EXPAT ESSENTIALSPOLANDLIVE · COMMUNITY DATA
How long does a residence permit really take in Poland?
Real waiting times from foreigners like you, for every voivodeship office. Add your case anonymously in 30 seconds. It helps the next person plan their job, travel and lease.
- REPORTS
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THE BOARD
Waiting time by voivodeship: temporary residence – work
Median time from submitting the application to the decision, for cases filed in the last 24 months. A voivodeship appears once it has 5 decided cases.
Wrocław
Dolnośląskie
6–12 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions · 1 waiting. Add yours
Bydgoszcz
Kujawsko-Pomorskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
539 days (2025: 545 days)
Temporary residence (all purposes) · average, not median · 14,753 cases pending (all three permit types, as of 21 Oct 2026)
Source: Kujawsko-Pomorski Urząd Wojewódzki (Bydgoszcz), reply to a public-information request, ref. BW.II.1331.268.2026, 21 Oct 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Gorzów Wielkopolski
Lubuskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
518 days (2025: 494 days)
Temporary residence (all purposes) · average, not median · 23,035 cases pending (temporary residence (all purposes), as of 22 Oct 2026; cases filed in 2025 and 2026 only)
Source: Lubuski Urząd Wojewódzki (Gorzów Wielkopolski), reply to a public-information request, ref. SO-IV.1331.23.2026.ESzo, 22 Oct 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Łódź
Łódzkie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
384 days (2025: 324 days)
Temporary residence (all purposes) · average, not median · 48,626 cases pending (temporary residence (all purposes), as of 30 Sep 2026)
Source: Łódzki Urząd Wojewódzki (Łódź), reply to a public-information request, ref. SOC-IV.1331.14.2026, 16 Oct 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Kraków
Małopolskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
229 days (2025: 164 days)
Temporary residence – work · average, not median · 39,227 cases pending (temporary residence (all purposes), as of 19 Oct 2026)
Source: Małopolski Urząd Wojewódzki (Kraków), reply to a public-information request, ref. SC-I.1331.28.2026, 19 Oct 2026
5–10 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
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0/5 decisions · 1 waiting. Add yours
Warsaw
Mazowieckie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
420 days (2025: 241 days)
Temporary residence and work (art. 114) · average, not median
Source: Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki (Warsaw), reply to a public-information request, ref. WSC-IV.1331.30.2026, 16 Oct 2026
9–14 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions · 7 waiting. Add yours
Opole
Opolskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
473 days (2025: 573 days)
Temporary residence and work · average, not median · ≈ 20,720 cases pending (all three permit types, as of 30 Sep 2026)
Source: Opolski Urząd Wojewódzki (Opole), reply to a public-information request, ref. SO.II.1331.24.2026, 21 Oct 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Rzeszów
Podkarpackie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
314 days (2025: 246 days)
Temporary residence (all purposes) · average, not median · 7,854 cases pending (all three permit types, as of 8 Oct 2026)
Average over positive and negative decisions, discontinuations and applications left unexamined (by date issued).
Source: Podkarpacki Urząd Wojewódzki (Rzeszów), reply to a public-information request, ref. O-II.1331.27.2026, 8 Oct 2026
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Gdańsk
Pomorskie
4–8 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions · 1 waiting. Add yours
Katowice
Śląskie
5–9 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Olsztyn
Warmińsko-Mazurskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
261 days (2025: 186 days)
Temporary residence – work · average, not median · 5,003 cases pending (temporary residence (all purposes), as of 30 Sep 2026)
Source: Warmińsko-Mazurski Urząd Wojewódzki (Olsztyn), reply to a public-information request, ref. none (reply by e-mail), 21 Oct 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Poznań
Wielkopolskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
≈ 340 days (2025: ≈ 340 days)
Temporary residence (all purposes) · average, not median · ≈ 54,000 cases pending (temporary residence (all purposes), as of 20 Oct 2026)
Source: Wielkopolski Urząd Wojewódzki (Poznań), reply to a public-information request, ref. SC-XI.1331.28.2026, 20 Oct 2026
5–9 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
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0/5 decisions. Add yours
Szczecin
Zachodniopomorskie
Official office data (average, Jan–Sep 2026)
439 days (2025: 385 days)
Temporary residence and work (art. 114 sec. 1) · average, not median · 45,402 cases pending (temporary residence (all purposes), as of 30 Sep 2026)
From the Foreigners Data Warehouse reports; the office says the reports do not state which start date the average uses.
Source: Zachodniopomorski Urząd Wojewódzki (Szczecin), reply to a public-information request, ref. WSC-1.1331.24.2026, 21 Oct 2026
4–7 months
Estimate: law firm estimate (Legalsol), Jul 2026
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions. Add yours
Lublin
Lubelskie
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions. Add yours
Białystok
Podlaskie
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions. Add yours
Kielce
Świętokrzyskie
Collecting community reports
0/5 decisions. Add yours
Latest decisions shared
- Kraków · temporary, studies7½ months · granted
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Ask for a free checkHOW THIS BOARD WORKS
- Numbers come from people who shared their own case. They are not official statistics; official data is published at migracje.gov.pl.
- We show the median and the typical range (middle half of cases), only after 5 decisions, so a single unusual case cannot distort the result.
- We never ask for names, case numbers or contact details. Implausible dates are rejected automatically.
- Official office data (grey box) is the AVERAGE time from application to decision that a voivodeship office sent us in reply to a public-information request, for 2025 and for 1 January to 30 September 2026, with the letter reference and date. It is an average, not a median, so a few very long cases pull it up. Some offices also split temporary residence by purpose (work, studies, family); filter by purpose to see those figures, and the office's own label shows exactly what it counted. Official figures are never mixed into community numbers. We add offices as their replies arrive.
- Until a voivodeship has enough community reports, we show a published estimate in grey with its source and date. Estimates are never mixed into community numbers.
- The legal deadline for a temporary residence decision is normally 60 days, but deadlines are suspended until 4 March 2027 (voivodeship office notice).
- Every case is different. Use the board to plan, not as a promise from the office.