As officers of the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit reported, dozens of documents belonging to foreign nationals were found in the home of a woman who had repeatedly assisted migrants in illegally crossing the Polish-Belarusian border. These were Temporary Foreigner Identity Certificates, which are required for lawful stay in Poland until proceedings on the granting of international protection are concluded. The woman has been charged with repeatedly organizing the illegal crossing of the border of the Republic of Poland by other persons. She faces up to eight years in prison.
At the residence of the person assisting foreigners at the Polish-Belarusian border, officers of the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit secured dozens of documents belonging to foreign nationals. These were Temporary Foreigner Identity Certificates.
A Temporary Foreigner Identity Certificate is issued to a foreign national applying for international protection in Poland. A foreigner who, alone or together with minor children, seeks international protection in Poland uses this document during its period of validity to confirm their identity. At the same time, the certificate entitles the holder to remain in Poland until asylum is granted.
A large number of identity documents in the activist’s home
As many as 62 Temporary Foreigner Identity Certificates, as well as documents prepared by Border Guard officers in the course of administrative proceedings conducted with respect to foreign nationals, and other items that may constitute evidence in the case, were secured during the investigation against an activist operating at the Polish-Belarusian border. Officers of the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit, acting under the supervision and authorization of the Military Affairs Department of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, searched the suspect’s place of residence. It was there that the aforementioned documents were secured.
In the course of the proceedings, evidence was gathered providing grounds to charge a Polish citizen with organizing, in 2022, the illegal crossing of the border from the Republic of Poland to the Federal Republic of Germany by at least 15 foreign nationals who did not possess documents authorizing them to cross the state border, the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit said in a statement regarding the actions taken.
Activist charged. Migrants left Poland
The woman in whose apartment the foreigners’ identity documents were secured was charged in December 2025 with repeatedly organizing the illegal crossing of the border of the Republic of Poland by other persons, in violation of applicable regulations. The suspect did not plead guilty to the charges. The prosecutor imposed a preventive measure in the form of police supervision. The alleged offense carries a penalty of up to eight years’ imprisonment.
As it turned out, in the case of most of the migrants whose data appear on the temporary certificates secured during the investigation, the Head of the Office for Foreigners discontinued the asylum proceedings. The reason was that they had left the territory of Poland.
“The described incident is yet another example of the instrumentalization of proceedings for the granting of international protection in Poland,” the Border Guard assessed in its statement.
Asked by the portal niezalezna.pl for details of the case, the spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, Piotr Antoni Skiba, said that “guided by the interests of the ongoing investigation, we will not be providing more detailed information on this matter in the near future.”