Polish authorities will adjust The Act on Assistance for Ukrainian Citizens and introduce new conditions for their stay. The changes will take effect in January 2023.

What is this law now: the special Act on Assistance for Ukrainians (which the Polish parliament adopted on March 10) allows Ukrainian citizens to legally stay in Poland for 18 months. Depending on the situation, the period of stay can be extended. All this time Ukrainians can freely work, study and receive medical care in the country.

Refugees who have obtained a PESEL (digital code for identification of a physical person) are also entitled to a one-time financial assistance of 300 PLN (about 63 euros) per person. You can study The Act on Assistance for Ukrainian Citizens in full here.

What will change: from January 2023 Ukrainians will have to apply for a PESEL number; from the 1st of February Ukrainian refugees who will stay in Poland for more than 120 days will have to cover 50% of their accommodation expenses (not more than 8.40 euro per person a day), and from the 1st of May 2023 Ukrainians who will stay in Poland for more than 180 days will have to cover 75% of expenses (12.61 euro per person a day).

The departure of Ukrainian refugees from Poland will also be monitored more closely, mainly by the Social Security Administration. This should reduce the number of untargeted payments of financial aid.

There will be certain exceptions: the changes will not affect the disabled, pensioners, children, pregnant women, families with children under 1 year old, and those who are experiencing financial difficulties.

It is known that since February 24, 2022, more than 7.2 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed the Polish border.