[excerpt]

Republic of Poland

Act on Aliens

of 13 June 2003

Chapter 1

General provisions

Art. 1

The Act shall lay down the principles and conditions governing entry into, transit through, residence on, and departure from the territory of the Republic of Poland as they apply to aliens as well as the procedure and the authorities competent in these matters.

Art. 2

Any person who does not have Polish citizenship shall be regarded as an alien.

Art. 3

This Act shall not apply:

1)with exception of Art. 13, sec. 1, Art. 25, Art. 26, Art. 35 – 41, Art. 51 sec. 1 and Art. 144, to heads and members of staff of diplomatic missions and heads of consular posts and members of consular staff of foreign states or to other persons treated equally under applicable laws, treaties or generally recognised international customs, on condition of reciprocity and subject to the requirement of holding appropriate documents by such persons.

2)as regulated in the Act of 27 July 2002 on the principles and conditions of entry and residence of nationals of the Member States of the European Union and members of their families within the territory of the Republic of Poland (J.L. No 141, it. 1180 and of 2003 No 128, it. 1175), to nationals of the Member States of the European Union and members of their families, as well as to nationals of the Member States of the European Economic Area, which are not the Member States of the European Union but, on the basis of agreements concluded with the European Union, enjoy free movement of persons, and to members of their families.

3)as regulated in the Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to aliens within the territory of the Republic of Poland (J. L. No 128, it. 1176), to aliens applying for the protection and to those who have been granted protection according to the provisions of above mentioned Act.

4) as regulated in the Act of 9^thNovember 2000 on Repatriation (J. L. No 106, it. 1118, as amended)[1], to aliens of Polish origin and the closest members of the repatriate’s family.

Art. 4

Notions used in this Act shall mean:

1)a travel document - the document recognised by the competent authority of the Republic of Poland, authorising its holder to cross the border, which has been issued to an alien by the authority of a foreign state, the Polish authority or an international organisation or an entity authorised by the agency of a foreign state or a foreign authority of the state nature;

2)the border - the state border of the Republic of Poland within the meaning of the Act of 12 October 1990 on the Protection of the State Border (J. L. No. 78, it. 461 as amended)[2];

3)the carrier - a natural or legal person who, for economic purposes, carries persons by air, sea or land;

4)the international airport transit zone - the area of an international airport situated on the territory of the Republic of Poland, ranging from the board of the aircraft to the border checkpoint that covers the airport apron and the airport terminals;

5)a visa - permission issued to an alien by the Polish authority or the authority whose competence in that matter stems out from the provisions of the international agreements binding the Republic of Poland, authorising an alien to enter into, transit through, residence on, and depart from the territory of the Republic of Poland, for the period, purpose and on conditions specified in that permission,

6)the work permit – the permit for work issued on the basis of the Act on 14 December 1994 on employment and combating unemployment (J. L. of 2003 No 58, it. 514, No 90, it. 844 and No 122, it. 1143);

7)the permit for tolerated stay – the permit for tolerated stay within the meaning of the Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to aliens within the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Art. 5

An alien who is a citizen of two or more states shall be treated as a citizen of the state the which authority had issued the travel document presented by the alien upon crossing the border of the Republic of Poland.

Art. 6

In cases which remain within the competence of the voivod, where the voivod is the authority competent to examine an appeal in matters regulated in this Act or the President of the Office for Repatriation and Aliens is the higher level authority, Art. 33 of the Act of 5^thJune 1998 on the governmental administration in the voivodship (J. L. 2001 No 80, it. 872, as amended)[3]shall not apply.

Art. 7

1. The proceedings in cases regulated by this Act shall be carried out according to the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure unless this Act states otherwise.

2. The procedure concerning matters regulated by this law which fall within the competencies of the consuls, the provisions of the act of 13 February 1984 on the Functions of Consuls of the Republic of Poland (J. L. of 2002 No 215, it. 1823) shall apply, unless this Act states otherwise.

[1]Amendments of mentioned Act were published in J. L. of 2001 No 42, it. 475 and No 128, it. 1403 and of 2002 No 113, it. 984 and No 127, it. 1090.

[2]Amendments of mentioned Act were published in J. L. of 1997 No 6, it. 31 and No 43, it. 271, of 2000 No 12, it. 136 and No 120, it. 1268 and of 2001 No 45, it. 498.

[3]Amendments of unified text of this Act were published in J. L. of 2001 No 128, it. 1407, pf 2002, No 37, it. 329, No 41, it. 365, No 62, it. 558, No 89, it. 804, No 200, it. 1688 and of 2003 No 52, it. 450.