Your residency in Poland after divorce
Residence permit in Poland after divorce is a crucial question for foreigners still wishing to remain in Poland after their divorce. Foreigners engaged into marriages to Polish citizens may be granted either a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit. The temporary residence permit for a family member of a Polish citizen can be granted for a period not longer than 3 years. The foreigner applying for a temporary residence permit has to be in matrimony under Polish law, i.e. it has to be relationship recognized by Polish law as matrimony.
Following persons are considered to be family member of a Polish citizen: a spouse, a minor child of the foreigner or the Polish citizen, a child with respect to whom either the foreigner or the Polish citizen exercise parental authority.
A residence permit in Poland can be granted to a family member of a Polish citizen in the case of cohabiting relationships (non-married couples) but the foreigner must provide evidence that they have family life with the Polish citizen, he/she has a medical insurance valid in Poland and he/she has a stable and regular source of income.
A permanent residence permit can be granted to a foreigner married to Polish citizen for an indefinite time period. It must a matrimony recognized by Polish law. The foreigner must have been permanently residing in Poland for at least 2 years and remain in matrimony with Polish citizen for at least 3 years before applying for permanent residence permit.
Pending divorce proceeding or legal separation do not matter so much as long as the parties have not entered into marriage in order to circumvent Polish law. The residence permit remains valid and can be withdrawn under specific circumstances specified by law.
Getting divorced before the period of 3 years deprives the foreigner of the right to apply for a permanent residence permit in Poland based on being a member of Polish citizen. Also, it needs to be stated that a foreigner getting divorced within 2 years from the moment he/she was granted permanent residence permit in Poland may have the residence permit withdrawn.