It’s 21 October. You flip your card over and read the expiry date: 20 January. Three months sounds like plenty. Then HR says “we’ll deal with it in December,” your passport has only a few months left, and a friend from Pokhara tells you he filed on the very last day and “it was fine.” Was it? If your Karta Pobytu (Polish residence permit) is expiring, the real question isn’t whether you can renew. It’s which exact day you should file, and which day you can never miss. Below you get both, plus a calendar you can copy for your own date.
So, when is the last day to apply for karta pobytu renewal?
The rule is short. A temporary residence permit can’t be “extended.” You file a new application for a new permit, and you must file it no later than the last day of your current legal stay. For most workers, that means the expiry date on your card. If you file on time and the application has no formal defects (or you fix them within the deadline), the voivodeship office stamps your passport. Your stay is then treated as legal from the day you filed until the decision becomes final. The official overview is on gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy.
That is the legal deadline. It is not the date we recommend. Filing on the last day leaves zero room: one missing signature from your employer, one MOS error, one sick day, and the date is gone. Treat the expiry date as a cliff, not a target.
💬 Skip the reading — talk to a human. WhatsApp +48 735 248 525 — we reply in 15 minutes, free, no commitment. Open chat →
What does a 90-day calendar look like with exact dates?
Here’s a worked example. Your card expires on Wednesday, 20 January 2027. These dates are an illustration: take your own expiry date and count backwards the same way.
- Thursday, 22 October 2026 (90 days before): look at the expiry date on your card and the validity of your passport. Ask HR in writing who prepares the employer’s part of the file and by when.
- Friday, 20 November 2026 (about 60 days before): contract, employer attachments, health insurance and proof of accommodation should all be in your hands, not “in progress.”
- Friday, 4 December 2026 (about 45 days before): read every document once. Names spelled the same everywhere? Dates match? Salary on the contract as agreed?
- Monday, 14 December 2026 (about five weeks before): your target filing day in MOS, before Christmas week, when HR departments are often short-staffed.
- Wednesday, 20 January 2027: the last legal day. You should never be filing on this date.
Why 90 days? Because the slow part is rarely you. It’s the employer’s documents, a contract that changes at the last minute, or an insurance policy that doesn’t cover what the office wants to see.
One more thing to check before you count days: your contract and pay. If the salary or contract type no longer fits the rules, the date on the card won’t save the case. Read our guide to the salary threshold for Karta Pobytu first, then book the filing day.
How does filing through MOS change your timing in 2026?
Since 27 April 2026, applications for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident status are filed electronically in the MOS portal at mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl. Paper applications sent by post that had not reached the office before that date are left without consideration. So in 2026 your “filing date” is the day you submit in MOS. Save the confirmation the same minute.
Prepare these before you open the portal:
- A valid passport, with enough validity left. If it is running short, start the renewal with your embassy now. Don’t wait for the residence case.
- Your employment contract and the employer’s attachments. Voivodeship offices have told employers that attachments are signed electronically, so your employer’s timeline is part of yours.
- Proof of health insurance. Not sure whether ZUS or a private policy works? See our explainer on
- Proof of where you live: a rental contract or a confirmation from your landlord.
Insurance question answered here: health insurance for Karta Pobytu.
Fees in PLN: the stamp duty is PLN 340 for a temporary residence permit and PLN 440 for a combined permit for stay and work. Issuing the card costs another PLN 100. Offices publish their payment details on their own pages (for example uw.gov.pl for Mazowieckie), so check the exact account before you pay.
What can you do, and not do, while you wait for the decision?
Once your application is accepted on time, your stay is legal until the decision is final, and the stamp in your passport is your proof. Keep the MOS confirmation and a photo of the stamp together in one folder on your phone.
Work is where people get nervous. As the official guidance describes it, you can keep working during the wait if you applied to continue with the same employer, on the same position and with the same type of contract as in your earlier permit. If any of these change, stop and ask before you sign anything.
- Do: keep working exactly as before while your case is pending.
- Do: tell us at once if your employer wants to change your position, hours or contract type.
- Don’t: change employer without checking how it affects the pending case.
- Don’t: book travel before you’ve asked someone who knows your exact situation.
Wondering how long the decision takes? We broke it down in how long a foreign employee’s Karta Pobytu takes. And if your job ends mid-process, read Karta Pobytu after losing your job.
What if your date is under 30 days away, or already gone?
First, breathe. Then act in this order:
- Read the exact expiry date on the card. Not the date you remember.
- Count calendar days to that date. Weekends and public holidays don’t pause the clock.
- File in MOS now with what is complete. Formal defects can be corrected within the deadline the office gives you, but a missing core document can sink the case.
- Send us a screenshot of your card and your MOS status on WhatsApp. We’ll tell you what is missing.
If the date has already passed, don’t file blindly. A late application doesn’t carry the same protection as an on-time one, so the next step depends on your facts. Get advice the same day.
Here is a composite example, not a real client. Suresh, a warehouse operator from Nepal working near Poznań, had a card ending on 20 January and an employer who kept saying “next week” about the new contract. We chased the paperwork together and he filed on 14 December. The stamp was in his passport five weeks before expiry, and when the employer’s last paper arrived late, he was already protected.
Practical tip: Put three reminders in your phone today, at 90, 60 and 35 days before your expiry date, and screenshot the MOS confirmation the moment you file.
Your expiry date is a fact, but your stress isn’t. Let’s plan the filing day together. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate. Drop us a WhatsApp — we read every message.