The Government on 30 April adopted a draft law amending the Law on Aid to Ukrainian Citizens in Connection with the Armed Conflict on the Territory of Ukraine and certain other laws.
The changes:
- the legal stay of Ukrainian citizens who have been granted UKR PESEL is extended until 30 September 2025.
- the possibility to change the residence status from the current temporary protection to temporary residence from 2025 provided that:
• completing and updating all necessary data in the UKR PESEL database in the commune office, e.g. if the fingerprints are illegible it has to be taken again;
• submission of an electronic application to the governor;
• having an active UKR status on 4 March 2024 and on the date of application,
• no objection has been lodged by the security service on the change of residence status. - From 1 July 2024, the following financial benefits will be extinguished:
• for taking photographs;
• a one-off payment of PLN 300 for ‘development’; - the end of accommodation in a private home and thus the elimination of the benefit of PLN 40 per person per day
- from 31 July 2024, the financing of support in the form of accommodation and meals for refugees from Ukraine who are in a particularly difficult situation will only be possible on the basis of a signed agreement with the locally competent governor or local authority,
- linking the 800 plus benefit and the ‘Good Start’ (pl. „Dobry Start”) benefit to the commencement of compulsory schooling. The Social Insurance Institution will withhold granted benefits in a situation when the fact of a child’s attending school for which these benefits were granted is not confirmed in the educational information system.
In summary, the change from temporary protection to temporary residence is more beneficial for foreigners and is regulated in the Act on Foreigners. Whereas, on the public finance side: the tightening of the social security system is intended to eliminate pathologies related to the collection of benefits by persons who then leave back to Ukraine.