No Ukrainian Passport in Poland: Can You Still Work Legally?

The Ukrainian government’s Order No. 443, issued on 25^th April 2024, affects Ukrainians of conscription age residing outside Ukraine. Under this order, they can only obtain new passports by returning to Ukrainian territory. Even if a passport application is submitted to a foreign passport office, the passport itself can only be collected in Ukraine. The impossibility of obtaining a new passport in Poland does not mean that the stay of a Ukrainian citizen in Poland will become illegal upon expiry of the existing passport. While Polish law (Article 288 of the Act on Foreigners) requires non-nationals to have a valid travel document, it does not make this a condition for their right to stay in Poland. On the contrary, the law emphasizes the obligation to have separate documents that specifically authorize their legal stay in Poland. This is also supported by the Act of 15 June 2012 on the consequences of employing non-nationals illegally staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland which does not link the legality of staying in Poland to possessing a valid travel document. – Tomasz Rogala and Aleksander Dżuryło commented for Rzeczpospolita.

Full article in Polish avialible: here.