Ukrainians in Poland

This section is for Ukrainians who already live in Poland or plan to move there: legal status and documents, work, taxes, social benefits and a bank account.

# Just arrived

1. Register your address (zameldowanie). A Ukrainian citizen must register their place of residence no later than the fourth day after arriving at the address. The 30-day deadline applies to citizens of Poland and the EU and to some of their family members, not to Ukrainian citizens. See the page Address registration for details.
2. Get a PESEL number with UKR status. A PESEL number is assigned in the Polish population register, and UKR status in that register means temporary protection. You apply for the number in person at any gmina (the smallest administrative unit, similar to a municipality or a Ukrainian hromada; the application is accepted by its office) within 30 days of crossing the Polish border. If you miss this deadline, your protection ends. The steps are described on the page PESEL and PESEL UKR.
3. Work legally. Temporary protection gives you free access to the labor market. Your employer notifies the district labor office (powiatowy urząd pracy, PUP) of your work within 7 days. Read about contracts and pay in the article Work in Poland for Ukrainians (in Ukrainian).
4. Open an account. Banks that open accounts for consumers must provide a basic payment account in zloty. For payments within Poland, the bank must keep it free of charge, and it may charge a fee only for some transactions above a set number. We explain how to open one on our bank account page.
5. Take care of health insurance. Since 5 March 2026, only a few groups get free treatment from the National Health Fund (NFZ) without insurance, including children under 18 and pregnant women. Everyone else gets only emergency care unless they are insured, for example through work. Details are on the page Aid for Ukrainians in Poland.

From 5 August 2026, protection is granted only to people who have fulfilled their military obligations in Ukraine. The requirement applies to everyone who did not yet have temporary protection in Poland on 4 August 2026, including those who applied earlier but had not been granted protection by that day. We explain how this works on the temporary protection page.

# Already living in Poland

• CUKR residence card. If you had UKR status on 4 June 2025, have it now and have held it without a break for at least 365 days, you can apply for a CUKR residence card (karta pobytu CUKR). It is a residence card for 3 years, and you can apply only online. The Office for Foreigners (UdSC) says the application can be filed until 4 March 2027, so do not put it off.
• Trips abroad. Leaving Poland for more than 30 days ends temporary protection. The other grounds for ending it are listed on the temporary protection page.
• PESEL without a passport. If your PESEL UKR was assigned only on the basis of your own statement (oświadczenie), without any document, you had to confirm your identity by 31 August 2026. From 1 September 2026, those who did not do so had their status changed to NUE and lost protection. If the number was assigned on the basis of a Pole’s Card (Karta Polaka), another document with a photo, a birth certificate or an invalid passport, or if your passport has expired since then, you confirm your identity within 60 days of the date your new passport is issued. Details are on the page PESEL and PESEL UKR.
• All grounds for staying, from protection to permanent residence, are compared on the page Legal status in Poland.

# Working in Poland or earning income in Ukraine

Your right to work comes from your status. With temporary protection you work without a permit, but your employer notifies the PUP; with a CUKR card you need neither a permit nor a notification. Contracts, the minimum wage and workers’ rights are covered in the article Work in Poland for Ukrainians (in Ukrainian). Support after you lose your job is covered on the page Unemployment benefit.

You become a tax resident of Poland if your center of vital interests is here or you stay in the country for more than 183 days in a year. A resident also declares Ukrainian income in Poland. For people who came because of the war, the law allows them to confirm their center of vital interests with a written statement for 2024–2026. Details are on the page Taxes in Poland.

For the affairs you still have in Ukraine, you will need our general guides:

• Transfers from abroad to an individual: limits and financial monitoring
• Sole trader (FOP) abroad: taxes and residency
• Wise in Ukraine: transfers, exchange rate and fees (in Ukrainian)
• Today’s National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) zloty rate

# What has changed in the rules

• On 5 March 2026 the act phasing out the 2022 special act came into force. Temporary protection for everyone is now governed by the Act on Granting Protection to Foreigners. The application for a PESEL number with UKR status must be filed within 30 days of entry, leaving the country for more than 30 days ends protection, and the employer’s notification of work has moved to the Act on the Conditions for Employing Foreigners.
• On 4 May 2026 Poland began accepting applications for the CUKR residence card, only through the MOS online system.
• On 30 July 2026 the EU extended temporary protection until 4 March 2028. From 5 August 2026, protection is granted only if you have fulfilled your military obligations in Ukraine. The requirement does not apply to those who had protection in Poland on or before 4 August 2026 and keep it without a break.
• On 1 September 2026 UKR status was changed to NUE for those whose PESEL was assigned only on the basis of their own statement and who did not confirm their identity by 31 August.

Some official pages still give 4 March 2027, and several deadlines in Polish laws are also still tied to that date. We explain why, and which date to go by, on the page Legal status in Poland.