It's 24 October. Diwali is on Sunday, 8 November, your mother has already asked three times when you're landing, and the flight from Warsaw is not cheap. Then your cousin says: 'Don't go. The stamp in your passport won't let you come back.' A friend says he flew last year and had no problem. Both are partly right, and that's exactly what makes it dangerous. If you've applied for a karta pobytu (Polish residence permit) and you're asking whether the karta pobytu stamp in your passport lets you travel home, the honest answer depends on one thing: which document will be valid on the day you fly back. And since 27 April 2026, the stamp itself is mostly gone. Let's sort this out before you pay for a ticket.
So, what happened to the stamp in your passport?
Until April 2026, when you filed your application at the urząd wojewódzki (voivodeship office), an officer put a stamp in your passport. It said, in effect: this person applied and may stay while we decide. On 27 April 2026 Poland launched MOS (Moduł Obsługi Spraw, the Case Handling Module). Since then, applications for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term residence are filed electronically only. Paper applications had to reach the office by 26 April. The passport stamp was replaced by an electronic certificate confirming that you filed and that your stay is legal while the case runs. The Mazowieckie voivodeship office explains in its notice that the certificate is issued after a formal check of your application, and that you download and print it from MOS. General official information for all residence cases is on gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy.
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We explain the legal-stay side in detail in Is My Stay Legal While Waiting for Karta Pobytu? The Stamp Changed on 27 April 2026. For this article, remember one line: the certificate is proof that you can stay in Poland. It is not a passport, not a residence card, and not a ticket across the border.
Can you fly home for Diwali on the certificate alone?
Short answer: leaving is usually possible. Coming back is where people get hurt. The certificate lets you leave Poland while your case is pending. It does not give you the right to re-enter Poland or to travel inside the Schengen area. To come back, you need a separate valid basis: a valid karta pobytu, a valid visa, or a right to visa-free entry.
Citizens of the countries most of our readers come from, such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Vietnam, generally need a visa for Schengen. So, realistically, it's the card or a visa. That's why the stamp question is really a different question: what will you be holding at the border on the day you land back in Poland?
Which of these three situations are you in?
- Your current karta pobytu is still valid on your return day, and the renewal is pending. This is the safest case. Your card is your travel document, and a pending renewal doesn't cancel it. Check the expiry date printed on the card, then add a safety margin, because a cancelled flight or a delayed connection can push you past the date.
- Your card expires before you land back in Poland, or it has already expired, and you only have the certificate. This is the risky case. You may be allowed to leave, but nothing in your hand guarantees you'll be allowed in. Don't book this trip unless you have another valid basis, such as a visa.
- This is your first application and you don't have a karta pobytu yet. Same risk, plus a second one: the visa or permit you're staying on may end during the trip. Without a valid card or visa for the return, the certificate won't carry you through the border.
The decision on entry is made by the Border Guard officer at the airport. The officer looks at documents you can show, not at the case file sitting in the urząd. So plan around what is physically in your wallet, not around what your application says.
What if you still have the old stamp from a paper application?
If you filed on paper before 27 April and got the old stamp, don't assume it works better than the new certificate. Older official guidance was already cautious. The Poznań voivodeship office's page on the stamp states that the stamp does not entitle you to travel abroad, and other offices describe it as fine for a trip to your home country but not a basis for returning to Poland or moving around Schengen. We could not find an official statement that changes this for old stamps. Until someone at your office confirms otherwise in writing, treat the old stamp exactly like the new certificate.
One reassurance, and it's real: if your application was filed on time and has no formal defects, your stay in Poland counts as legal from the filing date until the decision becomes final. You are not 'illegal' while you wait. The problem is not your status inside Poland. It's proving your right to enter again.
What should you do this week, before you book the flight?
- Find the expiry date on your karta pobytu and write down the date you would land back in Poland. Keep a margin of at least a few days.
- Check your passport validity. Airlines and border officers both look at it.
- Download and print the certificate and the filing confirmation from MOS, and keep a PDF on your phone. Not sure the certificate has been issued yet? Open your case in MOS. Our guide to checking your case status after the 27 April reset walks you through it.
- Check whether the office has asked you for anything, such as missing documents or an appointment for fingerprints. Answer it before you leave, not from a village with weak signal.
- Choose a changeable or refundable ticket. A slightly dearer flexible fare is cheaper than a lost ticket.
- Agree your leave dates with your employer in writing, so nobody 'forgets' them later.
Our guide to checking your karta pobytu case status in MOS shows where to look. And if you are counting years toward permanent residence, a short holiday is not the issue, but long absences can be. See Trips Outside Poland and Your 5-Year Count for Permanent Residence before you plan a long stay in India.
Practical tip: if you are in situation 2 or 3 and the family event can't wait, get a written answer from the office before you fly, and ask us too. Illustrative example (a composite, not a real client): Suresh, a welder from Punjab, wanted to land in Delhi for Diwali with a renewal pending and a card that would expire two weeks before his return. We walked him through why the certificate wouldn't carry him through the border. He moved the trip until after the decision, and his family got a long video call on 8 November instead of a son stuck at an airport.
Planning a trip home and not sure what will be in your hand at the border? Send us your card date and filing details. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate. Drop us a WhatsApp — we read every message.