Illegal immigrants act on amnesty

Malgorzata Wozniak, a spokesperson for the ministry, informed the Polish Press Agency that the majority of the applicants are Vietnamese, Ukrainian and Armenian citizens. Chinese, Russians and Belorusians also feature prominently on the list.

Potential applicants may still join the programme, the final deadline of which is 2 July 2012. The amnesty is applicable to foreigners who have been living continuously in Poland since December 2007 without the necessary permits.

Although the Ministry of the Interior cannot guarantee that all applicants will be granted a favourable result, those that do meet all the criteria will be given a preliminary two-year permit, during which participants may legally obtain a work permit and further regulate their stay in Poland.

Applications may be made at branches of Poland's Office for Foreigners (UDSC). Precise details regarding all matter relating to the amnesty can be found at the multilingual website www.abolicja.gov.pl, which has a number telephone hot-line and email addresses for further enquiries.

Meanwhile, three humanitarian groups have also volunteered to help applicants, including Fundacja Afryka Inaczej, Fundacja Ocalenia and Polska Akcja Humanitarna. More information can be found on the groups individual websites. (nh/bee/jb)