Residence card of a family member of a United Kingdom citizen – the beneficiary of the withdrawal agreement

Introduction

A family member of a United Kingdom citizen is (regardless of citizenship):

• their spouse

• a child of that citizen or a child of their spouse (stepchild / stepdaughter) under the age of 21

• a child of that citizen or a child of their spouse (stepchild / stepdaughter) dependent on them or on their spouse

• the citizen's parent or the parent of their spouse (father-in-law / mother-in-law) who is dependent on the British citizen or their spouse,

• a parent of a minor UK national who actually cares for the minor and who maintains the minor EU citizen.

On February 1, 2020. The Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community entered into force, on the basis of which Great Britain left the structures of the European Union (the so-called Brexit) and its citizens lost the status of EU citizens.

Consequently, after the expiry of the transitional period (which was in force until the end of 2020), UK nationals and their family members can no longer benefit from the rights of freedom of movement and residence in the European Union applicable to this status, unless they have retained the allowances at the end of the transition period as the so-called beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The above-mentioned family members of a United Kingdom national are beneficiaries of the withdrawal agreement if:

• they exercised the right of residence in Poland in accordance with EU law before the end of the transition period (which also applies to those members of British citizens who entered Poland after the Brexit date and before the end of the transition period) and still live in Poland (i.e. continue to stay in Poland, which started before 1 January 2021 and has stayed to date, less than 5 years), or

• before the end of the transitional period, they lived outside Poland, then being the above-mentioned family members of a UK citizen (i.e. they got married before 1 January 2021 - in the case of spouses or were born / became stepchildren before that date - in the case of descendants), and currently reside in Poland and meet the relevant conditions for the acquisition of the right of residence in order to join a family member.

Family members who are beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement are also persons who, by virtue of birth or adoption, became family members of a UK citizen only after the end of the transitional period, and thus could not be previously treated as family members under EU law and would not have a chance to retain the rights after December 31, 2020.

This category includes children (biological or adopted) under the age of 21 of United Kingdom nationals who:

• before the end of the transition period, they either exercised the right of residence in Poland or the rights of frontier workers and continue their stay,

- they were born or adopted (regardless of the place of birth or adoption) after the end of the transition period (i.e. after December 31, 2020), and who at the time of applying for a stay to join the above-mentioned United Kingdom nationals meet one of the following conditions:

• both parents are UK nationals;

• one of the parents is a UK national, and the other is a citizen of the Republic of Poland;

• one of the parents is a UK national and exercises sole or joint custody of the child.

Therefore, if you are a family member of a citizen of UK – a beneficiary of the withdrawal agreement, and you have not yet completed the formalities related to the confirmation of the right to stay in Poland, you should do it immediately.

This requires you to apply to the voivode, competent for the place of your residence in Poland, with an application for a residence card. This application is submitted on a special form.

Following the examination of this application, a residence card, or a decision to refuse to issue it will be issued, which can be appealed to the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

The residence card is issued within 6 months from the date of submitting the application and remains valid for a period of 5 years (or for a shorter period – depending on the period of intended stay of the citizen of UK).

Another document is not issued automatically – 30 days before the expiry date of your card, you should apply for a new card.

Remember!

• If you have completed the formalities of obtaining a residence card of a family member of an EU citizen before 1 January 2021. you should apply for a new residence card issued to family members of a citizen of UK - before the end of 2021.

• In both cases, check whether you meet the conditions for granting the right of permanent residence in Poland (to find out the details go to the tab: "Permanent residence card of a family member of a citizen of UK").

• In the event that you need support in the implementation of procedures, it will be provided to you by m.in. IOM as part of the project. More information can be found here.

• If you cannot be considered a beneficiary of the exit agreement, you should legalize your stay in Poland on general terms. Information about the possibilities of obtaining the right to stay in Poland can be found in the tab: Possibilities of legalization of stay.