I live in Białystok but work in another city. Which office is competent?

Competence follows your place of residence, not your place of work. If you live in this city, the authority competent for it handles the case.

I am moving while my case is pending. What then?

Changing your place of residence can change the authority competent to handle the case. It has to be reported, and we check what steps your situation requires.

Do you handle cases in my city even though the firm is in Białystok?

Yes. We handle cases across Poland, and most stages, including filing through MOS, happen online.

Residence card in Białystok: application and procedure

Who decides your application in Białystok

Residence permit cases for people living in Białystok are handled by the Podlaskie Voivode, that is the Podlaskie Voivodeship Office in Białystok. What counts is your place of residence, not your place of work or your employer's registered address.

This distinction causes a lot of confusion. If you live in one voivodeship and work in another, the office competent for your place of residence decides. If you move while the case is pending, competence can change and this has to be reported.

Authority	the Podlaskie Voivodeship Office in Białystok
Address	ul. Mickiewicza 3, 15-213 Białystok
Foreigners Unit opening hours	Monday 7:00-18:00, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 7:30-15:30
Phone	85 743 96 00
E-mail	cudzoziemcy@bialystok.uw.gov.pl
Caveat	The office does not list Wednesday in this unit’s hours, although it does work on Wednesdays - that is when it takes phone bookings from EU citizens between 12:00 and 14:00. Visits in foreigners’ matters are arranged by phone in advance.

Data checked on the authority’s own pages on 6 September 2026: https://www.gov.pl/web/uw-podlaski/zasady-skladania-wnioskow-i-odbioru-kart-pobytu

How the application is filed

Since 27 April 2026 applications for a temporary residence permit, a permanent residence permit and EU long-term resident status are filed exclusively through the Case Handling Module (MOS). This applies to every voivodeship office, so as far as filing goes the procedure is the same regardless of the city. A few kinds of temporary residence application are still filed on paper - we will check whether yours is one of them.

Despite the electronic route, at some point in the case you must appear in person in Białystok - to give fingerprints and a specimen signature and to show your original passport. How the date is set depends on the office: in some voivodeships the office sets it in a summons, in Poznań you book the visit yourself in the case status panel and the calendar stays open only for a limited time. We keep track of that deadline for you. Everything else we handle remotely.

What makes the Białystok office different

The Podlaskie Voivodeship Office has no separate department for foreigners. Cases are handled by the Foreigners and Invitation Register Unit within the Department of Civil Affairs and Foreigners, which is a common source of confusion when looking for the right contact.

Clients in foreigners’ matters are seen only after booking a visit by telephone.
EU citizens and their family members book on a separate number, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 12:00 and 14:00.
With an application filed through MOS you do not book a slot: the office summons you for fingerprints in writing, setting the day and hour.
Accounts from the previous version of the MOS portal were not migrated - you need to create a new one.

This is the office the firm has appeared before for years and next to which it has its seat. An application to replace a residence card is filed within 14 days of the grounds arising, and if the card is lost or damaged the authority must also be notified.

Do you have to travel to the firm

The firm is based in Białystok at ul. Plażowa 67, with the entrance from ul. Kolonijna. An in-person meeting is possible but not required: most cases are handled remotely, including for clients from Białystok.

What we do

Choosing the residence basis before an application exists.
Assembling the documents and filing through MOS.
Running the case before the authority competent for Białystok.
Answering official requests and keeping track of deadlines.
Appealing a refusal to the Head of the Office for Foreigners.

Received a letter from the office?

Write in a messenger and give the date of delivery. The deadline runs from that date, not from the date printed on the letter, and it decides what can still be done.

The content of this page is informational and is not legal advice in an individual case.