Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
relevant District Court for a maximum period of 30 days (Article 42 of the Asylum Act). The
maximum detention period may be extended for 90 days, where an asylum application is lodged
during the detention period or within the time of arrest for purposes of expulsion, starting from
the day of submission. The detention may not exceed one year in total.
Polish Law (Article 97 of the Asylum Act) does not permit migrants to be expelled and deported
where the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights apply and such persons are
released and granted a tolerated stay permit. Tolerated stay permits are granted initially for one
year. In these cases, the migrant is vested with the same rights as any other alien with a fixedterm
residence permit.
Minors cannot be expelled without guarantees of adult protection, as per the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. The ORA may order an asylum seeker to stay at a specific address and
oblige him/her to report to the relevant authorities at specified intervals, according to Article 45
of the Asylum Act.
If there is genuine reason to fear that the foreigner might refuse to abide by the guarded centre’s
internal regulations, or if he/she has left the centre without permission, he/she may be placed in
a deportation jail whilst the expulsion order is enforced.
Where the authorities suspect that the migrant will abscond before enforcement of his/her
departure, or he/she has attempted repeatedly to cross the border illegally, he/she may be
detained in a guarded centre to ensure the effectiveness of the proceedings on expulsion
(Article 102 of the Alien Act).
Expulsion
Once the asylum seeker has received notification of a final negative decision, he/she is ordered
to leave Poland within 14 days from the date of decision, if he/she has not received an order of
expulsion prior to this.
According to Article 88 (1) of the Aliens Act of 2003, expulsion may be ordered where migrants:
Reside unlawfully on Polish territory;
Carry out illicit work;
Do not avail of sufficient means to maintain themselves;
Are generally considered “undesirable”;
Constitute a threat to the state’s security and public order;
Enter Poland illegally;
Refuse to leave voluntarily within the given period of respite on the obligation to leave or on
refusal or withdrawal of a residence permit;
Do not comply with fiscal obligations;
Have served a prison sentence.
Where an expulsion has been ordered on grounds laid down in points 1 to 3, the alien has to
leave the territory of Poland voluntarily within seven days (Article 97 of the Aliens Act), other-
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