Aid for Ukrainians in Poland: 800+, social assistance, health care

This page is for Ukrainians with UKR status (the temporary protection mark in the PESEL register) who want to know what assistance they can count on in Poland in 2026 and where to apply. The rules have changed several times, so the date of each change is given next to the conditions.

# Who can get 800+?

800+ (świadczenie wychowawcze, the child-raising benefit) is 800 zł a month for each child under 18, whatever the family’s income. Since 5 March 2026, holders of UKR status receive it under a separate provision of the law if they live in Poland together with their family, and extra conditions apply to them.

Parents’ professional activity. Since 1 February 2026, the benefit for a month is paid only if you were professionally active in Poland in the previous month. The law treats as active, in particular:

• employees and people working under a civil-law service contract, if the base for pension and disability contributions is at least 50% of the minimum wage; in 2026 this is 2,403 zł (our calculation from the minimum wage of 4,806 zł);
• recipients of unemployment benefit, people on childcare leave and some scholarship holders, with no income threshold;
• business owners on start-up relief, preferential contributions or “Small ZUS Plus”, also with no threshold; the threshold of 30% of the minimum wage applies only to sickness or maternity benefits that such business owners receive.

The Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) gives these examples: work under an employment contract or a service contract, your own business, a sports or doctoral scholarship, unemployment benefit, and studies with a scholarship.

Exceptions to the activity condition. It is not checked if the child is a Polish citizen, has a Polish disability decision (orzeczenie) or is in the care of a guardian appointed by the country of origin.

Registered unemployed people without benefit. If you do not work and do not receive unemployment benefit, but you are registered as unemployed with the district labor office (powiatowy urząd pracy, PUP) and have health insurance because of this, 800+ is paid for 3 months, or for 6 months if you have three or more children. This right is granted only once per benefit period.

The child’s schooling. The child must meet the obligation of a year of preschool preparation, compulsory schooling or education until 18 in the Polish education system. This is checked in the Educational Information System (SIO). This condition has applied since the benefit period that started on 1 June 2025.

According to the Office for Foreigners (UdSC), holders of the CUKR residence card (karta pobytu CUKR) can receive 800+ under other provisions if they meet their conditions. We have not found an official explanation of exactly which provision of the law applies.

# How do you apply for 800+?

Applications are made only online: through the ZUS online account (eZUS, PUE), the mZUS app, online banking or the Emp@tia portal. In applications filed after 31 January 2026, a PESEL number is mandatory. The application includes details of your border crossing, the document confirming your legal stay, and declarations about professional activity and the child’s schooling.

The right to the benefit is set from the month in which the application arrived, but not earlier than the month in which the applicant and the child were given PESEL UKR. The benefit period runs from 1 June to 31 May.

Payments under the old rules stopped on 31 January 2026, and from 1 February 2026 those who had received them had to file a new application. According to ZUS, this affected about 150 thousand people.

# When is the payment suspended?

ZUS checks every month whether the conditions are met. The payment is suspended if:

• there are doubts that you live in Poland;
• the child’s schooling is not confirmed in SIO;
• you or your child have left Poland.

After you return to Poland, the payment is restored from the month in which it was suspended, if the conditions are met. ZUS can summon the applicant to appear in person within 3 working days. If you do not appear, the application is left unexamined or the payment is suspended.

# What is Dobry Start?

Dobry Start (“Good Start”) is 300 zł once a year for a child’s school supplies, whatever the family’s income. Applications are made from 1 July to 30 November, only online: through mZUS, eZUS, Emp@tia or online banking.

For holders of UKR status, since the 2025/2026 school year the child must attend a school in the Polish education system. Applications for the 2026/2027 school year, accepted from 1 July 2026, are also checked for professional activity in the month before the application. The same people are exempt from this condition as for 800+, and so are people who are studying. Unemployed people with health insurance meet the condition.

# What family benefits can you get?

Since 5 March 2026, Ukrainian citizens with UKR status who live in Poland with their family can receive family benefits. For benefits that depend on income, the income of the whole family is now counted, as for Poles.

These amounts are set by a regulation in force since 1 November 2024. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy also names other family benefits: the parental benefit (świadczenie rodzicielskie) of 1,000 zł a month, the care allowance (zasiłek pielęgnacyjny) of 215.84 zł, and the carer’s benefit (świadczenie pielęgnacyjne), which is 3,386 zł a month in 2026. The ministry separately mentions the “Aktywnie w żłobku” program: up to 1,500 zł a month for a nursery (up to 1,900 zł for a child with a disability); it is paid by ZUS.

You apply for family benefits at the gmina office where you live (headed by the wójt, burmistrz or city president, depending on the gmina). The benefit period runs from 1 November to 31 October. The gmina can summon the applicant to appear in person within 3 working days, and the payment is suspended if you or your child have left Poland.

# What happens to benefits granted until 4 March 2027?

The gmina changes such decisions on its own initiative, without an application from you. According to the Family Ministry’s material on gov.pl, benefits for a benefit period are extended to the end of that period, that is, to 31 October 2027. Benefits not tied to a period, including care benefits, are extended no longer than until 4 March 2028. Before that, the gmina checks in the PESEL register whether you and your family members still have UKR status. The Act of 23 January 2026 keeps benefits only for those who stay in Poland legally on the basis of temporary protection, have PESEL UKR and meet the new conditions.

# What social assistance does the gmina give?

The gmina can give holders of UKR status shelter, meals, necessary clothing and special-purpose assistance (zasiłek celowy). The law does not provide permanent or periodic social assistance for them. You need to apply to the gmina where you are actually staying, usually to its social assistance center (OPS or MOPS). In the application you declare, under criminal liability, that there are no circumstances that exclude you from temporary protection.

There is also free food aid funded by the EU. According to the ministry, you can get it if your income does not exceed 2,676.50 zł a month for a person who lives alone, or 2,180.95 zł per person in a family.

Since 5 March 2026, collective accommodation centers are open only to holders of UKR status from vulnerable groups who cannot provide housing for themselves. The National Integration Offices (Krajowe Biura Integracji) help with documents but, as the ministry writes, do not provide housing or pay money.

We have not found an official explanation of whether holders of the CUKR card are entitled to social assistance from the gmina.

# What health care is available?

Since 5 March 2026, free treatment from the National Health Fund (NFZ) without insurance is available only to holders of UKR status who:

• are under 18;
• are pregnant, giving birth or in the postnatal period;
• have been victims of torture or rape;
• have a certificate of residence in a collective accommodation center.

People wounded in the war and brought to Poland for treatment have the same right, plus joint replacement surgery, if they have no other basis for free treatment.

For the first four groups, the following are not covered: spa treatment, infertility treatment, joint replacement surgery, cataract surgery, medicines from the health minister’s programs and preventive programs, including breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening.

Other holders of UKR status without insurance get care only in case of a sudden threat to life or health. If a doctor in the hospital emergency department (SOR) decides that there is no such threat, you may be billed for the treatment.

You can be insured through work, a service contract, registration as unemployed, your own business, a pension (including a Ukrainian pension transferred to Poland) or a voluntary agreement with the NFZ. The voluntary contribution is 9% of declared income, but no less than 9% of the average wage in the enterprise sector; for July to September 2026 this is at least 845.67 zł a month. For gaps in insurance, a one-off fee is charged. The director of the NFZ branch can waive it or split it into installments, up to 12. An insured person registers family members who have no insurance of their own with the NFZ. This includes parents and grandparents who live in the same household. For recipients of a Ukrainian pension, the NFZ describes a different route, transferring the pension to a Polish bank, and warns that they should not be registered as family members. See the page Pension in Poland for details.

Hospital treatment that started no later than 4 March 2026 can continue until discharge, but no longer than until 4 March 2027. According to the NFZ’s explanation, dialysis and treatment in drug programs are not included in this.

# Does your child have to attend a Polish school?

Yes. Education in Poland is compulsory until 18. Children start school in the year they turn 7, and six-year-olds complete a year of preschool preparation. Foreign children attend public schools on the same terms as Polish citizens. For refugee children from Ukraine, the obligation to attend school in the Polish education system has applied since 1 September 2024, and 800+ and Dobry Start depend on it.

# Which 2022 aid no longer applies?

• The one-off 300 zł per person after entry in the PESEL register was abolished as of 1 July 2024.
• 40 zł a day for people who hosted Ukrainians in their homes was abolished as of 1 July 2024.
• Accommodation under the special act ended on 5 March 2026. For those who were living in the centers on 4 March 2026, the voivode (the government’s representative in the province) could extend it until 30 June 2026.
• Broad free treatment was abolished in two stages: on 30 September 2025 and on 5 March 2026.

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Expecting 800+ without professional activity in the previous month if no exception applies to you.
• Leaving Poland with your child without taking into account that the payment will be suspended.
• Counting on the exception for a child with a disability with a Ukrainian document: the law requires a Polish decision.
• Applying for social assistance to a gmina where you are not staying.
• Counting on free treatment in the SOR without insurance if there is no threat to life.