Intervention with the Governor of the Mazovia Province

For some time now HFHR’s lawyers have been dealing with an alarming practice of the Governor of the Mazovia Province regarding the procedure for issuing the Polish travel document for foreigners enjoying subsidiary protection in Poland. According to Foundation’s experiences, such applications are denied unless the foreigner is able to present a certificate issued by the embassy of his or her home country confirming that he or she is unable to obtain such a document. The HFHR intervened in this case.

Pursuant to the Foreigners Act the Polish travel document is issued at the foreigner’s request provided the applicant holds a settlement permit, EC long-term residence permit or enjoys subsidiary protection.

For some time now the Governor of the Mazovia Province has been refusing to issue the Polish travel document to the foreigners enjoying subsidiary protection in the territory of Poland. The motions are dismissed unless the foreigner presents a certificate issued by the embassy of his or her home country confirming that he or she is unable to obtain such a document.

According to HFHR lawyers in certain circumstances the very fact that a person is granted subsidiary protection should be read as an indication that the protected cannot approach the diplomatic mission of his or her country of origin to obtain the travel document.

The intervention has been patterned after the cases handled by HFHR legal team. This is a phenomenon of significant proportion. In their submission the lawyers urged the authorities to apply a more personalised approach to foreigners’ travel document requests.