Фото: Reform.news
In 2025, Belarusian citizens received 34,200 residence permits in Poland — 18.3% fewer than a year earlier — while the number of applications submitted rose by 27% to 83,300. This was reported by Głos znad Niemna, citing data from Poland’s migration services portal.
The portal notes that this reflects growing interest in legalizing stay amid a slowdown in application processing.
Most of the permits issued were temporary residence permits — 28,700. Permanent residence was granted to 4,800 people, while 708 foreigners received EU long-term resident status.
Regional statistics show that the largest number of permits was issued in the Masovian Voivodeship — 12,400, although this was 27.5% less than in 2024. At the same time, growth in the number of permits issued was recorded in the Lower Silesian (4,500, up 9.1%) and Greater Poland (3,600, up 5.3%) voivodeships.
Regions traditionally popular among Belarusians showed a marked decline. In the Podlaskie Voivodeship, the number of permits fell to fewer than 2,000 (from 3,400 in 2024), while in the Pomeranian Voivodeship it dropped to 2,800 from 3,800 a year earlier. At the same time, these regions saw an increase in the number of applications submitted, pointing to a growing mismatch between demand for legalization and the capacity of administrative services, the report said.