In many cases where deportation or asylum is considered, it is possible to obtain free legal assistance and representation from the State. Before contacting us, please make sure that such assistance cannot be provided. Our services are paid for.

Reasons for deportation from Poland may be multifaceted. The decision to request a foreigner to leave the country is issued by the Border Guard (‘Straż Graniczna’) or other public administration agencies – such as the Internal Security Agency (ABW) or Tax administration.

Typically the decision on deportation orders you to leave Poland within 15 or 30 days. You will be also provided information on restrictions to entering Poland or the Schengen area. If there is a risk that you will abscond or will not comply with the order to leave, then State Agencies may impose a compulsory rather than voluntary leave order, requiring you to leave Poland.

The period of the restriction on entry to Poland may cover a period of time between 6 months up to 5 years, depending on the circumstances of the case.

The reasons for the Border Guard’s decision to deport may vary. According to the Polish Act on Foreigners (Article 302), there are 16 such reasons.

The most common are that a person is not able to produce (“show” upon the demand of the State Agency officers) a document enabling him to enter and stay in Poland, or he has exceeded the time for which the permit was issued in the first place. Other causes include:

• crossing or attempting to cross the country’s borders illegally;
• lack of sufficient financial resources to stay in
  Poland;
• illegal performance of work in Poland;
• starting a business where you were not allowed to do so;
• you are on the list of so called ‘undesirable persons’ in Poland,
• you are on the list of “undesirable” persons in the Schengen area;
• you were convicted of a criminal offence in Poland and State wants you to leave, so that your sentence will be served in your home country;
• you overstayed in Poland as part of the so-called ‘small-visa traffic’ (visas that are issued usually for few days, for persons living close to the Polish borders); and you were found outside the permitted zone or overstayed in Poland;
• you stayed in Poland and are determined to be a serious threat to the general public;
• you stayed in Poland contrary to the purpose for which the residence permit was issued;
• you did not obtain refugee status and did not leave Poland within the specified period.

You have the right to appeal against the decision to oblige you to leave the country. Appeals can be submitted to the authority that issued the decision within 14 days of receipt/notification of the decision.

The decision of the office issuing decisions on deportation may be appealed to the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw.

The time limit for lodging a complaint is 30 days from the notification of the decision of the body concerned. Remember to also submit a request to suspend the implementation of the decision, along with the appeal / complaint.

Please also remember not to sign any documents regarding the waiver of the right of appeal in deportation cases – we suggest that you contact a lawyer for advice on such a matter. In some cases, an administrative decision may be annulled However, such matters can be complex.

Foreigners have numerous rights including, inter alia, to:

• the use of and assistance of an interpreter;
• to comment on the evidence gathered before the decision is taken;
• assistance of a lawyer (usually provided free of charge, by a State Agency);
• apply for a refugee status.

The reasons why the office issuing decisions may refrain from deporting a foreigner are also numerous.

For example, a foreigner may have or already received refugee status or have been granted a residence permit on humanitarian grounds.

A foreigner may also be the spouse of a person with Polish citizenship or another foreigner with a permanent residence permit in Poland.

A foreigner may also be temporarily posted to provide services on the territory of the Poland, by an employer established in the territory of another Member State of the European Union – which may also be an obstacle to expulsion.

In Poland, you can also apply for international protection / asylum. A relatively large percentage of people receive international protection, although it is not as large as in comparison with other countries.

Statistics on granting international protection in 2018 identify that 4,135 people applied for this protection in Poland, while a negative decision was issued in 2128 cases, and appeals were filed by 1929 people; 1697 decisions were upheld.

In 2019, foreigners submitted 4,096 applications for international protection, 1,730 of which were rejected. 1,569 people appealed and 1,376 of them were retained.

In 2020 – 2,083 people applied for international protection. In the case of 2048, it was refused, after submitting nearly 2 thousand. appeals, – 1720 upheld.

Each case is considered individually. It must be remembered that the dismissal of one office does not end the proceedings in every situation.

Some of the activities we perform as part of deportation procedures are performed either as part of our practice or with an assistance of foreign lawyers. As part of our activities, most often:

• we start our work by indicating to the client what documentation we need, or we cooperate with foreign lawyers to obtain it;
• we review the collections of court documents in the cases of convicted persons, and then prepare opinions for the needs of the foreign process;

if we find that there are sufficient grounds, we prepare applications to the Border Guard or the court.

In the case of a one-off task, such as the analysis of court records or advice on the possibility of filing an objection, our costs are referred to as a fee for the performance of activities and are paid once.

In this case, our fees start from1,500.00 PLN + VAT, for the first few hours of our work (that is approximately 320 Eur / US Dollars). Details and scope are agreed individually with each client before we commence work.

When we cannot provide a one-off fee for performing a specific task, we use either hourly rates or a staged budget estimate.

Our fee are calculated based on the complexity of the task and our commitment.

Please contact us at info@wsalegal.com or at (+48) 22 203 54 91 if you are interested in deportation services.

Please note that the following cases we have been involved in may not be representative of all deportation cases. As we indicated above, the statistics are such that almost half of all deportation cases end with an order to leave the country.

• We represented a client from Ethiopia in a case of deportation from Poland, due to illegal crossing of the border in Poland. It was possible to regularize his stay in Poland due to the risk of repression because of his previous participation in public protests and political involvement in Ethiopia;
• We defended a group of 5 Nigerians, in relation to deportation from Poland. They were convicted of crimes related to counterfeit goods and drug trafficking in Poland. Due to their stable life in Poland, and in some cases – also having children and a family life – as well as numerous guarantees and assurances, the Clients managed to in Poland;
• We were able to regularize the right to reside in Poland to the family of a political dissident born in Belarus. Our client and his family were persecuted because of their political views, in Belarus. His deportation was sought because of his criminal conviction for petty theft, which resulted his health deteriorating so that he could not continue working.

The information contained on this website does not constitute legal advice. The above is provided solely for the information purposes.

The results we have achieved in these cases may not be representative and may not always be the same as those achieved in your individual case.

Please contact us at info@wsalegal.com or at (+48) 22 203 54 91, or use the form below if you are interested in our services.