The working group created by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration of Poland, dealing with the legalization of Belarusians staying in Poland, has resumed its activities.
The first meeting of the working group recently took place in Warsaw, led by Tomasz Cytrynowicz, Head of the Office for Foreigners of Poland. The Belarusian side was led by Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet. The meeting was also attended by Vitaly Malchanau, Deputy for Social Policy of the Cabinet, Hanna Matyevska, Head of the Partyzanka initiative, and Olga Karpushonak, Delegate of the Coordination Council.
Tomasz Cytrynowicz informed Pavel Latushka that, in the past year, over 48,000 Belarusian citizens had applied for legalization of their stay in Poland. In January 2025 alone, there were more than 4,000 such applications, which, as the Polish representative noted, demonstrates the continued flow of Belarusian citizens seeking to legalize their stay in Poland.
During the meeting, several issues were discussed, including:
Reducing the Processing Time for Legalization Cases for Belarusians in Poland.
Tomasz Cytrynowicz reported that the Polish side is making efforts to shorten the processing time for legalization cases for Belarusians. In the second half of 2025, changes are planned to be introduced to the foreigner law that will allow the introduction of an electronic system for submitting documents for foreigners as part of the legalization procedure. These changes are expected to accelerate the processing of cases, minimize the number of visits required for applicants to the Office for Foreigners of Poland and the Voivodeship Offices, and positively impact the issue of intermediaries. The procedure will involve an electronic form to fill out the application with an electronic signature, followed by submitting fingerprints, providing additional documents (if necessary), and receiving the documents.
Issues Related to the Grounds for Issuing Travel Documents.
The possibility of issuing travel documents to Belarusians was discussed not only in the case of an expired passport or lack of one, but also when the pages for visas and stamps are full or when the passport was issued more than 10 years ago. Tomasz Cytrynowicz supported the need to consider the interpretation of the current legislation that would expand the grounds for issuing travel documents to Belarusians. After analyzing Poland’s current legislation, the Cabinet will send an appropriate response.
Issues Related to the Issuance Period of Travel Documents.
Pavel Latushka suggested considering the possibility of issuing travel documents for more than 1 year, as is currently done. The Polish representative informed that there is an ongoing discussion about amending the legislation to extend the validity period of such documents, but it has not yet been determined how long these documents will be issued in the future.
Issuance of Travel Documents to Belarusian Children.
The issue of issuing travel documents to Belarusian children born in Poland was discussed, particularly when the parents are unable to go to Belarus to arrange a passport for the child. Tomasz Cytrynowicz stated that such cases would be considered individually by the Voivodeship Offices based on the parents' applications.
We ask you to inform the Cabinet @belcabinet_bot about any cases of refusal to issue documents for children so that we can monitor the situation and inform the Office for Foreigners of Poland.
Comments