Country Report
Poland
Dorota Kupiszewska, Beata Nowok and Marek Kupiszewski
A. Administrative sources and procedures
A.1. Registration of the resident population
The population is registered in the Universal Electronic System of Population Register (Powszechny Elektroniczny System Ewidencji Ludności, PESEL) that is under the responsibility of the Department of State Registers within the Ministry of Interior and Administration. The PESEL system is based on a three-level structure1: municipality (gmina) register file - Local Database (LBD); voivodeship (województwo) register file - District/Voivodeship Database (TBD/WBD); the main PESEL system – Central Database (CBD) run by the Ministry of Interior and Administration. The entry of a new person into the system due to birth or immigration is based on information received directly from the municipality concerned. All updated information goes to the CBD from the LDB in the municipality through the voivodeship and the TBD/WBD. All information from/to the municipality is sent by electronic form in standardised format or, if a municipality is not computerised, the data are sent on paper. All information exchanged between voivodeships and the Ministry is transferred electronically (by the governmental network called PESELNET). All permanent and temporary (for a period exceeding two months) residents of Poland, except foreigners without a residence card, are registered in the PESEL system and are therefore attributed a PESEL number. Included are: Polish citizens and foreigners with permanent residence in Poland;
1 Poland is divided into 16 voivodeships (województwo) and there are around 2500 municipalities (gmina) in Poland, out of which around 2000 have been computerised.
T H E S I M
Polish citizens with permanent residence abroad, who are registered for a temporary stay only (more than two months) in Poland; Foreigners with a residence card who are registered for a temporary stay only (more than two months) in Poland. Other persons may be included if they need a PESEL number for purposes specifically listed in the law. In addition municipalities also run a file (electronic or in a paper form) of persons registered for a temporary stay shorter than two months and foreigners registered for a temporary stay exceeding two months who do not hold a residence card. The municipalities have also a file (electronic or in a paper form) of persons who have reported their departure abroad for a temporary stay of over two months. All the persons described above are not included in the PESEL as part of the legal or de jure population of Poland. In Poland, besides the unique permanent residence it is possible to declare an additional temporary residence. A temporary resident is a person who has arrived into a dwelling for a limited period exceeding two months with the intention of returning to his/her permanent place of residence. A permanent resident is a person who declares their intention to stay indefinitely in the new dwelling with the status of owner/occupier or tenant. Therefore, for example, students or other persons in shared accommodation are considered living in temporary residences.
A.2. Registration of international migrations
Polish citizens going abroad for a temporary stay for a period exceeding two months are obliged to report their departure to the municipality in which they have a permanent residence and fill in the form Zgłoszenie wymeldowania z miejsca pobytu czasowego ponad 2 miesiące (Notification of deregistration from a place of a temporary stay exceeding two months). When they return they have to report their arrival. They do not fill in any form when returning after a temporary stay abroad in the same permanent residence. If they want to give up a residence in Poland and settle abroad they fill in the form Zgłoszenie wymeldowania z miejsca pobytu stałego (Notification of deregistration from a place of permanent stay). Polish citizens are obliged to register for temporary or permanent residence if they stay at the same address longer than three days. They have to report this fact to the municipality within four days and this applies also for those returning from abroad after giving up a permanent residence abroad. However, this information is entered into the PESEL system only if they register for a permanent stay or a temporary stay exceeding two months. If they register for permanent residence they fill in the form
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Zgłoszenie pobytu stałego (Notification of a permanent stay). If they register for temporary residence exceeding two months they fill in the form Zgłoszenie pobytu czasowego trwającego ponad 2 miesiące (Notification of a temporary stay exceeding two months) and declare an intended duration of their stay. If the actual duration of their stay is the same as their intended stay, they do not have to report their departure. Otherwise, they have to report their earlier departure and fill in the form Zgłoszenie wymeldowania z miejsca pobytu czasowego ponad 2 miesiące (Notification of deregistration from a place of a temporary stay exceeding two months). When persons register for a permanent or a temporary stay exceeding two months their stay must be confirmed by an owner of the dwelling or a person that has a legal title to the dwelling. All foreigners have to report their arrival to the municipal office within 48 hours of arrival in the municipality and not later than 48 hours after crossing the Polish border. Foreigners are entered into the PESEL system if they register for a permanent stay or if they register for a temporary stay exceeding two months, in each of these cases the registration being based on possession of an appropriate residence permit. Then, they have to follow the same procedures for registration and deregistration as Polish citizens but additionally when they register they have to present their residence document or permit.
A.3. Registration of Aliens
The Office for Repatriation and Aliens is responsible for the Residence System (System Pobyt). The System Pobyt is a national electronic data system that consists of registers concerning foreigners, dedicated to each kind of permission to stay, such as visas (but not those issued by a consulate), fixed- time residence permits and permanent residence permits, and other administrative decisions and events. All types of visas and permits are specified in the Aliens Act of 13th June 2003 (Aliens Act of 13th June 2003, Journal of Laws 2003, No. 128, item 1175, as amended). Those relevant to the new Regulation are as follows: residence visa (short-term or long-term), i.e. authorisation to enter the country and reside continuously or reside for multiple consecutive periods for a maximum of: three within six months in the case of a short-term visa; one year within the visa’s period of validity in the case of a long- term visa.
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Among other reasons, these visas are issued for tourism, work, sport events, cultural activities, training, and temporary protection. A residence visa may be prolonged once under specified conditions: fixed-time residence permit, granted for a period of up to two years, with the possibility of extensions, each for a period not exceeding two years. This temporary residence is mostly issued for employment (when there is a declared intention of employing the foreigner), professional training under an EU programme, family reunification with a Polish spouse or with an employed migrant, or to conduct artistic activities. A fixed-time residence permit is issued also to foreigners who have been granted refugee status (valid for two years), subsidiary or temporary protection (valid for one year). Foreigners with a fixed-time residence permit receive a residence card valid for the period of validity of the permit; settlement permit (permanent residence permit) valid for ten years. A settlement permit may be granted without additional conditions after ten years of an uninterrupted stay in Poland. One may also be granted earlier in specific cases: e.g. eight years in the case of a refugee, three years for family reunification upon demonstration of the existence of permanent family or economic ties with Poland. A settlement permit is also granted to an alien who has been granted asylum (which is distinct from refugee status - see A.4); Repatriates and the members of their closest families constitute a special category. A repatriate is a foreigner recognised as a person of Polish descent that before the date of entry of the Act on Repatriation into force had been living permanently in the East (in the countries specified in the Act, in particular the Asian part of the former USSR) who has come to Poland based on an entry visa for the purpose of repatriation. At the moment of crossing the Polish border he/she acquires Polish citizenship and becomes eligible for permanent residence. Members of his/her close family are granted settlement permits. EEA citizens have to apply for a residence permit if they want to stay in Poland for more than three months. Depending on the intended duration of stay they need: a temporary residence permit – granted for up to one year mainly for the purpose of work (from three to twelve months) or study (one year); a residence permit – granted for five years, extendable repeatedly for subsequent five year periods.
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Residence and temporary residence permits issued to EEA citizens cover family members (excluding relatives in the case of students). In the process of granting a residence permit or a temporary residence permit, a EEA citizen also obtains a EEA citizen's residence card, while family members who are not EEA citizens obtain documents of residence. Generally, an application for the first residence visa must be lodged outside Poland. The application shall be submitted to a consulate and the Consul is the competent authority to deal with such an application. The prolongation of a residence visa is issued by the Voivode, the governor of the voivodeship in which the alien resides. A decision on the issue or refusal of all types of the residence permits shall be rendered by the Voivode competent with respect to the place of an alien’s intended residence. Information on applications and decisions regarding visas (except those issued by consulates) and residence permits is entered into the System Pobyt by the authorities taking the decisions.
A.4. Registration of asylum
The registration of asylum takes place in the System Pobyt under the responsibility of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens (Department for Refugee and Asylum Procedures). The System Pobyt contains special registers of cases concerning refugee status, expulsion of aliens granted refugee status, asylum, tolerated stay and temporary protection. An asylum seeker has to apply personally for refugee status to the President of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens and to the Border Guard (at the border crossing or inside the country at the office which territorial scope of activity includes the voivodeships inside the country (Nadwiślański Oddział Straży Granicznej)). In the preliminary procedure the request may be refused by the President of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens as manifestly unfounded, if the application: does not contain any grounds to recognise that there is a well- founded fear of persecution referred to in Art. 1A of the Geneva Convention; aims to mislead the authority or to abuse the procedure for granting the refugee status; indicates that an alien has arrived from a safe country of origin or a safe third country to which he/she has the right to return; gives reasons to ascertain that another state which is a party to the Geneva Convention is responsible for examining the application for
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granting refugee status, on the basis of an international agreement binding the Republic of Poland. The decision on the refusal to grant refugee status for the reason of a manifestly unfounded application should be made within thirty days of the date of submission of the application. During the normal procedure, the President of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens examines the cases in the first instance within six months. Asylum seekers usually reside in government run reception centres during the normal asylum procedure. If there is no refusal in the preliminary procedure, the normal procedure may result in the following outcomes: positive decision (granting Geneva Convention refugee status); negative decision and order to leave the country; negative decision but allowing stay on a temporary basis for asylum seekers who do not meet Convention criteria but who nonetheless are in need of international protection (subsidiary protection known as tolerated residence). In the case of a positive decision, the refugee receives a Geneva Convention travel document and a fixed-time residence permit for two years (this may be extended for subsequent two-year periods). He/she has the right to work, receives social assistance, and can apply for a permanent residence permit after five years, upon demonstration of the existence of a permanent family or economic ties with Poland and secured accommodation and maintenance. After a negative decision from the President of the Office, an applicant may appeal to the Refugee Council within fourteen days of the date of the reception of that decision. If the application is recognised as manifestly unfounded it may be appealed against within three days. The Council may uphold in force the negative decision, grant an applicant the refugee status or return the case for another review. Asylum seekers may appeal against negative second instance decisions to the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days of receipt of that decision. The court verifies if decisions are in compliance with the law. The court may issue a verdict upholding the negative decision or annulling it. Then the case is re-examined from the beginning. In the case of a negative decision, the asylum seeker may be granted subsidiary protection status and will receive a fixed-time residence permit for one year. Apart from the asylum procedure there is the possibility to grant temporary protection for a specified period of time to a group of aliens in case of a mass influx of displaced persons. In this particular case fixed- time residence permits will also be granted for the specified period of time.
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A.5. Registration of acquisition of citizenship
The registration of changes in citizenship takes place in the Central register of data on acquisition and renunciation of Polish citizenship under the responsibility of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens (Department for Repatriation and Citizenship). Currently it is a separate register but it will be incorporated in future into the System Pobyt. Acquisition of Polish citizenship is governed by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Citizenship Act of 1962 with later amendments. According to the overall provisions, there are four ways of acquiring Polish citizenship: by birth, by naturalisation, by declaration and by repatriation. As regards naturalisation, a foreigner may apply for Polish citizenship after legally recognised permanent residence in Poland of at least five years. However, in particularly justified cases, which are not specified in the Act, a foreigner may acquire Polish citizenship without fulfilling this prerequisite. Since May 2004 this special procedure may be applied to EEA citizens with a temporary or permanent residence permit. The fact that a Polish citizen has also foreign citizenship has no legal implications in Poland (according to the 2002 Census 444,930 Polish citizens have dual citizenship). Recent changes also introduced the reinstatement of citizenship for those who were forced to renounce Polish citizenship. A simplified way of acquiring Polish citizenship is applicable to specifically listed categories of foreigners, e.g. foreigners who have been married to a Polish citizen for at least three years and who have permanent residence permits. A specific act defines the rules of acquiring Polish citizenship by way of repatriation (simply crossing the border of Poland) and the rights and procedures of granting aid to persons of Polish extraction and their families living beyond Poland’s borders (mostly in the countries of the Asian part of the former USSR) for involuntary reasons such as deportations, exile, ethnically-motivated forms of persecution or administrative changes in the geopolitical scene. Procedures for granting Polish citizenship or for consenting to its renunciation are exactly the same. The President of the Republic of Poland grants Polish citizenship and approves its renunciation. Applications should be submitted to the appropriate Voivode or Consul. These applications are thereafter transferred to the President of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens before to be considered by the President of the Republic of Poland for final decision.
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Information about positive decisions on granting Polish citizenship is sent to the concerned Voivode or Consul, who in turn sends the information to the Office for Repatriation and Aliens.
B. Producing statistics requested by the EU Regulation
B.1. Statistics on the population with usual residence in the country
The authority in charge of conducting the census and producing statistical data on population stocks is the Central Statistical Office (Główny Urząd Statystyczny, GUS). The last census was carried out on 20th May 2002. The traditional method of census enumeration was applied. Two categories of population were distinguished in the 2002 census: The de jure population which includes the permanently resident population only. Foreigners without a permanent residence permit are not counted in while Polish citizens with permanent residence in Poland who are abroad for two months or more (no upper limit) are included. The usually resident population is calculated in line with the UN Census Recommendations. For intercensal years, annual estimates of the permanently resident population are prepared on the basis of census figures, vital statistics (births – based on the forms ‘Notification of birth’; deaths – based on the forms ‘Statistical certificate to notification of death’) and migration data (based on the registration forms). These intercensal annual estimates of the de jure population are disaggregated by neither citizenship nor country of birth as requested by the EU Regulation. Separately, data on foreigners registered for temporary stay above two months in Poland and data on permanent inhabitants of Poland temporarily absent for more than two months due to departure abroad are estimated by municipalities as at 31st December of each year. This information is sent to GUS in the form of individual anonymous data on electronic or paper form including the following characteristics: sex, date of birth, civil status, country of previous residence and type of dwelling in Poland or country of temporary stay abroad. Data on population stock published by the GUS refer to the permanently resident population and they are not disaggregated by citizenship or country of birth. Data on the permanent and usually resident population by citizenship and on the permanent and usually resident population by country of birth are available only from the last census. However data on some selected categories of foreigners are published by citizenship namely:
584 Country Report: Poland foreigners who are studying in Poland, foreigners who have received a work permit, foreigners who received a fixed-time residence permit and foreigners who received a settlement permit (for more information about data on residence permit see B.5.). A comparison of the census data on usually resident population with the data on permanent population shows that there are large discrepancies in figures. The inclusion of Polish citizens with permanent residence in Poland who are abroad for two months or more in the permanent population leads to around 1.6 % overestimation of the total population. At the same time annual estimates of the de jure population underestimate the number of foreigners by not including those who live in Poland but are not yet registered as permanent residents.
B.2 Statistics on international migrations
The authority responsible for producing statistics on international migration flows is the GUS. The statistical data are published on an annual basis. There are also some data on international migration from the 2002 Census. Based on the 2002 census, the following tabulations on migrants were produced: Permanently resident population that arrived from abroad in 1989- 2002 (the data refer to persons that came to Poland from abroad for permanent residence and the permanent inhabitants of Poland who have returned to the country after being abroad for at least one year); Usually resident population that arrived from abroad in 1989-2002; Long-term immigration in 1989-2002; Immigrants/emigrants in 2002 staying in Poland/abroad temporarily for twelve months or more (the data refer to citizens and non-citizens who at the time of the census had been living temporarily respectively in Poland/abroad for at least one year). Current statistics on international migration flows are produced based on part B of the form ‘Notification of a permanent stay’ and copies of the form ‘Notification of deregistration from the place of a permanent stay’ that are filled in at the municipalities by persons who register for a permanent residence in Poland (immigration) or who give up a permanent residence in Poland in order to settle abroad (emigration). Data files with the individual anonymous data are prepared by the Department of State Registers of the Ministry of Interior and Administration and sent quarterly in electronic form to GUS in order to produce statistical tables. Data on persons deregistered to ‘nowhere’ (those who have not registered their new permanent place of
585 T H E S I M residence or emigrated for a permanent stay abroad) by citizenship extracted from the PESEL are also transferred by the Ministry of Interior and Administration to the CSO twice a year (in January and July), but they are not yet used for producing statistics. The PESEL register (CBD) is not used for producing statistics on international migration flows as no historical information on places of residence is kept in the central database. Accordingly if a person gave up permanent residence in Poland in order to settle abroad the new country of residence is not stored in the central PESEL (CBD). In future there are plans to transfer these data from the voivodeship level (WBD). Data on international migration flows based on the registration forms concerning migration for permanent residence only. All registered changes of permanent residence of citizens and foreigners with permanent residence permit are considered. Only information on the country of previous/next residence is collected, while citizenship is also collected but considered as unreliable (Polish citizenship is assumed for all missing data). As regards country of birth, the registration forms include a question on the place of birth only and this variable is not sent to GUS as the deduction of information on the country is not straightforward. Annual statistics on international migration flows do not correspond to the EU recommended definitions, as the concept of change of permanent residence is applied. As a result, figures on flows from/to individual countries of origin and destination are incomparable with the statistics of all partner countries. This refers in particular to Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Czech Republic. The concept of change of permanent residence, applied to the international migration statistics, has additional serious drawbacks. The international immigration data reflect the facts of registration rather than actual inflows. In the case of foreigners that may be granted a permanent residence permit only after several years of uninterrupted stay in Poland, registration of their immigration is delayed by an unspecified number of years. The registration of immigration of Polish citizens corresponds, as a rule, to the date of their actual inflow (strictly speaking to the date of reporting to the municipality) but the inflow of Polish citizens may not be distinguished from the inflow of foreigners. In addition to the definition issues, registration based data on international migration are affected by problems of coverage and the quality of information on migration available in the administrative sources. The reliability of these data is highly questionable for both permanent and temporary (more than two months) migration. Permanent emigration is often either not reported or reported with a delay. For temporary
586 Country Report: Poland emigration, despite the legal obligation for every person going abroad for over two months to de-register in his/her permanent place of residence, most emigrants do not declare their exit, so emigration is disguised or hidden. As a result, data on emigration for a temporary stay, if produced on the basis of administrative records in municipalities, would be considerably underestimated. The census shows a significant discrepancy between the registered population and the census stock of the usually resident population due to the incomplete registration of temporary emigration in administrative records in municipalities. At the same time those who have returned on a permanent basis most often do not report their return because they never de-registered in the past, so the registration based data on immigration also underestimate (although less than emigration, because of negative net migration in Poland).
B.3. Statistics on residence permits
The production of statistical data on residence permits is under the responsibility of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens (Bureau for Informatics, Documentation and Statistics). Statistics are derived from the System Pobyt and are published annually. The System Pobyt allows for the production of various statistics concerning all types of permits (cases and/or persons). It contains detailed data concerning residence permits (applications, applicants and decisions) and its functionality, as regards statistical production, is modified regularly according to changes in the law. Data stored in the System Pobyt are very reliable, as all authorities which take decisions on permits have on-line access to the system and update the database regularly. However, the total number of permits cannot be disaggregated by reason, because in many cases permits are granted for several reasons and the main one is not distinguished (so the sum of permits issued for various reasons is larger than a total). The figure for annual total positive decisions on residence permits for 2001 published in the DG JLS Annual Report on Asylum and Migration refers to the number of persons to whom positive decisions on the fixed-time residence permits were issued. It is not disaggregated by reason (due to the problem described above). The status of long-term resident was introduced in the latest amendments to the Aliens Act (1st October 2005). Thereafter the related data will be available on the basis of information collected in the System Pobyt.
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B.4. Statistics on asylum seekers
The authority responsible for producing statistical data on asylum is the Office for Repatriation and Aliens. The data are produced on a monthly basis on the information from the System Pobyt. Most data requested by the EU Regulation are published or may be produced on request. Dublin Regulation statistics, with a breakdown by citizenship, although not available now, will be available in the near future. In the annual migration statistics the concept of permanent residence is applied. Foreigners who are granted refugee status, asylum or subsidiary protection are included in the immigration statistics (flows) and population statistics (stocks) only when they receive permanent residence permit and register for permanent stay in the municipality. As a result the registration of immigrating foreigners who have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection is delayed by an unspecified number of years. Only those who are granted asylum receive a permanent residence permit without delay (but, as mentioned earlier, their number is insignificant). If a person leaves the country he/she will be included in the emigration statistics and excluded from the stock only if they give up a permanent residence in Poland. Foreigners who have been granted protection in the country and whose stay in Poland is at least one year are included in the census usually in the category of residents.
B.5. Statistics on acquisitions of citizenship
The authority responsible for statistical data on acquisition of citizenship is the Department for Repatriation and Citizenship of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens. Data are produced on an annual basis. They are derived from the Central register of data on acquisition and renunciation of Polish citizenship. Statistics cover acquisitions of citizenship by naturalisation and declaration. Data on repatriation are presented separately. However, until 2000, inclusive statistical data cover decisions taken by the President of the Republic of Poland on the granting of citizenship. Therefore, only acquisitions by naturalisation are included. Statistics for 2001 cover acquisitions by declaration which took place from the second half of the year when the Central register of data on acquisition and renunciation of Polish citizenship was introduced.
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Ackowledgements
Thanks are due to the Polish national experts who participated in the THESIM project meeting in Warsaw on 20th January 2005. We would like to thank Bogumił Rybak and Wiesław Adamczyk for the organisation of the meeting and all the other participants, in particular Krystyna Opieka from the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Zbigniew Pruchniak and Andrzej Pilaszkiewicz from the Office for Repatriation and Aliens, and Dorota Szałtys and Lucyna Nowak from the GUS, whose help and comments significantly improved our draft report.
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