Adwokat or radca prawny? Who to choose for a residence card or work permit case

Adwokat and radca prawny — three differences

According to Gazeta Prawna, an adwokat and a radca prawny have almost identical powers: both give legal advice, prepare opinions and documents, and represent clients before courts and administrative bodies. In foreigners’ cases such as a residence card or a work permit, neither title gives an advantage in itself.

The first difference is the form of work. A radca prawny may also practise under an employment relationship, for example as in-house legal adviser in a company (art. 8 ust. 1 of the Act on Radca Prawny Profession). An adwokat may not practise while in an employment relationship; the exception concerns research and research-and-teaching staff (art. 4b of the Law on the Adwokat Profession).

The second difference is defence in criminal cases: a radca prawny may act as defence counsel in cases concerning criminal offences only if not in an employment relationship (art. 8 ust. 6 of the Act on Radca Prawny Profession). The third is the professional self-government: adwokaci belong to bar associations (izby adwokackie) and radcowie prawni to regional chambers of radcowie prawni, so the registers, codes of ethics and bodies for lodging a complaint are different.

Who to choose for a residence card or work permit case

Proceedings before the voivode and the Head of the Office for Foreigners (Szef UdSC). An application for a residence permit, a complaint about delay (ponaglenie), a reply to a request to remedy defects and an appeal are steps in administrative proceedings. The party’s representative may be any natural person with legal capacity (art. 33 § 1 k.p.a.), not only an adwokat or a radca prawny. The power of attorney must be granted in writing or recorded in the minutes (art. 33 § 2 k.p.a.).

Proceedings before the administrative court. If the decision is unfavourable and a complaint to the regional administrative court (WSA) is needed, the representative may be an adwokat or a radca prawny, as well as the party’s spouse, siblings, ascendants or descendants (art. 35 § 1 p.p.s.a.). A cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) must, as a rule, be prepared by an adwokat or a radca prawny (art. 175 § 1 p.p.s.a.). The time limits are short: 14 days for an appeal to the Head of the Office for Foreigners and 30 days for a complaint to the WSA, so it is better to think about legal help earlier than in the last week.

Criminal cases. When a foreigner faces liability for a criminal offence, the choice matters: a radca prawny employed under an employment contract cannot act as defence counsel in such a case (art. 8 ust. 6 of the Act on Radca Prawny Profession), while an adwokat has no such limit because an adwokat cannot work under an employment relationship.

The most important advice: do not leave your case to an agency or an employer

File your residence card or temporary residence and work permit application in your own name, or through a representative you choose yourself. Do not leave the whole case to an agency or an employer if they are to be the only addressee of the office’s correspondence. The risk is concrete: if a party has appointed a representative, documents are served on the representative, not on the party (art. 40 § 2 k.p.a.).

What can happen after you change jobs. When a foreigner changes employer, the former agency or former employer may still appear in the file as the representative or as the address for service, and the office’s letters may not reach you. A request to remedy defects sets a time limit of not less than 7 days, on pain of leaving the application unexamined (art. 64 § 2 k.p.a.). Service at the previous address is legally effective if the party has not notified the authority of the change of address (art. 41 k.p.a.). A missed request may therefore end with the application being left unexamined.

Remember also that in proceedings for a work permit the only party is the entity entrusting work to the foreigner (art. 12 of the Act of 20 March 2025, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621), so the foreigner is not a party to those proceedings and learns about their course from the employer. That is why a residence case should not depend on the employer: give your own address for service and notify the office of every change of address (art. 41 § 1 k.p.a.).

What to look at when choosing

The choice should depend on experience in foreigners’ cases, knowledge of procedures such as the Case Handling Module (MOS) and availability, not on the professional title. A specialist in commercial matters does not necessarily know the practice of voivodeship offices in residence cases. It is worth asking how many similar cases (residence card, work permit, appeal) the person handles and in which language you can communicate.

The scope of help and the remuneration are set by the contract with the legal adviser (art. 8 ust. 4 of the Act on Radca Prawny Profession). According to Gazeta Prawna, the amount of the fee does not depend on whether you choose an adwokat or a radca prawny. An adwokat and a radca prawny can each be checked in the register of the relevant professional body.