A Belarusian wanted to apply for a residence permit in Poland, but accidentally sent his passport to the tax office

Everything would have been fine, but during the time the documents went "not there," Roman's legal period of stay in Poland expired. Most studied his case.

The story became known on April 1, when 21-year-old Roman himself shared it in one of the chats dedicated to the legalization of foreigners. At first, participants thought it was an April Fool's joke. But it soon became clear: the case was real. Most contacted Roman, but he only indirectly confirmed the fact of what happened.

From what the young man told in the chat, it is known that his residence permit (ДНЖ - temporary residence permit) was valid until March 31. The day before — March 30 — he sent documents for a new card by mail. Usually, for legalizing stay, a photocopy of the passport is used, but Roman enclosed the original, as well as originals of other documents required in such cases.

He found the address on Google — he focused on the closest office (urząd) to his home. So instead of the voivodeship administration (Urząd Wojewódzki), which deals with legalization, the documents went to the district tax office — Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Bielany.

— The next day, the tax office called me and said that all originals should not be sent like that and that I had sent them to the wrong place, — Roman wrote in the chat.

Documents were returned, but this did not solve the problem

The young man went to the tax office and picked up the documents against a receipt: an employee of the state body wrote that she issued them based on a student ID.

— The tax office employee did not want to redirect them to their intended destination because there was a passport and other originals, — Roman said in the chat.

Later, he sent the documents to the voivodeship administration. But, contrary to the rules, this was done after the expiration of the previous residence permit's validity.

— But the key problem remained: the residence card's validity period had already expired, and the application [on time] was effectively not submitted, — Roman wrote.

“That's Your Problem”

It turned out that at the time of submitting the application, he no longer had a legal basis to stay in Poland. In the chat, Roman directly asked:

— If tomorrow, when attempting to submit documents, I am detained by Straż Graniczna (Border Guard), what are my next steps? And what is the chance that this will happen at all?

The answers varied — from harsh to cautious.

— It's your problem that you sent it to the wrong place. You are already illegally [staying in Poland], — wrote one of the participants.

Others shared their experience:

— In my presence, Straż Graniczna removed a person from the office under similar circumstances.

Although such cases are not common practice, when contacting an office, additional questions may arise regarding the legality of stay. In such a case, the Border Guard may get involved. In the worst case, they may initiate an inspection and issue an order to leave Poland.

The law provides for such errors, but it doesn't always work

In the discussion, an argument from lawyers quickly emerged: Article 65 of the Polish Administrative Procedure Code. According to it:

• if an application is submitted to the wrong body, it should be forwarded to the correct one;
• in this case, the submission deadline is considered met.

At first glance, Roman's case falls precisely under this norm. Does this mean the tax office should have forwarded the package of documents to the voivodeship administration itself, and then Roman would not have lost his legal status?

Anastasia — a lawyer specializing in the legalization of foreigners — explains that in practice, the application of this article is complicated.

— Firstly, authorities are reluctant to forward documents with originals, especially passports. Secondly, it is important whether it was a full-fledged, official application for a residence card, i.e., an application filed according to the rules, and not just a package of documents. Thirdly, even when forwarded, the documents could have arrived at the correct office already after the deadline, — she explains.

From the correspondence between Roman and the tax authority, it can be concluded that the letter arrived at the tax office only on April 1 — already after the expiration of the residence card's validity.

— As follows from the explanations of the offices themselves, the submission date is considered to be the moment when the application arrives at the institution and is registered, not the date the letter was sent. This means that even if forwarded, Roman's documents would most likely have been considered submitted late, — Anastasia adds.

That is why lawyers advise not to delay submitting the application until the last day: even a small error can lead to missing the deadline.

Is there a way out?

Roman's situation is not unique, says Anastasia. Many rely on Google and sometimes make mistakes.

— Similar mistakes are not uncommon: questions about where exactly to send documents regularly appear in legalization assistance chats, — adds the specialist.

According to her, the risks for Roman are quite real. The document submission deadline may be considered missed, and the stay — deemed illegal. In this case, a refusal of the residence card is possible. This means he might be required to leave Poland and even face an entry ban.

Anastasia separately comments on the fear of detention:

— The risk exists, but it's not automatic. However, when contacting an office without legal status, a person can indeed come to the attention of the border guard.

The specialist believes that Roman's main chance is to try to restore the submission deadline, meaning to ask the office to accept the documents after the deadline.

— One can submit an application for restoration of the deadline (przywrócenie terminu), but it requires strong justification, and the decision remains at the discretion of the body, — Anastasia adds.

In the chat, Roman was also advised to attach proof that the attempt to submit documents was made on time. In an extreme case — to consider applying for international protection, if there are grounds for it.

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