The Ministry of the Interior and Administration is working on amendments to the Act on Foreigners. One of the most interesting proposals is the introduction of the concept of tacit approval into proceedings concerning the legalisation of stay of foreigners.
Currently, voivodeship governors are required to process residence applications within 60 days. In practice, proceedings often take considerably longer – frequently even more than two years.
The proposal assumes that, 60 days after an application is submitted, the case could be considered positively concluded without an administrative decision being issued.
Although this solution could speed up the legalisation of foreigners’ residence and work, the legislator has provided for several restrictions. Tacit approval would apply only to foreigners who:
✔ are nationals of selected developed third countries (e.g. the USA, Canada, the UK, Singapore or South Korea),
✔ are not listed in the Schengen Information System (SIS),
✔ are not on the list of foreign nationals whose presence on Polish territory is undesirable.
There is, nevertheless, a significant catch. If the foreigner has not fulfilled the obligation to appear in person by the time the matter is processed under tacit approval (60 days), they will have to do so after the aforementioned period, failing which a decision will be issued declaring the tacit approval to have lapsed
Consequently, the foreigner’s legal situation is not entirely certain. For example, in Warsaw, the wait for a summons to appear in person is approximately six months.
It is also worth bearing in mind that the tacit approval of cases is to apply exclusively to proceedings conducted by voivodes (first instance). Appeal proceedings before the Head of the Office for Foreigners will continue to be conducted in accordance with the current rules.