Published: 10.07.2026
Poland’s Ministry of the Interior said it currently does not plan a legislative initiative for EU citizens’ family members who cannot obtain a passport from their country of origin. The issue concerns, among others, Belarusian nationals holding residence cards as family members of EU citizens, who may be unable to leave Poland without a valid passport.
According to sources, a legal gap remains for EU citizens’ family members who are under the special EU-family-member residence regime and are permanently unable to obtain a passport from their country of origin. In practice, this may prevent them from leaving Poland even when they hold a valid residence card. The issue is particularly relevant to Belarusian nationals and others who depend on consular documents from their home country when relocating to Poland with an EU citizen. People planning this route or already living in Poland under this status should treat document and travel access as a material relocation risk; the development does not directly change the rules for most other migrants.