Permanent residence card of a family member of a United Kingdom citizen

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.

Consequently, after the end of the transition period (which was in force until the end of 2020), UK citizens and their family members can no longer exercise the rights of freedom of movement and residence in the European Union specific to that status, unless they retained those rights at the end of the transition period as 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.

Beneficiaries of the withdrawal agreement acquire, like EU citizens, the right of permanent (i.e., indefinite) residence, as a rule, after 5 years of uninterrupted residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland, with the proviso that uninterrupted residence does not mean the absence of any departures from Poland.

Stay on the territory of Poland at that time should be in accordance with the Regulations applicable to the acquisition and retention of the right of residence by a family member of a citizen of UK in Poland. (See the explanation in the "Registration of Stay" tab – stage "Requirements").

In certain cases, it is possible to acquire the right of permanent residence after a shorter period of uninterrupted residence in Poland.

The document confirming the acquisition of this right is a permanent residence card. The issuance of this document requires a family member of a citizen of UK to submit an application in person to the voivode competent for their place of residence in Poland. This application is submitted on a special form.

The permanent residence card is issued within 6 months from the date of submitting such an application.

Remember!

• If you are a beneficiary of the withdrawal agreement and you meet the conditions of residence, but you do not stay in Poland long enough uninterruptedly, then if you have a valid residence card of a family member of an EU citizen, apply for a residence permit (before the end of 2021), and if you have not yet completed the formalities related to obtaining a residence card, do it immediately (more in the tab "Residence card of a family member of a Citizen of the United Kingdom – beneficiary of the withdrawal agreement").

• In the event that you need support in the implementation of procedures, among other IOM will provide it as part of the project. More information can be found here.