British citizen applying for residence permit in Poland (procedure of registering)

Though it may have been answered a thousand times - could some kind soul enlighten me on the procedure of registering my presence in Poland ?

Ordinarily I wouldn't bother and would instead continue to just visit Poland every month or so for a week but I fear our eu exit may cause some problems in the future

I have a very small daughter in poland whom I try to visit twice a month for about ten days.

As it stands I don't obviously any visa.

But no denying this could change in the future.

Something has got me thinking. ..
For all the worries pols have about being booted out post brexit - countless UK politicos have said that this won't happen - most seem to cite the Vienna treatis which we ( Britain ) signed - meaning that anyone already benefitting from an existing treaty / agreement can continue to benefit even after an agreement ( in this case free movement of people as per eu membership ) ends.

In other words - those pols already ' in the system ' can continue to work / live in Britain even after we ve told the dear eu to fk right off.

I don't intend working in Poland - merely benefiting from pretty much unfettered residency ,,,

Were I already 'in the system ' just as those pols in the UK then presumably the same provisions applied in Britain would likewise apply post brexit in Poland ?

How does one .. get in the system ?

I have just rented a flat in Poland and have a rental agreement signed in a letting agency (tho no deeds from the owner which proves he's entitled to rent me the flat )

This and with my current UK passport - is this all that is needed to " register " ? And if so.
. Register for what ? I simply want to put myself in the system before we vote out.

I don't fancy applying for visas in some years time and apart from anything else I don't see what catagory of visa one would apply for.

It's very odd that there doesn't seem to be a catagory of visa allowing a parent ( me ) to see his Polish daughter but there is a catagory of visa allowing a daughter to see her Polish dad in Poland ....

If in the future I could simply state my reason for visiting Poland is to see my daughter ( for the next 18 years ) and this would be perfectly valid in any visa application ..... then fine

But in registering / getting in the system before our eu departure I figure I'd be helping myself out - but how to go about it ?

Any help appreciated

Okay, first things first :

You'll have nothing to fear from Brexit in your case. Freedom of movement is highly likely to remain, although there might well be caps on employment. In your case, visiting Poland for 10 days a month will be covered by the tourist visa waiver if the freedom of movement stops - you'll have an entitlement to spend 90 days out of 180 in the Schengen zone.


If it came to it, you'd apply for a multiple entry long term visa. Schengen visas can be issued for up to 5 years, and in your case (a child in Poland), it would be issued pretty much without any fuss. But there's no way Poland will require visas from British people in the future.


You can register as a temporary address for up to 3 months using your rental contract. Longer than that will require proof of exactly what you're doing here, and won't be granted without evidence.

Thank you for your reply .... very helpful

I did think to ask the local office for foreigners what I should apply for but to be honest ... I get the impression they couldn't give a shot

I've picked up a couple of forms for residence permit 1 for long-term residents permit and 1 for short term temporary. .... both of them make provision for having a family member here as being the basis for the application. I would like to apply for the long-term one but in order to apply for the long-term one do you already have to have a short time permit ? if so I may as well apply for the short-term one.