Temporary Residence Permit for American in Poland; validity date, leaving after expiration / during process

I am an American who applied for a 1 year temporary residence permit in Warsaw in January on the basis of taking a polish course in preparation for further studies in Poland. I intend to reside in Poland indefinitely and later get permanent residence if possible.

I have a few questions:

1. I originally applied for the permit in August 2016, and after many delays they rejected it because of a technicality. Now I submitted my 2nd application in January. It says that my polish course will end around August of 2017. Once the temporary residence permit is granted, will it be valid for 1 year from the date it was granted, or only for 3 months until my Polish course is completed? I would hate to have gone through all this trouble to obtain a permit only valid for 3 months.

2. Upon the expiration of the permit, assuming I was in Poland the entire time, will my 90 days per 180 days limit for being in Schengen be essentially reset to zero, or will I be required to immediately leave both Poland and Schengen (or renew the permit)?

3. While I expect my application to be granted any day now, I understand that it can take a month for the card to be printed. I understand that during this time I am not supposed to leave Poland (I have already been here for more than 90 days in the last 180, so the stamp in my passport from the foreigners' office is the only thing allowing me to stay here now). If I were to leave Poland before possessing the card anyways, spend a few days in Ukraine, and the return to Poland, would I face issues coming back into Poland? I would have with me a letter saying my temporary residence permit application was granted, but not the actual card. Also my passport has around 70 stamps in it so it would take an especially thorough border guard to calculate how many days I was in Schengen.

Can anyone help answer these questions?

Hello,

These are just my ideas related with my past experiences Briefly:

1- Expect them to give you the permit till the end of your course. I had similar with my card when I was studying

2- If you do not have any application with the Foreign Office pending/waiting for decision when your card expires, the practice is that you need to leave the country.

3- It is not about calculation of the days but if you do not have any valid residence card or visa, the stamp that you have in your passport will not help as it just helps you to stay in Polish borders. When you leave you cannot get back to Poland only with the stamp. Either you will need the visa or the residence card.

@istannbullu34


Thank you for the information. Do you mean that I must leave only Poland or all of Schengen? Basically I am asking if the time I spend in Poland while having a valid temporary residence card do or do not count towards my 90 day limit in Shcengen.


As an American I am allowed to be in Shengen for 90 days per 180 days without a visa, and for Poland any 90 day period. So it would not be an issue right?

As a non EU citizen, normally you should leave Shengen, however, as you mentioned that you are allowed to stay as being an American 90 days in six months, for both 2nd and 3rd questions, it sounds tricky. I would call the foreign office in your area and confirm these two questions to be sure. But I think in any case this 90 days period should be sufficient for you to stay in the country or enter back when you leave.

@Einstein
Here are the answers to your questions-
1. Probably you will get the the TRP for 3 months only. My first one was granted exactly how many days as the files I submitted.

2. I don't think it matters any more when you wait for your temporary residence permit. After you get your permit, you use it to travel in Europe. No one would count any days any more. If your TRP request is denied, its best you do not enter any other Schenggen countries.

3. Highly suggest that you don't leave Poland while waiting for the result. With so many various issues going on, you never know if the Polish border guard will let you in after spending 1 day or 2 in Ukraine. Even though people kept talking about the bilateral treaty between the US and Poland, which is supposed to allow American citizens come and go as you follow the 90 days rule. I guess the Polish customs probably have the dates of your entry in their computer besides the stamps on the passport pages, like CBP folks do. If not, haha, great! I havent experienced the Polish Ukrainie border crossing, but heard from those who have don e that saying it is super time consuming, and risky if you do not speak Polish or Russian.

Merged:

Can I leave Poland while my temporary residence permit is being processed?

Hello,

I'm applying for a temporary residence permit in Poland on the basis of marriage. However, I had wanted to travel to Romania (a non-Schengen country) with my sister next month. Am I permitted to leave Poland while the application is being processed, as long as I can come back within 7 days if I am summoned to answer questions about my marriage?