On September 7, a rally will take place in Gdańsk dedicated to the long processing times for foreigners’ cases. The organizers are demanding a specific plan from the Pomeranian Voivode to reduce the queues, the publication of complete statistics, and changes in the operations of the Wydziału do Spraw Cudzoziemców.
The rally will take place on Monday, September 7, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM in front of the Wydziału do Spraw Cudzoziemców Pomorskiego Urzędu Wojewódzkiego at ul. Chmielna 74/76 in Gdańsk.
The organizers emphasize that the action is not against the employees of the office, but against the system that allows people to remain without a resolution to their cases for years.
“Ludzie to nie są pliki, które można odłożyć na półkę na dwa czy trzy lata. Nie możemy wstrzymać życia: musimy pracować, wychowywać dzieci, otrzymywać leczenie, prowadzić firmy, podróżować i planować przyszłość,” mówią organizatorzy protestu.
What changes are required from the Pomeranian Voivode
The organizers have prepared 10 demands for the Pomorski Urząd Wojewódzki and the Pomorski Voivode.
First of all, they demand the publication of a specific queue reduction plan — with set deadlines, monthly goals, and measurable results
The organizers also want to obtain complete statistics for 2019–2026: how many applications were submitted, how many cases were completed, how many remain unresolved, and how many applications have been pending for more than one, two, and three years.
A separate block of requirements concerns staffing and organization of work. The initiators want to know how many employees were hired after February 24, 2022, how many vacancies were opened and filled, what processes were changed, and whether these measures yielded the expected results. They also propose to compare the organization of work in the departments for foreign affairs in Gdańsk, Kraków, and Wrocław.
The organizers demand that the actual deadlines for case reviews be published monthly, including the median waiting time, the number of cases without movement for 30, 60, and 90 days, and information on which stages delays most often occur.
Another requirement is to present a staffing plan to strengthen the Wydział Spraw Cudzoziemców. If the regional office lacks resources, the voivode, according to the organizers, should officially appeal to the central authorities for additional positions and funding.
The initiators are also demanding a report on the implementation of the project FAMI worth nearly 12.9 million zlotys and to show how it has affected the processing times, the size of the queue, and the number of completed cases. They also want information on the results of the hotline provided for in the project.
Biometria, sprawy rodzinne i skargi w sądzie
Among the demands is a change in the procedure for handling applications submitted through MOS. The organizers believe that work on the case should begin immediately upon its receipt, and waiting for the biometric appointment should not block registration, document verification, and other actions that are already permitted by law.
Proposed is also the coordination of related family cases: to avoid duplicating common documents and checks and to ensure that the applications of spouses and children are not left unaddressed after a decision is made on the main applicant.
Another requirement concerns cases for which a complaint has been filed with the WSA. The organizers are calling for a complete suspension of work on such cases to be halted. In their opinion, when transferring materials to the court, the office should retain a working copy of the case and continue actions that do not require original documents.
The authorities also urge a public response to all demands and to indicate which proposals will be implemented, which will be rejected, and which require decisions at the central level.
What is being proposed to change across Poland
In addition to the requirements for the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the initiators have prepared proposals that concern the entire system for handling cases of foreigners in Poland.
One of the key demands is to repeal art. 100d and restore the state’s responsibility for adhering to deadlines in case reviews. The organizers believe that the current mechanism has halted the flow of deadlines and limited the possibilities for protection against the inaction of authorities, but has not solved the problem of queues.
They also advocate for a change in the approach proposed in UD408. According to the initiators, expedited procedures are necessary; however, a separate 60-day queue for citizens of certain countries should not exist simultaneously with the situation where other applicants wait for decisions for years. They believe that the expedited mechanism should be available regardless of citizenship and at a minimum should apply to repeat applications for temporary residence.
Another proposal is to change the role of biometrics in legislation. The lack of an available date for fingerprinting, the organizers believe, should not automatically block the consideration of the application on its merits.
The initiators also propose to introduce a simplified procedure for the consideration of renewal permits, family matters, and applications from minors, as well as to abandon the requirement for documents that government authorities can obtain independently from ZUS, KAS, CEIDG, KRS, and other public registers.
Special attention is given to digitization. The organizers propose to make MOS 2 a single entry point for the entire procedure and integrate it with ST POBYT, EZD, the voivodeship offices’ systems, and state registers. The information that the applicant has already provided, in their opinion, should not be manually transferred between multiple systems.
Petitions are already under consideration
The organizers report that their previous petitions have already been sent to the Pomeranian Voivode, the Sejm, the Ministry of Digitalization, and the UdSC and are currently under review
Based on the expanded list of requirements, new petitions and appeals are planned to be prepared. They intend to send them to the Pomeranian Voivode, MSWiA, UdSC, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Sejm, and other competent authorities.
A website has also been launched for the participants of the campaign: tuzyjemy.pl. It is currently in the first stage of operation. In the future, they plan to publish detailed justifications for the demands, documents, statistics, news about the initiative, and information on further actions.
The rally will take place on September 7 from 16:30 to 18:00 at: Wydział do Spraw Cudzoziemców Pomorskiego Urzędu Wojewódzkiego, ul. Chmielna 74/76, Gdańsk
