End of Temporary Protection for Ukrainian Citizens — What's Next?

Temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens is currently recognized as legal until 4 March 2027. That date is approaching, and a lot of people feel anxious about it: what happens to my stay, my job, my child's schooling? Here's the good news: if you hold PESEL UKR, the law provides a concrete way out of temporary protection — the CUKR residence card. This article explains exactly what ends, what moving to CUKR looks like, and what to watch for before you decide. Your own situation — entry date, gaps in your status, cases already in progress — is individual, so at the end we show you how to ask the Dopomo virtual assistant about it directly.

4 March 2027 is the day up to which temporary protection is currently recognized as legal — and the deadline for filing a CUKR card application. Processing, however, can take up to 180 days, so file with plenty of room to spare, ideally before autumn 2026.

What actually ends on 4 March 2027?

• UKR status — the legal basis for your stay under temporary protection — expires that day.
• With it goes your current right to work without a separate permit, and access to the benefits tied to temporary protection.
• Your PESEL number stays, but without an active UKR status, the legal basis for your stay that it gave you disappears.

The way out: the CUKR residence card

If you hold PESEL UKR, you can move to the CUKR card ("Former holder of temporary protection") — a 3-year temporary residence permit on special conditions. You qualify if you meet all four conditions at once: you hold UKR status on the day you file and on the day the card is issued, you held UKR status on 4 June 2025, and you held it continuously for at least 365 days (broken periods cannot be added together).

Applications are filed electronically through the MOS portal (Moduł Obsługi Spraw — the government's case-handling system for residence matters) from 4 May 2026 to 4 March 2027. Processing takes up to 180 days — one of the main reasons not to wait.

A trap worth knowing about

If, in the meantime, you apply for and receive an ordinary temporary residence permit (on a basis other than CUKR), your UKR status automatically changes to "NUE" — and you lose the ability to apply for CUKR. This change can't be undone. So before filing any other residence application, check first whether you qualify for CUKR.

What happens after you file

• Your stay remains legal for the entire time a properly filed application is being processed.
• If you had an ordinary temporary-residence-permit case pending, filing the CUKR application automatically discontinues it.
• Fingerprints, your signature, and passport data are pulled automatically from the registers created when you got PESEL UKR — you'll go to the office only once, to pick up the finished card.
• Once the card is ready, you have 60 days to collect it from the date of notification — after that it's voided, and the fees you paid are not refunded.

Fees

The statutory fees are two separate payments into two separate accounts: 340 zł stamp duty for the permit itself, and 100 zł for issuing the card. Both are payable before you file. If you're refused, the stamp duty is not refunded — one more reason to file a complete, correct application the first time.

What comes after you get the CUKR card

The CUKR card gives you full access to the labor market and lets you run a business on the same terms as Polish citizens, and the time you hold it — counted from the day you collect it — counts toward the period required for EU long-term-resident status. The card is issued once, for 3 years, and doesn't renew automatically. Before it expires, you'll need to apply for a further permit under the general rules.

Your situation is different from everyone else's

The four CUKR conditions, the deadlines, the fees, and the NUE trap are the general rules. But what you specifically should do depends on your status history, your family situation, and whether you already have another application in progress. Instead of guessing, ask the Dopomo virtual assistant about your case directly — it answers based on official sources.

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