The Belarusian who came to change his residence permit in Poland with a New Belarus passport recounted new details of his story

New Belarus Passport

Recently, news emerged that Poland initiated the procedure to revoke the supplementary protection of a Belarusian who, when applying for an extension of his legal status, mentioned a New Belarus passport in his documents.

The case has already sparked discussion among the diaspora: can the use of such a document become grounds for losing international protection and initiating a criminal case for document forgery?

Lawyers from the "Partyzanka" initiative, based on this story, argue that using the New Belarus passport as an official document creates serious legal risks.

However, the protagonist of this story came to opposite conclusions. Dzmitry, in a conversation with "Nasha Niva," emphasizes that the Polish officials' decision to initiate a review of his status is not a direct result of using the New Belarus passport. The problem is only that he did not provide a photocopy of this passport — meaning he did not fulfill a basic requirement outlined in the procedure for obtaining a temporary residence card. This is what caused the confusion.

"I received my residence card again — by presenting the New Belarus passport at the office again"

Dzmitry received supplementary protection in Poland two years ago. In November 2025, he applied for an extension of his residence permit – a standard procedure.

"When you submit documents, you must provide your passport. My Belarusian passport is expired, and I had just received this new one — the New Belarus passport. I decided to simply record it – as a fact that I use it," he recounted.

According to him, the Office for Foreigners reacted calmly to the New Belarus passport.

"The employee saw the passport and was interested. He asked what it was. I explained that it was a new passport issued by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office. He even asked: 'Can I take a photo to show my son?' He said his son is very interested in Belarusian topics and would find it interesting to see a photo of the cover of a live document. We had a very pleasant conversation. And I missed the moment: I should have attached a copy of the passport. I didn't manage to, but I was confident they would make a copy themselves. This was my own foolishness."

The New Belarus passport itself was issued in Vilnius in September 2025, when the protagonist of this story was in Poland.

"A few days later, apparently, another employee reviewed my package of documents. He saw the passport number and issue date in September 2025 listed there and logically concluded that I had traveled to Belarus and obtained a new blue passport. And having received supplementary protection, I am not allowed to travel to Belarus or even be on the territory of the Belarusian embassy or consular offices. Obtaining a new official Belarusian passport is grounds for depriving a person of supplementary protection status. Naturally, procedural questions arose for him, and he was obliged to initiate a review of my status. I think if a photocopy of my passport with 'Pahonia' on the cover had been before his eyes, there would have been significantly fewer questions," Dzmitry explains.

The Migration Service initiated a verification procedure – to check whether the grounds for supplementary protection still exist.

In December 2025, Dzmitry provided his written explanations, submitted photocopies, and two weeks later received his residence card — again by presenting the New Belarus passport at the office.

"Employees of the Office for Foreigners know perfectly well what the blue official Belarusian passport looks like, and yet they accept the alternative red one and issue a residence permit based on it," he emphasizes.

Can there be a criminal case?

Lawyers from "Partyzanka" believe that Dzmitry could face a criminal case for using the New Belarus passport — as for using a forged document.

His opinion is different.

"If I understand correctly, for the use of a document to fall under Article 270 of the Polish Criminal Code, two key conditions must be met.

Firstly, the document must be recognized as a forgery. In Poland, 'forgery' is the production of an item that imitates an existing official document. The passport of democratic Belarus does not imitate the official passport of Belarus: it has a different design, 'Pahonia' is depicted on it, and it has a different issuer.

Secondly, the document must have been used as authentic. But if I submit a document and do not lie about its nature, but directly state that it is an alternative to an official document, issued by the passport center of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's United Transitional Cabinet, then there is no intent to use the document as official. When interacting with a representative of the Office for Foreigners, I openly explained what kind of document it was, and even noted that it is not yet recognized by anyone," the Belarusian reflects.

Dzmitry considers it important to continue expanding the scope of use for the new Belarusian passport.

"Some people registered SIM cards with it, some presented it when boarding a plane, some use it in Polish banks. We need to test the limits of existing possibilities and create new ones. Freedom is born and preserved in gaps. And our task is to expand these gaps by inserting our own public institutions," he says.

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