Poland tightens the granting of UKR status to Ukrainian refugees

Ukrainians arriving in Poland are increasingly being refused when attempting to obtain UKR temporary protection status.

This is being reported by Ukrainian diaspora media in the country.

According to available information, some employers and business support organizations are recording a change in approach by a number of institutions toward the processing of PESEL UKR. The Polish newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna described a specific case: a company that intended to hire a Ukrainian citizen who had arrived for work from territories under Kyiv’s control found that the man was assigned the identifier NUE instead of UKR status. The refusal was explained by the fact that the applicant did not come from a region where active combat operations are taking place and therefore has no right to temporary protection status.

Entrepreneurs note that such cases are not isolated. Polish institutions are, according to available information, increasingly scrutinizing whether a person actually came to the country because of the war or primarily for economic reasons.

UKR status gives Ukrainians the right to legally reside in Poland, use state healthcare, and take up employment without going through complex administrative procedures.

The problem affects not only newly arriving individuals. Experts note that Ukrainians who previously held UKR status but lost it after a prolonged absence from Poland are also being refused reinstatement of the status upon their return.

Ukrainian refugees in Poland must confirm their identity in the PESEL system by the end of summer. Previously, Nawrocki abolished “unconditional privileges” for refugees from Ukraine.