CUKR card in Poland: a 3-year residence permit for Ukrainians

Ukrainian citizens under temporary protection in Poland can apply online for the CUKR card until 4 March 2027. It gives a 3-year residence permit, work without a permit, your own business and Schengen travel. Here are the conditions, fees, filing steps and what to do after 3 years.

In detail

The CUKR card is a 3-year Polish residence permit for Ukrainian citizens who live in Poland under temporary protection. Applications are filed online from 4 May 2026 to 4 March 2027. With the card you can work for any employer without a work permit, run a business on the same terms as Polish citizens and travel within the Schengen area.

Below: who can apply, what it costs, how the filing works and what the card leads to after 3 years.

Who can apply for the CUKR card

The card is issued to Ukrainian citizens who came to Poland after 23 February 2022 because of the war, and to their families: a husband or wife, minor children, the spouse's children and close relatives holding the Polish Card. Children born in Poland after 23 February 2022 also get the card if their mother arrived after that date and received CUKR.

All four conditions are needed:

• a PESEL number with UKR status on the day of filing;
• UKR status on 4 June 2025;
• UKR status on the day the card is issued;
• UKR status without a break for at least 365 days - several short periods do not add up.

If you already received a residence permit with the right to work in 2025, you live in Poland on an ordinary ground, and the next step is to renew it or move to permanent residence. People who went back to Ukraine for more than 6 months and were not in the register on 4 June 2025 can use work, business, studies or family - all grounds are in the overview of Polish residence permits in 2026.

How much the CUKR card costs

There are two fees, and both are paid before filing: about $90 for the permit itself and about $30 for making the card. They go to two different accounts listed in the Office for Foreigners instructions. That is about $120 per person.

The receipts are attached to the application. Without them the application is not examined and the fees are not refunded, so payment is the first step and the bank details are worth checking twice. If something goes wrong, you simply apply again.

How to apply

Applications are filed only online, in the electronic system of the Office for Foreigners, with login through the Polish government portal. You create a new account in the system even if you had one before. The application is signed with a trusted profile or an electronic signature. Paper, postal and email applications are not accepted.

What to attach:

• a digital photo of 35 by 45 millimetres, taken no more than 6 months earlier, at least 684 by 883 pixels and up to 2.5 megabytes;
• two fee payment receipts.

Fingerprints and a signature sample are taken from the PESEL register, so there is no need to visit the voivodeship office to apply. If some data is missing from the register, the system will not let you submit and does not say which data is missing. It is added at any local municipal office with a passport. You visit the voivodeship office once - to collect the finished card.

The filing steps:

1. Check that your PESEL number with UKR status is valid and the register holds your fingerprints and signature.
2. Pay both fees to the correct accounts and keep the receipts.
3. Prepare a photo that meets the requirements.
4. Create a new account in the Office system, fill in and sign the application.
5. Wait for the notice and collect the card within 60 days.

How long it takes and what happens to UKR status

The Office for Foreigners targets up to 180 days. While the application is pending, UKR status stays valid, and trips abroad of up to 30 days do not interrupt it.

When the card is ready, you get a notice. The card must be collected within 60 days, otherwise it is cancelled. On the day you collect it, UKR status changes to CUKR. Free collective housing and meals for people under protection end at that point, while other benefits, such as the 800+ child benefit, continue.

A negative decision can be appealed within 14 days - to the head of the Office for Foreigners, via the voivode.

What the CUKR card gives

• Residence for 3 years from the date the card is issued.
• Work for any employer without a work permit; the employer does not notify the labour office.
• Your own business on the same terms as Polish citizens.
• Schengen travel for up to 90 days in any 180 days with a passport.
• Time on the card counts toward EU long-term resident status; time on UKR status does not.

There are two duties: report a change of address to the voivode within 15 working days, and keep in mind that leaving Poland for 6 months or longer leads to the permit being withdrawn.

The CUKR card is one of the options for the time after temporary protection. How this switch works in Germany, Czechia, the Netherlands and Spain is covered in what happens after EU temporary protection ends.

What comes next: after 3 years

After 3 years the general rules apply. People stay in Poland on the basis of work, business, studies or family, and then obtain permanent residence or EU long-term resident status. EU long-term resident status requires 5 years of legal residence, and the 3 years on a CUKR card count toward them.

How to prepare in advance is covered in the articles on permanent residence in Poland and Polish citizenship.

Money for life in Poland

An ordinary residence permit after the CUKR card often requires proof of income or money in an account. Since 11 August 2026 the National Bank of Ukraine has raised the main limits: payments abroad from a hryvnia account - up to 200,000 hryvnias (about $4,500) a month, payments for studies and medical treatment - with no cap.

All legal routes are in the articles how to transfer money out of Ukraine and how to send money to Poland, and a plan for a large sum is on the capital relocation page.

Not sure whether you meet the conditions, or want to apply without mistakes? Ask us in the chat - a manager will check your case and choose the next step.

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