Waiting a year for your residence permit? Polish administrative courts call it what it is: inaction by the Voivode
Just between June and September 2026, our firm obtained further judgments in which the Voivodeship Administrative Courts (WSA) in Warsaw, Katowice and Wrocław found that the Voivode had failed to act in foreigners’ cases. They concerned temporary residence permits, EU long-term resident permits and recognition as a Polish citizen. Our clients had waited from almost a year to more than two years.
How long do proceedings really take?
The judgments show the scale of the problem better than any statistics:
a temporary residence application filed in November 2024 — still no decision in March 2026, even though the office itself had announced a decision “by 17 February 2025”,
an application filed in December 2024 — decision only in March 2026, one month after the court complaint was filed,
an EU long-term resident application from March 2025 — decision after 11 months, despite an announced deadline of 15 September 2025,
an application from July 2023, re-examined after the Head of the Office for Foreigners set aside the first decision — decision only in February 2026,
in Wrocław: an application from January 2025, still without a fingerprint appointment a year later.
Why does the Voivode claim deadlines do not apply?
In its answers to complaints, the Mazowiecki Voivode relies on Article 100d of the Act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens (the so-called special act). Under this provision, deadlines for Voivodes to decide residence cases “do not run” — currently until 4 March 2027. The provision has been extended several times. The office also points to the number of applications, incoming correspondence and IT system failures.
Courts increasingly reject this reasoning:
WSA in Wrocław refused to apply the extensions of Article 100d after 30 June 2024 as incompatible with the constitutional right to a court (Article 45(1) in conjunction with Article 31(3) of the Constitution), citing among others the Supreme Administrative Court judgment of 26 August 2025 (II OSK 2923/24). It ordered the Voivode to decide the application within 30 days of service of the final judgment.
WSA in Warsaw pointed to doubts about the compatibility of Article 100d with EU law. It referred to the preliminary question from WSA in Gliwice to the CJEU (case C-254/25) and to the Advocate General’s opinion of 16 April 2026, according to which depriving foreigners of an effective remedy against administrative inaction is contrary to EU law.
Not only residence cards — citizenship too
Article 100d does not cover citizenship cases. Since 1 August 2025, the Voivode has 6 months to decide an application for recognition as a Polish citizen (Article 10(3a) of the Polish Citizenship Act). In our cases WSA in Warsaw ordered the Mazowiecki Voivode to issue a decision within 2 months. In two of them, a draft decisions were already in the file and the opinions of the Police, the Internal Security Agency and the Border Guard had been received.
What does a complaint against inaction achieve?
A faster decision. Sometimes the decision is issued within 3–4 weeks of filing the complaint — before the court even rules.
A judgment confirming inaction — even if the decision was issued while the court case was pending.
An order to act within a deadline set by the court (30 days or 2 months in our cases).
Reimbursement of costs — only court fees.
So far, however, the courts have not found the inaction in these cases to be a “flagrant breach of law” and have not awarded additional compensation.
A complaint does not always speed things up
The procedure after a complaint differs from one voivodeship to another. In some offices, such as the Mazowiecki Voivodeship Office, once a complaint is filed the Voivode stops processing the case and sends the entire file to the court. In that situation, a complaint may unfortunately delay the case instead of speeding it up. That is why the decision to file should be taken after analysing the specific case and the practice of the relevant office.
How does it work, step by step?
A reminder (ponaglenie) to the higher authority (in residence cases — the Head of the Office for Foreigners), submitted through the Voivode — a mandatory step before a complaint.
A complaint to the WSA against inaction or excessive length of proceedings — filed through the Voivode, court fee PLN 100.
The Voivode’s answer and the judgment — usually issued in closed session under the simplified procedure, without the client having to attend.
Have you been waiting for a residence or citizenship decision longer than the law provides? Book a consultation: t-immigration.com/book-appointment. We will check whether a reminder and a complaint make sense in your case.
This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. Legal status as of 21 October 2026.
