Ukrainians in Poland: what is PESEL and temporary protection status
If you crossed the Polish border after February 24 – know that you are here legally and can stay in the country for 18 months, i.e. 1,5 years.
For some reason, there is a belief that refugees must be documented when they arrive in Poland. No need. To be precise, this is not necessary.
And, by the way, with the beginning of full-scale Russian aggression, the concept of “temporary protection” for Ukrainians in Europe was introduced. It is radically different from “refugee”, more on that below.
Firstly PESEL
First of all, you need to get PESEL in Poland. This is a kind of Polish identification number. With it you will be able to use various services, such as medical care or social benefits, to create a company and all this on the same terms as the Poles. It is given to both children and adults.
Applications must be submitted to the city municipality or the commune administration (this is the type of our district administration) within 60 days from the date of crossing the Polish border.
There are also special points for issuing PESEL, the addresses of which can be found on the official website for Ukrainians in Poland: https://www.gov.pl
To obtain PESEL you need a passport, Ukrainian or foreign. It is necessary to fill in the application on the spot, and it is free to be photographed.
When registering, be sure to indicate that you want to create a trusted online profile. It’s fast and will make it much easier to pull your documents from online registries in the future.
You will spend up to two hours totally on the queue which is everywhere, and the processing of documents particularly. PESEL you get right away.
You should also be told where to apply for a lump sum payment by Poland.
And here you will need PESEL. The financial aid is PLN 300. And another PLN 500 per child. And the same amount for medication.
These funds must be credited to a bank account. So after you issue PESEL, contact any bank and open an account. For Ukrainians it is fast and free.
About the status of Ukrainians
According to the special Polish law on assistance to the citizens of Ukraine, all Ukrainians who have been legally here since February 24 are immediately considered persons in temporary protection. As a result, Ukrainians automatically have the right to employment, medical care, social benefits, education and so on.
Interesting that after a nine-month stay in Poland, you will be able to apply for a temporary residence permit for a period of three years.
However, you should also keep in mind that if you leave Poland for more than a month, the temporary protection will be revoked. And you can return to Ukraine with temporary protection at any time.
That does not apply to people in refugee status.
There are a lot of pitfalls in the registration as refugee.
First of all, the registration of refugees takes at least six months or even a year, and at this time you do not have the right to work, to leave Poland, even to go to Ukraine. And unlike temporary refugee protection, you only have to live in government-designated refugee accommodation facilities.
And you can apply for international protection, i.e. refugee status only in the first country where you come from Ukraine. Temporary protection is possible in any EU country. But at the same time, as a refugee, you are provided with housing, such as dormitories, social security payments, and after a long period of registration, you get help with a work.
A good comparative table of temporary and international protection was published by the Office of the President of Ukraine.
And all the nuances are described in detail on the pages of the Polish government and the European Union:
https://www.gov.pl/web/ua/Lehalne-perebuvannya-v-Polshchi
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