Фото: Reform.news
Poland’s Office for Foreigners has published another report on the migration situation involving Belarusian citizens. The thematic report was released ahead of the agency’s regular monthly activity report.
According to the report, only 14 Belarusian citizens were granted international protection in July, including 10 who received refugee status and four who were granted subsidiary protection. At the same time, 82 negative decisions were issued.
The report also notes that Belarusians have received 165 rejections of international protection applications this year. The recognition rate has fallen to 79% in 2026. Since the beginning of the year, Belarusians have been granted 246 refugee statuses and 376 subsidiary protection statuses.
The Office for Foreigners also sought to explain the trend.
“The increase in the number of refugee statuses granted in 2026 reflects a change in the profile of applicants. Those currently choosing this procedure have individual, documented evidence of political persecution in Belarus. Previously (2022–2024), applications were predominantly based on the existence of a general systemic threat in the country, which entitled applicants to subsidiary protection,” the report says.
“The increase in the number of rejections (165 in 2026 alone) is linked to much stricter scrutiny of applications by the Office for Foreigners. Applications are rejected when individuals attempt to use the refugee status procedure solely for economic reasons or are unable to demonstrate a genuine risk of persecution if they return to their home country,” the agency added.
As of Aug. 1, the Office for Foreigners was still processing 3,154 applications for international protection submitted by Belarusian citizens, including 2,959 at the first-instance level and 195 on appeal.
“The backlog of nearly 3,000 first-instance cases, combined with the simultaneous decline in new applications (only 1,000 applications in 2026), means that the Office for Foreigners is currently focusing its resources on processing the backlog accumulated during the record years of 2023–2024,” the agency explained.
According to the Office for Foreigners, as of Aug. 1, 133,057 Belarusian citizens held documents granting them the right to reside in Poland, including:
In 2026, the Office for Foreigners has already processed 17,516 applications from Belarusian citizens for temporary residence permits. Positive decisions were issued in 14,315 cases, while 1,324 applications were rejected, 633 proceedings were suspended, and 1,424 applications were left without examination.
During the first seven months of the year, the agency also processed 3,043 applications from Belarusian citizens for permanent residence permits. Permanent residence was granted in 2,248 cases, denied in 519 cases, 172 proceedings were suspended, and 104 applications were left without examination.
Between January and July, the Office for Foreigners also issued decisions on 758 applications for EU long-term resident status. A total of 596 applicants received the status, 75 were denied, 66 proceedings were suspended, and 21 applications were left without examination.