On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Poland LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Poland country of information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Poland COI page.
Refugee protection
Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Poland.
The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Poland is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.
In 1991, Poland has been both a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and to its 1967 Protocol.
Further, Poland has signed but failed to ratify the 1997 European Convention on Nationality. Still, as a member of the European Union (EU), Poland is bound to the rules of the Common European Asylum System and the EU Returns Directive.
Poland, however, has not accepted the UN Statelessness Conventions.
In 1960, the government established the Code of Administrative Procedure which is the foundation for all succeeding asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention and content of protection. In 2013, they passed the Law on Protection and Law on Foreigners, on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland.
In addition to these main legislative acts, there are a variety of implementing decree, administrative guidelines and regulations relevant to asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention and content of protection.
In 2015, Poland established the Regulation on Detention Centres, amended in 2021. In 2016, they implemented the Ordinance of the Minister of Interior and Administration on the amount of assistance for foreigners seeking international protection, the Regulation on Rules of Stay in the Centre for Asylum Seekers, and the Regulation on the cross-border movement, amended in 2021.
As a result of the Russian invasion that started on 24 February 2022 in the territory of the Ukraine, Poland accepted refugees on an unprecedented scale. Since the beginning of this crisis, Poland implemented an ‘open-door’ policy. Indeed, on 27 February the Office for Foreigners published on its website that all the people fleeing Ukraine do not have to register anywhere or be concerned about the legality of their stay. Entry to Poland was made possible for people fleeing Ukraine on the basis of the consent of the Border Guard issued for 15 days on the basis of the article 6(5)c of the Schengen Code. However, the representatives of the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights as well as NGOs reported that foreigners of other nationalities than Ukrainian faced more obstacles to cross the border, especially when they did not have passports.
On the 12th of March 2022, a special Law on Assistance to Ukrainian nationals in connection with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine was published and entered into force. The Law applied also to spouses of Ukrainian nationals not holding Ukrainian citizenship who came to Poland from Ukraine as a result of the war.
Currently, this remains the legal framework in response to the situation in Ukraine.
Legal aid organisations
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Address: Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej
ul. Siedmiogrodzka 5/51
01-204 Warszawa Poland
Tel: +48 792 568 561
Email: biuro@interwencjaprawna.pl (General Inquiries) | porada@interwencjaprawna.pl (For Individual Matters)
The Association for Legal Intervention was established in 2005. Their mission is to provide legal advice to people whose rights and freedom are threatened. They provide free legal and integration counseling to foreigners, including forced migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, representing them during Polish administrative procedures.
In March 2009, they opened The Information Center for Foreigners, which helps immigrants legally living in Poland. Additionally, they have established the Legal Portal for people fleeing Ukraine to assist in the crisis.
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Address: ul. Okopowa 55, 01-043 Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland
Tel: +48 22 334 85 00
Email: recepcja@caritas.org.pl
Caritas Polska is a pastoral charity institution of the Catholic Church and the largest social and charitable organization in Poland, which provides professional, multidimensional assistance to the excluded. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Caritas has assisted over 2 million refugees, including 254,000 people who benefited from administrative and legal assistance.
They operate 32 Migrant and Refugee Assistance Centres continue to support refugees in need. For more information on how to get in contact with Caritas Poland, visit their ‘Contact Us‘ page.
‘Edopomoha’ meaning ‘Help is there’ in Ukrainian is a dedicated virtual toolkit launched by the Danish Refugee Council Ukraine’s Legal Aid Team.
The online platform allows people in need to access legal info and legal updates on Ukrainian and other legislations in relevant languages as well as to make a referral to free legal aid services in Ukraine and other countries.
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Address: Krucza 6/14a
00-537 Warszawa
Tel: +48 22 828 04 50
Email: biuro@ocalenie.org.pl
Fundacja Ocalenie is a nonprofit that helps refugees, immigrants and repatriates build a new life in Poland. They run two Help Centers for Foreigners in Warsaw and Łodz, where they offer free Polish lessons, carry out adaptation and integration support programs, and look for housing for clients. They also run a similar help center with a youth sector for children of refugees in Łomża.
Additionally, they offer free legal assistance for foreigners which can be found through their ‘Legal Aid‘ page.
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Address: Centrum Pomocy Prawnej im. Haliny Nieć
ul. Krowoderska 11/7 31-141 Kraków, Poland
Tel: +48 693 390 502 (General Inquiries) | +48 725 449 374 (Helpline for Ukrainian Refugees)
Email: biuro@pomocprawna.org
HNLAC is an NGO established in 2002 in Kraków, aiming to protect human rights by providing free legal aid to persons at risk of social exclusion and discrimination. Their service users include the poor, victims of domestic violence, foreigners, asylum seekers and refugees. Since 2003 the HNLAC has become an implementing partner of UNHCR in Poland and is involved in regular provision of free legal aid in refugee centers, detention centers, monitoring of access to refugee procedure and the non-refoulement principle.
HNLAC lawyers provide free legal aid to people at risk of social exclusion and discrimination, including foreigners and refugees. Since the establishment of the Center, a total of over 10,000 people have benefited from free legal aid in the form of individual consultation, illustrating their wealth of experience in navigating the Polish asylum system.
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Address: Wiejska 16 00-490 Warsaw, Poland
Tel: +48 22 556 44 40
Email: hfhr@hfhr.pl
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights provides free legal assistance to refugees in Poland. The assistance includes legal advice on application for refugee status, legalisation of stay, administrative, family, labour and penal law, family reunification as well as representation of cases that risk human rights violation.
The activities of Helsinki Foundation also comprise monitoring the deportation areas and reception centres, publication of a series of brochures and leaflets informing about the Polish law and procedures pertaining to foreigners and refugees, and participation in a legislative process.
To learn more about their legal aid services, visit ‘Legal Aid.’
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Address: Górczewska 137, Warsaw, Poland
Tel: +48 22 110 00 85
Email: info@forummigracyjne.org
The Polish Migration Forum runs an online information service for migrants, equips Polish libraries with migration-related reading, and runs various projects and activities to support the education of migrants and refugees (training teachers, conducting information meetings for Polish parents, and running multicultural projects in schools for Polish and refugee children, amongst others).
The PFM Helpline welcomes legal queries online via its website. They offer individual consultation services for a variety of issues, including legalising your residence in Poland.
Further, they operate Helplines responding to general inquiries and providing psychological support in a variety of languages including English, Ukrainian, Russian and Polish. This provides an opportunity to ask question on asylum and migration and receive quick, accurate responses.
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Email: contact@w2eu.info or w2eu_info@yahoo.com
The Welcome to Europe website is an independent source of information for refugees coming to Europe. It might be useful on their journey to and through Europe by giving access to counseling and useful contacts in different European countries. Their Poland country page provides information on the Polish asylum application process and provides useful contacts.
Organisations providing other support to refugees
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Address: Zamenhofa 1, Warsaw, Poland
Tel:+48 727 805 764
Email: biuro@ukrainskidom.pl
The Nasz Choice Foundation was founded in 2009 by Ukrainians and their Polish friends to work for Ukrainian migrants in Poland, help them to integrate with Polish society and Polish culture, and to familiarize Poles with Ukrainian culture.
Currently, they operate a Ukraine House in Warsaw where cultural events are held to support the integration of the Ukrainian refugee community and to foster community-building.
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Address: al. Solidarności 78 a, Warsaw, Poland
Tel: +48 22 828 88 82
Email: pah@pah.org.pl
Their work focuses on providing humanitarian aid, including food and other forms of support to people who had to leave their homes. Their actions include supporting people affected by conflict both internally displaced as well as refugees coming to Poland.
In May of 2022, they opened an Aid Mission in Poland to respond to the crisis in Ukraine.
Poland LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Poland.
Poland COI
Find Poland Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated May 2023