The State Audit Office in Poland has raised concerns over the inadequate staffing levels in response to the recent surge in immigration, leaving the public administration overwhelmed and unable to cope, according to a recent report.
The audit revealed that the processing of residence permit applications in Poland takes an average of one year, with some extreme cases taking over seven years to reach a decision. This delay has been attributed to the surge in immigration over the past six years, with Poland issuing the highest number of first residence permits to non-EU immigrants in the European Union.
The influx of foreign workers, as reflected in the significant increase from under 200,000 in 2015 to over 1.1 million at the beginning of this year, has further strained the administrative offices across Poland’s 16 provinces responsible for registering foreign residents. The recent arrival of Ukrainian refugees since 2022 has exacerbated the challenges faced by these administrative offices.
The State Audit Office scrutinized 231 cases of the handling of foreigners’ affairs in five provincial offices and found irregularities in 60% of the cases, primarily due to the prolonged duration of proceedings. Auditors highlighted numerous instances of inaction or unjustified delays in the processing, leading to shockingly long waiting times for applicants.
In one alarming case in Silesia province, the average processing time for foreigners’ residence applications reached 381 days in 2021. The provincial office in Silesia also earned notoriety for taking nearly seven years and five months to consider one foreigner’s application for temporary residence.
The prolonged processing times not only create uncertainty for the applicants, who are unable to travel abroad while awaiting permit approval, but also pose challenges for employers seeking to hire and retain foreign workers.
Despite significant increases in staffing levels in the provincial offices handling foreigners’ affairs between 2018 and 2023, the report noted that the rise in applications far outpaced the staffing expansions. The workload per staff member has dramatically increased, with the number of residence applications per employee spiking from 249 in 2018 to 350 in 2023 in Silesia province.
In light of these findings, the State Audit Office recommended that provincial offices take immediate steps to ensure adequate staffing levels to effectively address the growing demand for processing foreigners’ applications and alleviate the administrative burden on the public administration.
