Just hours after opening on-line filing for most residence-permit categories, Poland’s Office for Foreigners (UdSC) issued a stark reminder on 4 May 2026: any MOS application signed by someone other than the foreign applicant—or their legal guardian in the case of minors—will simply not be recognised. The agency stressed that powers of attorney do not extend to electronically signing the application itself, even if a proxy is authorised to act later in the procedure. Under amendments to the Foreigners Act that took effect on 27 April, the electronic signature on a MOS form is a legal prerequisite for the application’s existence.
![UdSC Warns: MOS Residence-Permit Filings Signed by Third Parties Will Be Treated as ‘Non-Existent’]()
For applicants and employers seeking hands-on assistance with these new e-signature demands, VisaHQ’s dedicated Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) offers clear guidance on creating trusted profiles, securing qualified electronic signatures, and preparing compliant documentation—helping ensure applications aren’t rejected as “non-existent.”
If an HR officer, migration consultant or even a spouse signs in place of the applicant, the system may generate a submission number, but the voivodeship office must treat the filing as ‘nieistniejący’ (non-existent) and take no action other than notifying the foreign national. For employers accustomed to filing paper forms with wet-ink signatures from authorised representatives, the clarification represents a major compliance shift. Companies must now ensure that each expatriate or assignee has an active trusted profile or qualified e-signature before any MOS filing can begin. Failure to comply risks gaps in legal stay and work authorisation, potentially triggering payroll freezes, social-security penalties and forced business-travel postponements. UdSC’s notice also confirms that voivodeship offices will no longer issue deficiency letters in such cases, eliminating the grace period historically used to cure signature errors. Mobility teams should therefore build pre-filing signature checks into their standard operating procedures and factor extra lead time into project timelines, especially for large group moves.
For applicants and employers seeking hands-on assistance with these new e-signature demands, VisaHQ’s dedicated Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) offers clear guidance on creating trusted profiles, securing qualified electronic signatures, and preparing compliant documentation—helping ensure applications aren’t rejected as “non-existent.”
If an HR officer, migration consultant or even a spouse signs in place of the applicant, the system may generate a submission number, but the voivodeship office must treat the filing as ‘nieistniejący’ (non-existent) and take no action other than notifying the foreign national. For employers accustomed to filing paper forms with wet-ink signatures from authorised representatives, the clarification represents a major compliance shift. Companies must now ensure that each expatriate or assignee has an active trusted profile or qualified e-signature before any MOS filing can begin. Failure to comply risks gaps in legal stay and work authorisation, potentially triggering payroll freezes, social-security penalties and forced business-travel postponements. UdSC’s notice also confirms that voivodeship offices will no longer issue deficiency letters in such cases, eliminating the grace period historically used to cure signature errors. Mobility teams should therefore build pre-filing signature checks into their standard operating procedures and factor extra lead time into project timelines, especially for large group moves.
