This page is for people who have UKR status (the temporary protection marker in the Polish PESEL population register) and are thinking about the CUKR residence card (karta pobytu CUKR), and for those who have already applied. It covers the conditions, the steps, the fees and the difference between UKR status and the card.
Who can get a CUKR card?
The card is issued to a Ukrainian citizen whose stay is legal on the basis of temporary protection, if all three conditions are met at the same time:
- you had UKR status on 4 June 2025;
- you have UKR status on the day you apply;
- you have had UKR status without a break for at least 365 days.
The Office for Foreigners (UdSC) adds two more practical requirements: you must also have UKR status on the day the card is issued, and periods with UKR status separated by a break are not added together.
On the page of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy of 26 March 2026, these conditions are presented as alternatives, with the word “albo” (“or”). The law (Article 42c of the 2022 special act) requires them to be met together, and this is the rule to follow.
A person who received a temporary residence permit lost UKR status and has no right to a CUKR card. UdSC gives the example of a person who received such a permit for work in 2025.
What about children?
- A child born in Poland. A child with UKR status gets a card if the mother has already been issued a CUKR card. The child’s card is valid for as long as the mother’s card.
- A child who came from Ukraine. According to UdSC, the child can get a CUKR card independently, regardless of the parents’ cards.
- A child with another citizenship who has protection based on a UdSC certificate: according to UdSC, after getting PESEL UKR, the child can get a family reunification permit for the period of validity of one parent’s CUKR card.
How do you apply?
You apply for the card only online, through the UdSC system called MOS (Moduł Obsługi Spraw). The voivode (the government’s representative in the province) does not examine an application filed on paper or by email.
- Prepare a signature. The application is signed with a qualified electronic signature or a trusted profile (Profil Zaufany). The law allows a personal signature (podpis osobisty) only when the application is filed on behalf of a person without full legal capacity, for example a child.
- Check your data in the registers. They must include your full first name and surname, date of birth, sex, citizenship, the series, number and expiry date of your valid passport, your fingerprints (or a record that they physically cannot be taken) and a specimen signature for those aged 12 and over. If anything is missing or the passport in the register is no longer valid, the MOS system will not let you file the application; missing data can be added at the office of any gmina.
- Pay the fees before you apply. The total is 440 zł: 340 zł of stamp duty for the temporary residence permit and 100 zł for issuing the card. There is no fee exemption, and fees once paid are not refunded.
- File the application. Applications have been accepted since 4 May 2026.
UdSC also says that you can apply yourself, without paid intermediaries. If you have a pending case for a temporary residence permit, filing a CUKR card application closes it automatically.
By what date can you apply?
By 4 March 2027: this is UdSC’s direct answer to the question about the final deadline, so apply no later than that day. If the application is filed by 4 March 2027, the law treats your stay as legal until you receive the card or until a final refusal.
Note: Article 42c itself, which sets the conditions for issuing the card, contains no end date, and protection under the EU decision has already been extended until 4 March 2028. It has not been officially announced whether applications will be accepted after 4 March 2027, so do not count on it.
How long is the wait, and what happens after the decision?
The voivode issues the card or refuses it within 180 days of the filing of a complete application.
The card may be refused if:
- the conditions for issuing it are not met;
- the person is on the list of undesirable foreigners or in the Schengen Information System (SIS);
- national defense or security requires it;
- the fee has not been paid.
A refusal is issued as a decision. You can appeal it to the Head of the UdSC within 14 days of the day it was delivered to you.
When the card is ready, the voivodeship office (urząd wojewódzki) notifies you that you can collect it. You must collect the card within 60 days of this notice; otherwise it is canceled and the fees are not refunded. The card is valid for 3 years from the day it is issued. On the day you collect it, temporary protection becomes, by law, a temporary residence permit until the card expires. The card carries the note “Poprzednio posiadacz ochrony czasowej” (former holder of temporary protection) and does not show a registered address. In the PESEL register, UKR status is changed to CUKR status, and the protection document in mObywatel is canceled.
How is UKR status different from a CUKR card?
The card gives you 3 years of certainty, but you lose some of the rights linked to UKR status. The table takes into account the explanations of UdSC and of Zielona Linia, the government information line of the employment services.
| Question | UKR status | CUKR card |
|---|---|---|
| Basis for stay | Temporary protection while the EU decision is in force | Temporary residence permit for 3 years |
| Work | Without a permit; the employer notifies the district labor office (powiatowy urząd pracy, PUP) within 7 days | No work permit needed; according to UdSC and Zielona Linia, no PUP notification is needed |
| Business | On the same terms as for Polish citizens | On the same terms as for Polish citizens |
| Leaving Poland | Leaving for more than 30 days ends protection | The permit is withdrawn after an absence of 6 months or longer |
| Travel in Schengen | With a biometric passport, up to 90 days in any 180-day period | According to UdSC, the card together with a valid passport gives up to 90 days in any 180-day period |
| Registration with the PUP | You can register as unemployed, with age limits | According to Zielona Linia, you cannot register, not even as a jobseeker |
| UKR status benefits | Available, including free housing and food in collective accommodation centers for vulnerable groups | According to UdSC, they are lost |
| 800+ | On the conditions for holders of UKR status | According to UdSC, can be received under other rules if their conditions are met |
| EU resident permit | An application is not accepted while under temporary protection | According to UdSC's position, the 5 years are counted from the day you receive the card; time with UKR status does not count |
On leaving the country, the law says “at least 6 months”, while the UdSC and Zielona Linia pages say “more than 6 months”; we give the wording of the law. On registration with the PUP, the ministry’s explanation of 26 March 2026 is worded more broadly and does not mention the CUKR card directly, but this permit is not on the list of those whom the labor market act allows to register. The law does not separately regulate how the 5 years for the EU resident permit are counted: here we give UdSC’s position.
We have not found an official explanation of the provision of the 800+ act under which a CUKR card holder receives the payment. We also could not find out whether a card holder is entitled to social assistance from the gmina.
What obligations does a CUKR card holder have?
- Notify the voivode of every change of address within 15 working days.
- Do not leave Poland for 6 months or longer, or the permit will be withdrawn.
- Have a valid passport for travel: according to UdSC, the right to travel in Schengen comes from the card together with the passport.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Treating CUKR as a separate kind of protection. It is a residence card, and in the PESEL register UKR status is changed to CUKR once you receive it.
- Reading the conditions as alternatives: you need all three.
- Putting off the application until after 4 March 2027.
- Filing the application on paper or by email.
- Paying intermediaries to file the application.
- Not collecting the card within 60 days of the voivodeship office’s notice.
- Forgetting to notify the voivode of your new address.