Unusually for JustAsk Poland, this time I have a very short text. This article is a modified translation of the memo that I received from the press service of the Office for Foreigners back in October. It will help you realize how huge the migration process that we take part in is.

 

Vocabulary

In order to correctly interpret the statistics please make sure to check the vocabulary used in the memo.

 

Migration trends in Poland after the 3rd quarter of 2017

In the first three quarters of 2017 about 137 thousand foreigners applied for various types of residence permits in Poland. It is 37% and 77% more than in the same periods in 2016 and 2015 respectively. The number of foreigners applying for residence permits in Poland has been constantly growing since 2014. In the first 9 months of the year 2017, foreigners also submitted over 4 thousand applications for international protection. Additionally, 7 thousand EU citizens registered their stay in Poland.

 

Work was the most popular reason for foreigners to come to Poland

The vast majority of foreigners – 72% – came to Poland in order to work.

 

88% of applications were lodged for the temporary residence permit

In the first 3 quarters of 2017 temporary residence permits accounted for 88% of all types of applications for residence permits. Permanent residence permit applications represented 10% of the total. Long-term EU resident’s permits made up 2%.

 

Ukraine, Belarus and India on the rise among foreigners in Poland

The biggest number of applications was submitted by Ukrainians – 65%. The trend of immigration is also growing for people from Belarus (108% more applications than a year ago in the same period) and India (104% more). As of today the top ten non-EU countries of origin declared in residence permit applications in 2017 are:

  • Ukraine
  • Belarus
  • Russia
  • India
  • Vietnam
  • China
  • Turkey
  • Georgia
  • Pakistan
  • Moldova

 

89,600 positive decisions in 9 months

In the first three quarters of 2017 positive decisions regarding temporary residence permits were granted to 89,6 thousand foreigners. During this time about 315 thousand foreigners in Poland kept valid stay documents.

 

International protection

Until the end of September 2017 over 4 thousand foreigners lodged applications for international protection (refugee status or subsidiary protection). This was 60% less than in the same period in 2016.

3 thousand of the foreigners who applied for international protection were citizens of Russia. Almost all the applicants (92%) came from the old USSR, namely: Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

The biggest number of applications was lodged at the border crossing point in Terespol.

In the analyzed period Polish immigration institutions granted international protection to 381 foreigners (8% of all the applicants) – 121 received refugee status, 260 supplementary protection. These were mainly citizens of:

  • Ukraine (225),
  • Russia (64),
  • Syria (21),
  • Tajikistan (16)
  • and Kyrgyzstan (8).

Negative decisions were issued for 1,6 thousand people (39%).

2,2 thousand cases (52%) were dismissed because the foreigners in question left Poland before their decisions were issued.

In the first 9 months of 2017 1,2 thousand foreigners were turned back after they left Poland for western-European countries (mainly Germany) prior to the examination of their applications for international protection. This was 31% more than in the same period in 2016.

 

Find out more

You can find current statistics on immigration to Poland at migracje.gov.pl.

Some time ago I also published my own article based on this source: How Many Expats Live in Poland?

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