What should I do if my legal stay is ending and the MOS portal is not working?

Legal framework from 27 April 2026

From 27 April 2026, applications for a temporary residence permit, permanent residence permit, and EU long-term resident status must be submitted exclusively electronically through the MOS 2 portal (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl). Submission requires a profil zaufany or a qualified electronic signature (ustawa z dnia 21 listopada 2025 r., Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1794). Paper applications sent by post after that date will be left without consideration — with the following exceptions: ICT and long-term ICT mobility, family reunification, and family members of Polish/EU/UK citizens where the foreigner is residing outside Poland.

Why the deadline matters

Protection of legal stay during the proceedings arises only when the application was submitted on time — while the stay was still legal — and without formal deficiencies (art. 108 ustawy o cudzoziemcach). In that case, the stay is legal from the date the application is submitted until the date on which the decision becomes final. After 27 April 2026, this is confirmed by a zaświadczenie issued by the wojewoda (there is no longer a stempel in the passport).

What to do when MOS 2 is not working

• Do not wait until the last day. Try to submit your application in advance, before your current residence document expires.
• Secure evidence of the outage: screenshots showing the visible date and time, error messages, and any confirmation of a reported issue. This is material that may demonstrate the inability to submit was caused by the system, not by you.
• Keep retrying — outages can be temporary; save each subsequent screenshot.
• Check your login credentials: a valid profil zaufany or qualified electronic signature is a prerequisite for submitting an application.
• Seek urgent advice if the deadline is only a few days away — if submission on time is not possible, the risk of losing the protection under art. 108 is real.

After submitting the application

The authority should handle the case without undue delay (art. 35 KPA), and in the event of formal deficiencies it will call for them to be remedied within a period of no less than 7 days, failing which the application will be left without consideration (art. 64 § 2 KPA). If the authority exceeds its statutory deadlines, you are entitled to file a ponaglenie with the Szef Urzędu do Spraw Cudzoziemców (art. 37 KPA). However, the zaświadczenie confirming legal stay does not entitle the holder to travel freely within the Schengen Area or, in all circumstances, to return after leaving Poland.

What the case law says

Administrative courts have consistently found that prolonged handling of residence applications constitutes inaction. In the judgment III SAB/Gd 91/25, inaction was found to constitute a flagrant breach of the law, as the authority had exceeded the statutory deadline and had not issued any decision. In III SAB/Gd 99/26, the court emphasised that inaction is assessed objectively — regardless of the reasons for the delay. Meanwhile, III SAB/Gd 78/26 illustrates the serious consequences of not holding a valid residence document in everyday life (banking, travel). This demonstrates that an authority's inaction can be effectively challenged through legal means.