Applying for the permit to purchase real property

Premises for issuing the permit

The permit is issued if the purchase of the real property by the foreigner does not constitute a threat to state security or defence or the public order, and it is not contrary to social policy and the society’s health.

The area of the real properties purchased by the foreigner to satisfy his or her livelihood needs may not exceed 0,5 hectares, and in the case of purchasing real property for the purposes of business or agricultural activity conducted in Poland the area should be justified by the actual needs resulting from the nature of the business conducted.

The foreigner must prove that there are circumstances confirming his or her ties to Poland. The catalogue of these circumstances can be found in article 1a item 1 of the act and then include in particular:

having Polish nationality or Polish origins;
marrying a citizen of Poland;
holding the permit for:
temporary residence (exceptions: holding the permit for temporary residence if it was issued by virtue of article 176 or article 181 item 1 of the act on foreigners),
permanent residence,
residence of a long-term European Union resident;

membership in the board of directors of an enterprise having its registered seat on the territory of Poland;
performing business or agricultural activity on the territory of Poland in accordance with Polish law.

The term “in particular” used in the act means that the above-mentioned catalogue is not closed and that the circumstances cited are only examples. Therefore, foreigners may cite and indicate other circumstances.

The procedure

Foreigners applying for a permit must:

Write the application personally in accordance with the act on purchases of real property by foreigners and the Resolution of the Minister of the Interior concerning the detailed information and the types of documents to be presented by foreigners applying for the permit to purchase real property;
Attach the documents required by the above-mentioned legislation.
If the documents have been drawn up in a foreign language, they must be submitted together with their translations done by a certified court translator;
If copies of documents are submitted, they must be certified as true copies. This can be done by the body that has issued the said document or by a notary. A legal counsellor or a solicitor may certify documents if they participate in the case as the applicant’s attorney.
Pay the stamp duty in the amount of PLN 1570 and attach the confirmation of payment to the application.
Mail the application together with all appendices to the address of the Ministry of the Interior: Departament Zezwoleń i Koncesji MSW, ul. RAKOWIECKA 2a, 02-591 WARSZAWA.
If the statutory requirements are met and the bodies assessing the application don’t reject it, the Minister issues the permit. The permit remains valid for 2 years and the foreigner must purchase the real property during this time. Otherwise, he or she will have to apply for another permit.

If the Minister decides not to grant the permit, the foreigner may apply to this authority with a request for repeated analysis of the case.

Contents of the application and types of appendices

1. Information about the applicant	Natural person: name, surname, nationality, address of residence. If the foreigner is a temporary resident of Poland, he or she should enter his or her address of residence abroad as well as the address of residence in Poland. The mailing address must be entered if it is to be different than the address of residence. Legal person and company without legal personality: name, address of the registered seat, subject matter of business, names and surnames of the members of the board, as well as information about partners, stockholders or shareholders. Another thing to be stated is the percentage of votes held by the individual partners, stockholders or shareholders in the meeting or general meeting.
2. Information about the real property purchased	Land: the legal title to the real property purchased, street name and number, city, commune, and province, number of the record parcel, area in hectares, number of the land and mortgage register, as well as the features of development. Building: the building’s record number, its floor space in square metres, street name and number, city, commune, and province. Premises constituting a separate subject of ownership: the building’s and the flat’s record number, street name and number, city, commune, and province, the flat’s floor space in square metres, as well as the share in the joint property in which the flat is located.
3. Information about the seller	Natural person: name, surname, address of residence. Legal person: name, address of the registered seat.
4.Type of the legal event on whose basis the real property will be purchased.
5.The purpose of purchasing the real property, and if the real property is to be used for the purposes of the business or agricultural activity conducted – also the planned manner of using the real property, including the type of investments planned on it.
6. Sources of the funds used to purchase the real property.

The appendices to the application include, but are not limited to:

1. Documents certifying the foreigner’s legal status	Natural person: certified copy or a photocopy of an identity document with photograph, indicating the foreigner’s nationality, date and place of birth, and if the real property is to be used for the purposes of running a business – also a copy from the relevant register or record. Legal person and company without legal personality: certified copy or extract from the relevant registry, issued within the 3 months preceding the date of filing the application.
2. Documents concerning the real property issued within the 6 months preceding the date of filing the application:	certified copy of the land and mortgage register or certificate from the document file, certified copy from the land register and copy of the cadastral map, if the current designation of the real property is not revealed in the land and mortgage register – official documents constituting the basis for changing the real property’s designation, copy of the valid area development plan or a decision concerning the location of a public purpose investment or a decision concerning development conditions (if one has been issued), and if there is no local area development plan – a document issued by the competent authority certifying that there is no such plan. Foreigners applying for the permit to purchase a flat constituting a separate subject of ownership are not obligated to attach the documents discussed in letters b-d to the application. If no land and mortgage register has been created for the flat, the foreigner is obligated to attach a copy of the land and mortgage register and a copy from the land register concerning the real property on which the building containing the flat in question is erected.
3. Declaration of the seller, expressing the will to sell the real property to the foreigner (it can be, for example, the preliminary sale agreement). If the acquisition of real property takes place as a result of, for example, testamentary inheritance, court ruling or administrative decision, then instead of the seller’s declaration the application should contain a copy of the testament or the court ruling about the acquisition of inheritance, a copy of another court ruling or administrative decision, or an official certificate stating that there are ongoing administrative proceedings aimed at issuing a decision under which the foreigner will acquire the real property.
4. Documents confirming the foreigner’s ties to Poland, as well as other documents proving the circumstances cited in the application.

Promissory note

If circumstances occur that prevent the foreigner from applying for the permit to purchase real property in Poland (e.g. he or she wishes to purchase the real property by way of a tendering procedure or the real property’s legal status is uncertain, because of ongoing inheritance proceedings), then he or she may apply for a promissory note.

The promissory note is a document in which an authority undertakes to issue the permit to purchase a specific real property by a specific entity. Just like the permit, the promissory note has the form of an administrative decision.

The proceedings related to the issuing of a promissory note are subject to the relevant regulations concerning the issuing of permits. This means that when applying for a promissory note one must file the same documents as in the case of applying for a permit. In such a case the stamp duty is PLN 98.

The promissory note remains valid for one year and during this time the authority may not refuse to grant the permit unless the circumstances material to the resolution of the case have changed. After the year elapses the promissory note loses its validity. This does not mean that the authority will not be able to grant the permit; it means that the authority will no longer be bound by the promise to grant the permit.