Forced Return from Poland: The Legal Boundary Between Protection and Risk That Few People Know About

The Polish legal system has, since the start of the full-scale aggression, provided Ukrainian nationals with a special protective regime - a legally enshrined mechanism. At the same time, that same mechanism contains important exceptions, the existence of which most people only discover when those exceptions have already become relevant to their specific situation. This is precisely the space between protection and risk that is worth navigating in advance - not at the moment when there is no longer time to reflect.

What the Non-Refoulement Principle Means and Why It Is Not Absolute

At the heart of the legal protection afforded to persons holding temporary UKR status lies the principle of non-refoulement - the prohibition on returning a person to a country where they face a real risk of serious harm. This principle is enshrined in the 1951 Geneva Convention and reproduced in EU law, which Poland is obliged to observe. It means that an active armed conflict in a person's country of origin is, in itself, sufficient grounds for the state to be precluded from carrying out a forced return.

At the same time, the legal framework of temporary protection contains an explicit indication of exceptions: an EU member state may derogate from the principle of non-refoulement if an individual poses a threat to national security or public order. It is precisely this provision that creates the space in which administrative decisions on the forced return of Ukrainian nationals become legally possible - even in the context of an ongoing war. According to legal professionals, the Nadbużański Border Guard Division alone detained 52 foreign nationals - including Ukrainian citizens - from the start of 2026, issuing a forced return decision in each case.

Legal Grounds for Forced Return

The Polish Act on Foreigners (Ustawa o cudzoziemcach), in Article 100, sets out the conditions under which a state authority - primarily the Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) - initiates an administrative forced return procedure. The most common grounds, confirmed also in judicial practice, include the following:

• illegal stay - loss of valid legal status due to the expiry of documents or failure to submit a timely extension application;
• a Polish court conviction - sentencing for a criminal offence, depending on the nature, gravity and stage of enforcement of the penalty;
• an entry in the Schengen Information System (SIS) - a common situation in which the entry ban was issued not by Poland but by another EU member state, with the information automatically extending across the entire Schengen Area;
• an established threat to national security or public order - a discretionary ground assessed by the competent authorities on a case-by-case basis;
• breach of the conditions of stay - in particular, carrying out employment activity not permitted under the current status.

Separately: debts, credit obligations and unpaid fines are not grounds for initiating a forced return procedure - these are civil law matters regulated through separate channels. Equally, matters of conscription, mobilisation registration or draft evasion in Ukraine have no legal bearing on Polish administrative procedure - under Polish law, these circumstances are not criteria for assessing a person's migration status.

How the Procedure Works and Where the Critical Point Arises

Forced return is an administrative, not a criminal, procedure. It is initiated by the Border Guard, which refers the case file to the competent authority - the regional office or a specialised unit. The authority issues a decision, which is served on the individual. Enforcement of the decision involves escorting the foreign national to the border or airport, with the Polish side not financing the journey.

A forced return decision is generally combined with a ban on re-entry to Poland or the entire Schengen Area - for a period of between 1 and 10 years, depending on the grounds and circumstances of the specific case. If an asylum application is submitted in parallel, the existence of a deportation decision may constitute grounds for refusing to consider it.

The critical point after which protection becomes significantly more difficult is the moment of physical border crossing. The Polish system allows decisions to be appealed, but an appeal submitted from Ukraine is technically possible while being considerably less effective in terms of timelines and access to evidence. Any received forced return decision therefore constitutes grounds for immediate action.

Appeal: Timelines, Procedure and What to Pay Attention To

The statutory deadline for challenging a decision is 14 days from the date of service. The appeal is submitted to the authority that issued the decision - the regional office - from where it is referred for consideration by a higher instance. It is important to note that, following amendments to the Act on Foreigners adopted in 2025, for certain categories of decisions the deadline has been reduced to 7 days - this applies, in particular, to decisions concerning the issuance and replacement of residence cards and tolerated stay permits.

In certain cases, forced enforcement of a decision may take place before the conclusion of judicial proceedings on the filed complaint. This is a further reason why timely consultation with a lawyer specialising in migration law in Poland is not merely a recommendation, but a practical step to be taken.

Advice from Gremi Personal

Tip 1: Monitor deadlines yourself The most common reason people find themselves outside the scope of legal protection is not intentional violation, but simple unawareness of the expiry of documents or status. Regular verification through the official gov.pl service takes a few minutes and makes it possible to avoid situations that are then far more difficult to resolve.

Tip 2: Official status and official employment are not just a convenience Residing without registration or working without the appropriate legal framework is not merely a "grey zone" - it is a specific ground for initiating an administrative procedure. Official registration not only opens access to the full range of social rights, but also eliminates risks.

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