Residence Card Case Status 2026 - How to Check It Online and at the Voivodeship Office

You filed an application for a temporary or permanent residence permit, months have passed, and you have no idea what stage your case is at. This is one of the most common frustrations for foreigners in Poland today, because since April 27, 2026 every such application goes through one central portal, MOS 2.0, yet that same portal does not actually tell you how much longer you will wait. Below is exactly where you can check your real case status, what deadlines the law provides, why those deadlines are currently suspended until March 4, 2027, and what you can do when the office stays silent for too long, including filing a formal reminder and, if needed, a complaint about inaction with the administrative court.

• Why the case status is hard to find, MOS 2.0 in short
• How to check your case status in the MOS portal step by step
• Regional voivodeship office systems, when MOS is not enough
• Statutory deadlines for a residence card decision
• The suspension of deadlines until 2027 and 2026 case law
• The formal reminder for an office’s inaction
• Complaint about inaction with the administrative court
• When it makes sense to involve a lawyer
• Common mistakes when checking case status
• Frequently asked questions

Why the case status is hard to find, MOS 2.0 in short

Until April 26, 2026, an application for a residence permit could be filed on paper or through the older version of the MOS portal (Moduł Obsługi Spraw). Since April 27, 2026, applications for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident status must be filed exclusively online, through the new portal at mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl. A paper application that reaches the voivodeship office after that date is left unprocessed, and it does not matter when the envelope was postmarked. Since May 4, 2026, the same portal also handles applications for the CUKR residence card (for Ukrainian citizens with UKR status who want to move from temporary protection to a three-year temporary residence permit), which can be filed until March 4, 2027.

Accounts from the earlier version of MOS were deleted, so if you used the portal before, you need to create a new one. Login works exclusively through login.gov.pl, meaning the Trusted Profile (Profil Zaufany), the mObywatel app, an e-ID card, or online banking, there is no separate MOS username and password. Filing an application costs a stamp duty of PLN 340 to PLN 640 (depending on the type of permit) plus PLN 100 for issuing the physical card, neither fee is payable from within the portal, you attach proof of the transfer as a separate document. We cover the underlying rules on permit categories, validity periods and fees in detail in our guide to the Act on Foreigners, if you have not filed your application yet, that is worth reading first.

How to check your case status in the MOS portal step by step

This is where most people get frustrated. According to the official explanation from the Office for Foreigners, the MOS portal is not meant for communication with the voivodeship office and does not inform you about the current status of your case or about the need to supplement documents, an employee of the voivodeship office will contact you about all of that directly. What you actually get from MOS is this:

In other words, MOS confirms that your application arrived, but it does not show a progress bar or your position in the queue. That is why real case monitoring happens somewhere else, which we cover in the next section. If your card is based on a ground other than temporary residence, permanent residence or EU long-term resident status, for example family reunification with a foreigner abroad or an intra-corporate transfer, you still file the application on paper, under the previous rules, not through MOS.

Regional voivodeship office systems, when MOS is not enough

Each of Poland’s 16 voivodeship offices runs its own tracking system, independent of MOS, usually based on a case number and a unique access code that the office emails you after registering your application in its internal systems, typically a few days after you filed it through MOS. If you never received these details, almost every office has a request form on its website for obtaining them.

If the regional portal is down, you never received an access code, or your case needs an explanation that no online form covers, call the helpline of the relevant voivodeship office. Have your case number ready (if you have it), your name, date of birth, PESEL number (if you have one), and your travel document number, officers usually ask for this before giving out any information. You can also submit a general letter to the office through ePUAP or mObywatel, asking for the status of your case and citing the case number in the subject line, this is not a formal legal remedy, but it leaves a written trail that will help later if the case ends up needing a formal reminder.

Statutory deadlines for a residence card decision

The Act on Foreigners sets its own special deadlines, different from the general ones in the Code of Administrative Procedure. Under Article 112a of that act, a decision on a temporary residence permit must be issued within 60 days, but this deadline starts running only once the application no longer has formal deficiencies, meaning once the foreigner has submitted every required document, not from the day the application was filed. An appeal against such a decision should be resolved within 90 days.

Those deadlines sound precise, but in 2026 they have limited practical weight, because their running is suspended, which is the topic of the next section. Still, it is worth knowing them exactly, because they mark the point from which you can even start talking about the office’s inaction and consider filing a formal reminder. If you are still deciding which type of permit fits your situation in the first place, our broader guide to residence permits in Poland walks through the main categories side by side.

The suspension of deadlines until 2027 and 2026 case law

This is the most important, and most often overlooked, piece of information on this topic. Under Article 100d of the Act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict on the territory of that state, as amended by the act of September 12, 2025 and extended by the phasing-out act of January 23, 2026, the running of deadlines for deciding on temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident status (and their amendment or withdrawal) does not begin, and if already running, is suspended, until March 4, 2027. This provision applies to every foreigner, regardless of nationality, not just Ukrainian citizens. During this period the voivode is not formally required to inform the party about missing the deadline, or to forward reminders to the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

That increase, confirmed in the Ministry of Interior and Administration’s own answer to a parliamentary interpellation, triggered protests by foreigners in Warsaw in 2026. Poland’s Ombudsman has repeatedly flagged the problem to the ministry, and the ministry itself, in its response of June 30, 2026, admitted that an administrative court may refuse to apply Article 100d in cases about inaction or excessive delay. This is not a theoretical possibility: since the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling of May 19, 2025, confirmed by later judgments, courts have held that applying this suspension after its fourth extension, meaning after June 30, 2024, violates the constitutional right to a court, and therefore refuse to apply it. In 2026, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Wroclaw (judgments of April 9 and April 29, 2026) and the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Gdansk (judgments of June 25 and July 23, 2026) found voivodeship offices in breach of their duty to act and ordered them to issue decisions, despite the formally ongoing suspension. In other words, the official notice about suspended deadlines does not mean you have no tools left to push a stalled case forward, it only means the office will not do it on its own.

The formal reminder for an office’s inaction

A reminder (ponaglenie) is a formal legal remedy under Article 37 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, available in two situations: when the office failed to resolve the case within the statutory deadline (inaction) or when it is handling the case longer than actually necessary (excessive delay). A reminder filed before the statutory deadline has passed is left without consideration, so before filing one you must calculate exactly when your deadline started running (see the deadlines section above) and keep the suspension described above in mind.

If the Head of the Office for Foreigners confirms inaction or excessive delay, the ruling sets a new deadline for the voivode to resolve the case and orders an explanation of the delay. A reminder on its own does not guarantee a positive decision or a specific date, it is a tool that forces the higher authority to formally assess the delay, not to rule on the merits of the case itself.

Complaint about inaction with the administrative court

If the reminder is ignored, or the Head of the Office for Foreigners does not confirm inaction even though the case has genuinely stalled, the next step is a complaint about inaction or excessive delay filed with the relevant Voivodeship Administrative Court, under Article 3(2)(8) of the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts. Filing the reminder first is a mandatory precondition for such a complaint, without it the court will not even examine it. The court fee for such a complaint is usually a flat amount around PLN 100, much lower than for a complaint against a decision itself.

If the court finds the complaint justified, under Article 149(1) of the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts it orders the voivode to issue a decision within a set deadline (in practice, in 2026, courts set anywhere from 30 to 60 days, depending on the complexity of the case) and rules on whether there was inaction or excessive delay, including whether it amounted to a gross violation of the law. If the court finds a gross violation of the law, it may, under Article 149(2) in conjunction with Article 154(6), additionally impose a fine on the voivode or award the applicant a monetary sum as compensation for the delay, not for actual financial damage. This is not automatic, the court weighs the specific circumstances of the case, but real 2026 judgments (for example the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Gdansk, judgment of June 25, 2026, case no. III SAB/Gd 133/26) awarded applicants amounts around PLN 1,500, on top of reimbursement of the proceedings’ costs.

When it makes sense to involve a lawyer

Checking your status yourself, calling the helpline, or even sending a general letter through ePUAP is something you can handle without legal help. It is a different story once the case has clearly been stuck for far longer than the statutory 60 days, the office relies on the deadline suspension described above, and you need someone to draft a reminder that cites the current NSA and WSA case law on the unconstitutionality of that suspension, or to take the case to an administrative court if the reminder does not work. These are documents where one poorly worded sentence, or a missing reference to the right judgment, can decide whether the court finds inaction or dismisses the complaint.

MojaFirma’s legal team, described in more detail on our legal services page, prepares and files reminders and complaints about inaction in residence cases, monitors your case in the voivodeship office’s regional system on your behalf, and communicates with the office when you do not have the time, the language skills, or the confidence to phrase the letter yourself. This is especially useful when several months have already passed beyond the statutory deadline with still no answer from the office, because in that situation speed and precision of the filing matter far more than simply wanting to act.

Common mistakes when checking case status

Treating MOS as a progress bar. The portal confirms that your application was filed and shows a list of your documents, but according to the official explanation from the Office for Foreigners it does not report the processing stage or communicate with you during the case, look for that in the voivodeship office’s regional system instead.

Confusing MOS with the voivodeship office system. These are two entirely separate systems with separate accounts, logging into one does not give you access to the other, and the case number on your UPO from MOS does not always match the case number in the regional system.

Filing a reminder too early. A reminder submitted before the statutory deadline has passed is left without consideration, so calculating the deadline precisely, and checking exactly when it started running, matters more than acting quickly.

Giving up after hearing about the suspended deadlines. Many foreigners stop taking action once they learn that deadlines are suspended until 2027, even though administrative court rulings throughout 2026 regularly show that this suspension does not close the door to a reminder or a complaint about inaction.

No written record of contact with the office. Phone calls alone are hard to cite later as evidence in a reminder or complaint, it is worth confirming every important piece of information in a general letter through ePUAP or keeping your e-Doreczenia correspondence.

Frequently asked questions

Bibliography and legal basis

• Act of June 14, 1960, Code of Administrative Procedure (consolidated text, Dz.U. 2024 item 572), Articles 35-37, reminder for inaction and excessive delay.
• Act of December 12, 2013 on Foreigners (consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 item 1079), Article 112a, deadlines for a temporary residence decision.
• Act of March 12, 2022 on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict on the territory of that state (Dz.U. 2022 item 583, as amended), Article 100d, suspension of deadlines.
• Act of September 12, 2025 amending certain acts on verifying the right to family benefits for foreigners and on the terms of assistance to Ukrainian citizens (Dz.U. 2025 item 1301), extending the suspension of deadlines to March 4, 2026.
• Act of January 23, 2026 on phasing out the solutions under the Act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens (Dz.U. 2026 item 203), further extending the suspension of deadlines to March 4, 2027.
• Act of August 30, 2002, Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts, Article 3(2)(8) and Article 149, complaint about inaction or excessive delay.
• Office for Foreigners, “MOS, questions and answers”, gov.pl.
• Office for Foreigners, “Suspension of deadlines for handling foreigners’ cases”, gov.pl.

Stan prawny na dzień: August 31, 2026.

Author: Walery Kusznirski, in-house legal practitioner at MojaFirma.

This article does not constitute legal advice. Every residence case depends on individual circumstances, including the type of application, the voivodeship office, and the stage of the proceedings.