update

The report was previously updated in June 2024.

International protection 

Asylum procedure

• Statistics: in 2024, 17,020 people applied for international protection in Poland, including 14,571 first time applicants. The majority (65%) were nationals of Ukraine and Belarus. Excluding those who submitted applications at airports, 3,141 people came directly from the territory of Belarus, Russia or Ukraine. The in merit protection rate stood at 82% (see Statistics).
• Ban on access to the Polish-Belarusian border: In June 2024 the ban on entering the buffer zone – area close to the border was reintroduced, and was prolonged throughout the year, preventing the provision of humanitarian assistance to people seeking international protection by civil society organisations (see Access to the territory and pushbacks).
• Violence at the border and pushbacks: Reports of violence at the border continued in 2024: testimonies collected by civil society organisations include reports on the use of verbal and physical violence, including by the Border Guard officers, such as use of firearms, beatings, routine use of pepper spray. From mid-2021 until November 2024, organisations were able to verify at least 88 deaths. In 2024 alone, there were 5,615 requests for assistance and 1,555 individuals who were subjected to pushbacks reported, with a total of 3,183 pushbacks recorded. The practices at the border, especially the use of firearms, were criticised by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. In April 2024, in Sherov and others against Poland, the ECtHR ruled that Poland had infringed upon articles 3 and 13 ECHR and Article 4 Protocol 4 through the pushback of a group towards Ukraine repeatedly. Domestic courts also repeatedly find the authorities’ pushbacks practices to be unlawful, but this did not change practice in 2024 (see Access to the territory and pushbacks).
• Criminalisation of humanitarian assistance: court cases against aid workers continued in 2024, with charges brought against aid workers for ‘facilitating unlawful residence in the Republic of Poland’, among others. In another case, the court of Bialystok ruled that the activists, who were considered to have violated the law forbidding access to a border zone, ‘were motivated by compassion and a determination to help other people in difficult life-threatening conditions’ and that ‘there is no doubt that the defendants saved the health and lives of foreigners by their actions’ (see Access to the territory and pushbacks).
• ‘Instrumentalisation’ introduced in law and suspension of asylum at the border: the Law on Protection was amended and the changes introducing the term “instrumentalisation” of the procedure and allowing the government to temporarily suspend the asylum procedure at the Belarusian border entered into force on 26 March 2025. On 27 March 2025 on the basis of the regulation, the right to apply for international protection at the Belarusian border was suspended for 60 days. Immediately following this, in April 2025, the ECtHR granted several interim measures ordering not to send persons back to Belarus. At least one interim measure was ignored by the Polish Border Guard (see Access to the territory and pushbacks).
• Statistics at the border: According to the Border Guard statistics, 5,324 persons submitted an application at the Polish border crossing points placed at the EU external borders. Of the persons coming from Belarus who managed to submit an application for international protection, the majority did so at the Czeremcha border crossing (676 persons) and at the Terespol border crossing (594 persons). During the same time period (2024), at the Polish-Belarusian border, the Border Guard reported 22,600 prevented attempts of illegal border crossing. The number of formal refusals of entry on the border crossings with Belarus was 1,559. 11,687 people were returned to Belarus on the basis of the Regulation on cross-border movement in 2024, while orders to leave Poland on the basis of the amended Law on Foreigners were issued towards 2,587 persons. Lastly, according to the Border Guards, after apprehension 8,300 persons decided to leave Poland to Belarus voluntarily without a decision on their entry (see Access to the territory and pushbacks).
• Implementation of the new Pact on Asylum and Migration: in April 2024 and February 2025, the Polish government and Polish Prime Minister respectively reiterated that Poland would not implement any element of the new Pact that would include mandatory quotas and relocations.
• Length of first instance procedure and pending cases: in 2024, the authority decided to prolong the examination on the basis of the Law on Protection in 2,933 cases (a significant increase from 991 in 2023), while 11,409 decisions were issued within the 6 months-time limit (7,431 in 2023), excluding accelerated procedures. The average processing time for a decision on the merits was 131 days in 2024. As of 31 December 2024, there were 6,939 persons whose cases were pending before the Office for Foreigners, compared to 3,766 in 2023. However, the number of applications in 2024 also increased significantly (17,020 in 2024 compared to 9,513 in 2023) (see Regular procedure).
• Dublin procedure: the Office for Foreigners stated that in 2024 requests for transfers were not sent neither to Italy nor to Greece (see Dublin procedure).
• Return procedure: contrary to 2023 (9 countries), as of 31 December 2024 according to the Border Guard, there is no list of countries to which no returns can be carried out (see Return procedure).
• Identification of vulnerable applicants: in 2024, NGOs continued to highlight the lack of an effective vulnerability identification system, due to the parameters and practice of the current mechanisms (see Identification).
• Unaccompanied minors: In 2024 the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child and Ombudsperson together called on the Polish Prime Minister to introduce amendments to the law, allowing for better protection of foreign children in Poland. The Ombudsperson and the Commissioner referred to the situation in 2024 with numerous interventions concerning unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Belarus. They reported cases where unaccompanied minors for many days were kept without a secured place in foster care, due to lack of capacity. They also called for amendments to the law, to introduce a more complex age examination process that would better take into consideration psychological and environmental elements. In 2024, there were 297 unaccompanied children (up from 292 in 2023) applying for international protection in Poland (see Age assessment and Legal representation of unaccompanied minors).

Reception conditions

• Access to reception conditions: The humanitarian crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border that started in August 2021 and continued in 2024 left many prospective asylum applicants without access to material reception conditions, including medical assistance. Deaths at the border continued in 2024. Many asylum seekers did not receive adequate medical assistance despite the fact that had experienced violence at the border, suffered injuries from crossing or falling from the border fence, or were in a state of extreme exhaustion. Moreover, in 2024, the ban on staying in specific areas of the border zone was reintroduced, which made it more difficult for non-governmental organisations to provide humanitarian and medical assistance at the border (see Access to the territory and push backs and Reception Conditions).
• Education: From 1 September 2024, schools can hire an intercultural assistant to support foreign pupils’ contacts within the school environment and cooperation with their teachers and parents. However, this form of support is not popular for now (see Access to education).
• Health care: In 2024, medical assistance for asylum applicants was provided by the current provider of medical services. No changes were made compared to the previous year regarding the working hours and availability of medical staff (see Health care).
• Special reception needs of vulnerable groups: In 2024, finding placements in appropriate facilities for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children remained a challenge. There were cases where emergency shelters or youth care facilities for crisis situations refused to accept children brought in by the police or border guards during interventions. It also happened that children ended up in facilities that were not adapted to their specific needs (see Special reception needs of vulnerable groups).

Detention of asylum seekers

• Detention of vulnerable applicants: Children with families are still detained and the best interest of a child principle is commonly not taken into account in court proceedings; no identification system for victims of violence is in place, and victims of torture are still in practice placed in detention centres despite the binding regulations prohibiting detention in these cases (see Detention of vulnerable applicants).
• Conditions in detention centres: Psychological services are offered in detention centres only by specialists hired by the Border Guard, which often discourages persons in need from requesting support due to lack of trust (see Conditions in detention facilities).

Content of international protection

• Long term residence: Due to the length of proceedings, changes are planned regarding the submission of residence applications, including permanent residence permits and long-term EU resident permits. Applications would be required to be submitted exclusively in electronic form through a dedicated portal. Such changes may lead to digital exclusion for some third-country nationals who are unable to submit their applications electronically (see Long-term residence).
• Housing: In September 2024, UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights presented its Concluding observations on the seventh periodic review of Poland. The Committee expressed concern that the poverty rate remains relatively high among refugees. It was pointed out that refugees are particularly vulnerable to homelessness and landlord exploitation due to the lack of affordable homes (see Housing).

Temporary protection

The information given hereafter constitute a short summary of the Polish Report on Temporary Protection, for further information, see Annex on Temporary Protection.

Temporary protection procedure

• Extension of the temporary protection regime: In May 2024, temporary protection for Ukrainian nationals and some of their family members was prolonged until 30 September 2025. It is valid until 4 March 2026 for other temporary protection beneficiaries.
• Qualification: Since 1 July 2024, minor unmarried children of Ukrainian nationals (or their spouses) are eligible for special temporary protection.
• Registration: Since the Special Law Amendment of 15 May 2024, registration for special temporary protection is more difficult due to the absolute travel document requirement and the obligation to register immediately upon arrival to Poland.

Content of temporary protection

• Access to asylum and other legal statuses: The number of asylum applications of Ukrainian nationals significantly increased in 2024. In March 2025, the Office for Foreigners stated that many Ukrainian nationals treat asylum proceedings as a quick way to legalise their stay in Poland which constitutes in their view an abuse of the international protection system. Furthermore, the Office claimed that the security situation in Ukraine has improved since 2022. Accordingly, a more restrictive approach to Ukrainian applicants was announced.
• Freedom of movement: Movement and mobility of temporary protection beneficiaries continued to be hampered mostly due to the rule that temporary protection is withdrawn upon a 30-day absence in Poland and the unfavourable practices of the Polish Border Guard. Many temporary protection beneficiaries lost access to social benefits upon temporarily leaving Poland.
• Access to education: Since 1 September 2024, only Ukrainian pupils taking the matriculation exam in 2025 within the Ukrainian education system are exempted from the obligation to attend Polish schools.
• Access to socio-economic rights: The Special Law Amendment of 15 May 2024 introduced significant changes to socio-economic rights of temporary protection beneficiaries, including a shorter period to notify of their employment, repeal of the financial allowance for landlords and a one-time financial allowance for Ukrainian nationals upon their arrival to Poland, and making social welfare conditioned on attendance to Polish school.