No Karta Pobytu anymore for EU citizens ?

A Belgian friend of mine registered himself at Długa 5 here in Warsaw. Hoewever he did not get a Karta Pobytu, but a piece of paper give him permission to stay in the country for 5 years.

Supposedly they do not issue the KP anymore for EU citizens. (However a Canadian friend of mine got one recently).
Now that Belgian guy has a problem because he is trying to open a bank account, and without a KP that is not possible.
How to solve this ?

I bet you any money that the bank is PKO Bank Polski as they are renown for their inflexibility and stubbornness.
I had a British friend of mine who tried to open a bank account last year and they wanted a working visa from him, which was abolished for EU nationals when Poland joined the EU in 2004.

Tell him to try the Millennium bank as they have a much more modern approach to their customers, and explain the situation to them.

i opened a bank acct with just my passport PEKAO SA and my flat contract just for extra papers... I lived here almost 2 years without a KP and no problem

The situation with KP - nuts!

"Nuts" meaning it is not true that they do not issue KP anymore, or it is absurd ?
Well it was with Multibank he has problems. As it is, he does not have a passport, because we Belgians do not need a passport, we have our national ID-card but for some absurd reason this does not satisfy the bank.

I am going to Długa 5 next week to clarify the matter for him.
Otherwise he will have to apply for a passport just to open an bank account. Totally absurd if you ask me...

On the other hand, I opened together with my wife a savings account last year in the same Multibank branch (Arkadia) and they were perfectly satisfied with my KP.

Or was it because we already have our mortgage with them that they did not behave absurd?

In Catch 22, there were no alternatives. If one bank wants to send you round in nonsensical circles, you can go to another one that is more interested providing a service and taking your money.


Those plucky Belgians! I think most EU countries use their own ID cards in other EU countries and that British citizens are a bit of an anomaly (as per usual).

I wouldn't have commented on this thread if it wasn't for this.

I needed a passport for millenium bank about 3 months ago -- whether or not KPs were being issued they didn't want one. quite happy with my passport though.

/c

So I went on Monday to Długa 5 to check this out. The ladies in the EU section by the way are very helpful and very friendly. And as usual waiting time almost zero - only person in front of me.

Anyway, it is true EU citizens do not get a Karta Pobytu anymore, only a document certifying they are registered and giving them the right to stay for 5 years.

She also told me that if the 5-year term is finished you now get automatically a 'pobyt na stały", a permanent residence permit.

By the way, they have greatly improved the "ticket issuing" system. On the ground floor near the entrance is sitting a guy who is giving you your ticket. This to prevent the sharks waiting there before office time to exploit people with asking money for a low number.