Poland extends emergency curb on lodging asylum claims

The Polish Government has quietly prolonged the emergency curb that limits where and how foreigners can submit an application for international protection. Regulation No 945, published in the Journal of Laws on 14 July 2026, renews provisions first introduced during the 2021–22 border crisis with Belarus. Under the measure, applications for asylum may be accepted only at specifically-designated border-control posts and reception facilities, not at any point along the frontier – a departure from the standard rules of the EU Asylum Procedures Directive. While the legal text does not set an explicit end-date, officials told local media that the current extension is expected to remain in force “at least until the end of 2026”, pending a security review. Warsaw argues that the restriction is necessary to stem "instrumentalised migration" orchestrated by Minsk and to relieve over-stretched processing centres in the eastern Podlaskie and Lubelskie regions. Human-rights NGOs have already signalled fresh court challenges, claiming the prolonged curb breaches both EU and international refugee law by depriving applicants of the right to lodge claims immediately and individually. The European Commission last year opened an infringement procedure over similar measures but has not yet referred the case to the Court of Justice. For multinational employers and business travellers the practical effect is tighter document checks at road and rail crossings with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast, and occasional rerouting of commercial freight. Companies that relocate staff through Poland should ensure that transferees who may wish to seek protection know the correct – and lawful – filing points and carry evidence of intent to work or study to avoid being treated as irregular entrants. More broadly, the renewed restriction underscores Poland’s hardening immigration posture at a time when the country simultaneously faces record labour shortages and seeks to attract highly-skilled professionals under the EU Blue Card scheme.