Friday evening. You filed your karta pobytu (Polish residence permit) application in the autumn, and your passport is still blank. A friend says, “I had a stamp, I flew home whenever I wanted.” You have a PDF “certificate” on your phone and a flight to see your mother next week. The question we hear every week: what does a passport stamp during karta pobytu actually allow, and does the paper that replaced it do the same?
Short and honest answer: the stamp in its old form is gone, but the logic stayed. The stamp, and now the certificate, proves one thing: you filed, and the voivode is deciding. Legal stay, work and travel are three separate questions, and the answer is not “yes” to all of them. Let’s go through them one by one. No panic, no legal fog.
Passport stamp or MOS certificate: what changed on 27 April 2026?
It used to be simple: you filed the papers, gave your fingerprints, and the voivodeship put a stamp in your passport (stempel in Polish). Since 27 April 2026, applications for a temporary residence permit (pobyt czasowy) are accepted only online, through the MOS portal, short for Moduł Obsługi Spraw, the “case handling module”. The stamp in the travel document was abolished. In its place the voivode issues an electronic certificate confirming that you filed. You download it in MOS and print it yourself. It is free.
When does it show up? First, an officer checks your application. If there are no formal defects, you are summoned in person to give fingerprints and a signature sample and to show your original passport. According to the voivodeships, the certificate becomes available in the system together with that summons. So watch your case status in MOS and your e-Doręczenia mailbox (the electronic mailbox for official letters). Summons arrive there.
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For the filing steps, see our step-by-step guide to filing through MOS. In short: two separate payments, PLN 440 and PLN 100, and zero paper forms. If you have not set up your mailbox yet, read about e-Doręczenia and MOS. Always check current amounts at gov.pl/web/cudzoziemcy.
Can you stay in Poland while the case is pending? Yes, with one condition
This is the main reason the certificate matters. The rule: if you filed no later than the last day of your legal stay, and the application has no formal defects (or you fixed them on time), your stay is legal from the filing date until the decision becomes final. That holds even if the voivode is slow. Details are on the UdSC page about the MOS system.
- “On time” is measured by the filing date, not by the date you receive the certificate. The certificate can arrive weeks later, but your stay is legal from filing if there are no defects.
- Keep the MOS confirmation of filing and the receipts for both payments. They prove the date if anyone doubts it.
- Filed even one day late? The certificate will not legalise your stay backwards. You need a separate plan, so message us right away, not a month later.
If a wezwanie arrives instead (a request to fix defects in your application), you usually have only 7 days to answer. What the letter is and how not to miss the deadline is covered in our article on the wezwanie letter and the 7-day deadline.
Can you work with a certificate instead of a passport stamp?
Legal stay and the right to work are not the same thing, and this is where people slip most often. If you applied on the basis of work and you keep working for the same employer on the same terms (position, hours, salary), that is the standard “continuation of work” situation. For such cases MOS itself simplifies filing: no signature sample is required for the application. In this situation the certificate confirms that your case is in progress.
It is a different story if you change employer, position or hours while the decision is still pending. Nothing covers that automatically. Check your specific basis and documents first, and only then sign a new contract. The basis matters too: work-based permits, family, study and business routes are built differently, and what is fine on one basis can cost you the case on another.
What the employer must do (Attachment 1, Załącznik nr 1) is in our guide for employers. The full document list for a work-based permit is in the 9-document checklist.
Can you travel abroad while waiting, and how do you come back?
Here the old stamp and the new certificate behave the same, and this is the painful part. You can leave Poland. But neither the stamp before nor the certificate now gives you the right to enter Poland again, and neither lets you travel around other Schengen countries. It is not a visa and not a residence card. It only confirms that your case is in progress.
Example (a generalised story, not a real client). Aigul, a cook from Bishkek, bought a ticket home for a week to see her mother. All she had was the certificate. Before she flew, we asked the simplest question: “On what basis will you enter Poland again?” There was no answer. She cancelled the ticket and moved the trip to the day her card is in her hands. The ticket cost more than a consultation, but at the border she had nothing to explain.
If the trip cannot be avoided, go through this list:
- Check MOS and e-Doręczenia for a fingerprint summons. Missing the appointment is a bad idea: it can slow your case down.
- Write down your answer to this: on what basis will you come back — a valid visa, visa-free entry for your citizenship, or something else? The border officer decides at the border, not the certificate.
- Take your passport, the certificate, a copy of the application, your work contract and payment confirmations.
- Do not plan your return for the last possible day. Leave a buffer for a delayed flight or extra questions at the border.
What the certificate does not give you, and the special case of Ukrainians
- It does not replace your passport: you need the original at the voivodeship appointment and on any trip.
- It is not a karta pobytu: you get the card only after a positive decision.
- It does not guarantee approval: it shows the case is moving, not how it will end.
- It does not cancel the fingerprint appointment: without it the case will not move.
Ukrainian citizens who are in Poland under the special act (a karta pobytu marked CUKR) are a special case. They have their own rules on stay and travel that differ from the general procedure, and UdSC publishes current answers on its CUKR questions and answers page. For everyone else, what is written above applies. For the overall process, see our guide to the TRC process in 2026.
Practical tip: keep the certificate in two forms — a PDF on your phone and a paper copy in your passport. Before any trip abroad while your case is pending, get a written answer on what basis you will come back. The check takes one evening; a mistake at the border can take months.
A certificate on your phone is not peace of mind yet, but a clear plan is. Legal Solutions — 98% approval rate. Drop us a WhatsApp at +48 735 248 525 (Kamil) — we read every message.