Immigration attorney vs legal counsel in Warsaw — who to choose and what legalisation costs

In residence card proceedings, before the Head of the Office for Foreigners and before the administrative court an attorney (adwokat) and a legal counsel (radca prawny) have exactly the same rights. The difference between them is historical, not practical — and neither is the same as an “immigration agency” or an intermediary. Below we explain who may represent you before the voivode and who before the court, what to demand from a law firm, what handling a case costs and whether your lawyer needs an office in your district. The scope of our help is described on the page foreigners' cases in Warsaw.

Attorney or legal counsel — what really separates the two professions

Both professions require a law degree, several years of traineeship and a state exam; both are bound by professional secrecy, disciplinary liability and mandatory liability insurance. The only real difference concerns criminal cases: a legal counsel may act as defence counsel too, as long as not employed under an employment contract — in practice most defences are run by attorneys. In foreigners' cases, i.e. in administrative and court-administrative proceedings, that split does not exist: a legal counsel appears before offices and courts as a representative under Article 6(1) of the Act on Legal Counsels exactly like an attorney.

Our firm is a law firm of legal counsels — that name is protected by law (Article 8 of the Act on Legal Counsels) and may be used only by a firm run by legal counsels. So if you search for an “immigration attorney” and reach a legal counsel, you are no worse off: in your case for temporary residence, permanent residence, an appeal against a refusal or a complaint to the administrative court they will do exactly the same, with the same rights and the same liability.

Who may represent you before the voivode, and who before the court

This is the difference most offers do not mention. The law defines the circle of representatives differently at each stage of the case:

• before the voivode and the Head of the Office for Foreigners the representative may be any natural person with legal capacity (Article 33 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Procedure) — including an intermediary, a friend or an agency employee;
• before the voivodeship administrative court the representative may be an attorney or a legal counsel, and apart from them only the party's closest family (Article 35 § 1 of the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts) — an intermediary will not enter the courtroom;
• a cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court must be drawn up by an attorney or a legal counsel (Article 175 § 1 of that Law) — without that signature the court will not examine it.

In practice this means an agency without a lawyer will run your case as long as it goes well. The moment a refusal, a complaint about inaction or a return decision arrives, you have to look for a representative from scratch — often in the last days of the deadline, with a file nobody has read with the court in mind. In addition, attorneys and legal counsels certify copies of the power of attorney and documents themselves (Article 33 § 3 of the Code), which an intermediary cannot do.

Immigration agency, intermediary, law firm — how they differ

An “immigration agency” is neither a profession nor a legal form — it is a trade name any company may adopt. Some such agencies work reliably and cooperate with lawyers; some fill in forms without analysing the basis of stay. The differences you can check before signing: whether the person handling the case holds a professional title entered on the list of a regional bar, whether they are bound by professional secrecy and disciplinary liability, whether they carry mandatory liability insurance and whether they can represent you in court as well. A legal counsel can be checked in the public register of legal counsels, an attorney in the register of attorneys.

The most common problem clients bring us after agencies is not a bad form, but a wrongly chosen basis of stay or an office summons nobody answered on time. Since 5 March 2026 the stamp duty is not refunded after a refusal or discontinuance, so a mistake at the start costs not only months but also 340, 440 or 640 zł.

What to demand from a representative in a residence case

Whether you choose an attorney or a legal counsel, check four things before signing that really decide how the case goes:

• a written power of attorney and correspondence to the firm's address — letters are served on the representative (Article 40 § 2 of the Code), so a summons will not get lost in a mailbox at an old address;
• inspection of the case file before an appeal or a reply to a summons is filed — without reading the file nobody knows what the office really lacks;
• watching deadlines that cannot be restored without a motion: 14 days to appeal a refusal, 7 days for a return decision, 15 working days to notify the voivode of losing a job;
• a price fixed in advance per stage or per case, not “from” — with information on what is included and what is an official fee paid separately.

That is our standard: a power of attorney, the firm's address in the file, file inspection and deadlines tracked in a system, documents as phone photos. The whole process without an office visit is described on the page residence legalisation online.

What an immigration lawyer costs in Warsaw

We state prices up front, because that is one of the things separating a law firm from an intermediary charging “from”. Handling residence legalisation — from choosing the basis through the full set of documents, the application in MOS and replies to summonses up to collecting the card — costs 2200 zł, or 1900 zł at the promotional online rate. A ponaglenie (formal demand to act) signed by a legal counsel, once the office has exceeded the 60 days of Article 112a of the Act on Foreigners, costs 199 zł, and handling the case with a complaint about inaction 1199 zł. An analysis of a refusal within 48 hours is 299 zł, and handling the appeal 1499 zł with the analysis credited. An analysis of a return decision costs 499 zł.

Official fees (340, 440 or 640 zł of stamp duty and 100 zł for the card) you pay separately, straight to the office account — we show the exact amount and account number. How we help in each type of case is described on the page immigration lawyer in Warsaw.

Wola, Praga, Mokotów — does the firm have to be in your district

No. Since 27 April 2026 a residence card application is filed only electronically in the MOS module, correspondence from the office comes to the representative's address, and the only visit you must make in person is fingerprints at the Foreigners' Department of the Masovian Voivodeship Office at ul. Marszałkowska 3/5. For the case it does not matter whether you live in Wola, Praga, Mokotów, Ursynów, Białołęka, Ochota or Bemowo — the same Masovian voivode and the same office are competent.

Our office is in Śródmieście, at ul. Marszałkowska 20/22 lok. 72, a few minutes from the voivodeship office, but we run most cases without a single meeting on site: an online consultation, a power of attorney, photos of documents from your phone. We serve clients from all of Warsaw and remotely from all of Poland. Whether a representative speeds up the case and what really shortens the wait is explained in our article can a lawyer speed up a residence card.

How we work and where we start

Foreigners' cases are handled by the law firm Kancelaria Radców Prawnych Bartosz Krajewski — over 4000 cases handled, mostly residence cases, service in Polish, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Arabic, Azerbaijani and Uzbek. We start by reading what you already have: the decision, the summons, the previous application. Only then do we say what needs doing and what it costs. Who handles your case you can check on the page legal counsel Bartosz Krajewski.

If you are holding a summons or a refusal, or the case has been standing for months — send us the letter. Usually one conversation is enough to know whether you need an appeal, a demand to act or a new application on a different basis. We do not promise the outcome, because nobody honest does; we promise that from day one the case is run by a qualified person who answers before the office and the court.