It's 11 p.m. in Warsaw. You've been in Poland for two and a half months on your Colombian passport, you have a job offer (or family here, or a course), and someone in a WhatsApp group writes: «relax, you have 90 days, take it easy».
You open the calendar and count. There's less left than you thought. If you're looking up how to get a karta pobytu (the Polish residence card) as a Colombian, here's the part few people explain well: the 90 visa-free days aren't time to relax, they're the clock on your application. This is the 2026 step-by-step, separating what we could confirm in official sources from what depends on your case. We also cover Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador.
How many visa-free days do you really have in Poland?
Poland is in the Schengen area, and Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 sets out which nationalities can enter without a visa for short stays. The general rule: up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Careful, because that count covers all of Schengen, not only Poland. If you spent 30 days in Spain before flying to Warsaw, those days are already used.
- Colombia and Peru: listed as visa-exempt for short Schengen stays for years.
- Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela: shown as exempt in the current lists we checked. Still confirm in Annex II of the Regulation before you travel, because the list gets amended.
- Ecuador, Bolivia, Cuba and the Dominican Republic: according to the guides we checked, they still need a Schengen visa. Your route starts with a visa before arrival, not with the 90 days.
What does this mean for the karta pobytu? Three things. First: the 90 days let you be in Poland legally, but on their own they don't allow you to work. Second: a temporary residence application is filed while your stay is still legal, no later than the last legal day of stay if you plan to remain longer than three months. Third: if that date passes, we're no longer talking about a normal application but an irregular situation, which is a different and much harder conversation.
Voivodeship offices say this themselves, for example the Lubusz voivodeship page. And if you've already filed and wonder what the stamp lets you do while you wait, read Is My Stay Legal While Waiting for Karta Pobytu?.
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When and how do you file in MOS?
Until recently there was paper, queues and appointments. Since 27 April 2026, temporary residence applications are filed only electronically in MOS (Moduł Obsługi Spraw, the foreigners' case-handling portal). Anything sent another way isn't processed, and accounts from before that date weren't carried over, so you need a new account. Details at powroty.gov.pl and in the MOS portal FAQ.
To open that account you need two things many people find out too late: a PESEL number (the Polish personal ID number) and a Profil Zaufany (the state's digital identity profile). Start on them as early as you can. Without them there's no application, even if every document is ready.
The application is decided by the urząd wojewódzki, the voivode's office for the region where you live (Mazowieckie if you're in Warsaw, Małopolskie if you're in Kraków). It's not the same as a work permit, which is a different document handled by a different office; mix them up and you can lose valuable time. We compare them in Work Permit vs Karta Pobytu: Which One Lets You Work in Poland?.
Documents from home: apostille and sworn translation
This is where more Colombians get stuck than you'd think, because a paper that takes a day to sort out in Colombia can take weeks if you request it late from Poland. Your official documents (birth certificate, police record, marriage certificate, depending on your application type) normally need two steps.
- Apostille: the 1961 Hague Convention stamp certifying that your document is genuine. According to gov.pl, when both countries are parties to the Convention, getting the apostille from the authority in your country is enough, with no consulate visit. Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Peru and Argentina use the apostille system, but confirm your specific document against the official Hague Conference list.
- Sworn translation: a tłumacz przysięgły (Polish sworn translator, entered in the Ministry of Justice register) translates your document and its apostille from Spanish into Polish. A DIY translation won't do. Some bodies also accept sworn translators from other EU, EFTA or OECD states, but ask before you pay.
- Age of documents: some documents must be recent. Ask what maximum age is accepted for your case before you apostille anything.
The logistics are simple to say and hard to do: ask a relative in Colombia (or someone with your power of attorney) to order the apostilles from the start, not when you're already counting the last days.
Venezuela: an expired passport and hard-to-get documents
If you're Venezuelan, you have a problem others don't: getting or renewing documents can be slow, costly or impossible. Let's be clear about what we know. Venezuela appears among the countries whose citizens can enter Schengen without a visa for up to 90 days (confirm in Annex II). But we found no specific Polish official rule on what happens with an expired passport in a karta pobytu application, so we won't invent a shortcut for you.
What's sensible: check your passport's expiry date today. If it expires before the process ends, get the case reviewed early, because practice at each urząd can vary. Keep copies of everything (certificates, ID card, earlier passports) and get through relatives whatever apostilles are possible. What you should never do is let your legal stay run out hoping the document will turn up.
On international protection: it exists in Poland and across Europe for people with a well-founded fear of persecution or serious harm if they return home. It's a separate procedure with its own consequences, not a way to «stay» and not a replacement for the karta pobytu. If you believe your situation genuinely fits, speak to a lawyer or a specialist organisation before deciding anything.
The step-by-step, summarised
- Count your Schengen days (90 in 180) and write down your deadline today.
- Decide your basis for staying (work, study, family) and who must do what; for work, your employer has a part to play too.
- Get your PESEL and your Profil Zaufany.
- Order the documents you need from home, with an apostille.
- Have them translated into Polish by a tłumacz przysięgły.
- Create your MOS account and file no later than the last day of your legal stay.
- Keep the receipt and follow the status; if they ask for something, answer on time. See how to check your case in MOS.
An illustrative example (a composite, not a real client): Camilo, an engineer from Medellín, arrived in Kraków with his 90 days, got a contract and thought he had time to spare. Three weeks before the limit he found he had no Profil Zaufany and his birth certificate wasn't apostilled. He prioritised: the Profil first, then the apostille through his mother in Colombia, then the sworn translation in Kraków, and filed in MOS with days to spare. The problem wasn't the process, it was starting late.
Practical tip: set a phone alarm for 30 days before your 90 days run out. That's your decision day: if you still don't have a PESEL, Profil Zaufany and apostilled documents, ask for help that same day, not on the last one.
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