Residence card and a child in a Polish school? This PLN 300 expires on 30 November

A one-off PLN 300 for school supplies goes to almost every parent of a pupil in Poland, whatever they earn. Foreign nationals too — but here it gets complicated: what decides your right to it is not whether you work legally, but which document you hold. Many people working in Poland fall outside it, even though everything else is in order. Check which side you are on — applications close on 30 November.

What the PLN 300 is and who gets it

The “Dobry start” benefit, known as 300+, is a one-off payment of PLN 300 for school supplies, paid once a year for each child in education. There is no income test — a parent earning PLN 4,000 gets it, and so does one earning PLN 20,000.

Conditions on the child’s side:

• is in school,
• is under 20 (or under 24 with a disability),
• is starting the school year.

The benefit is exempt from tax and immune from enforcement — a bailiff cannot seize it. Where a court has ordered shared custody, each parent receives PLN 150.

Here is the catch: legal residence alone is not enough

You will read in many places that 300+ is available to “foreigners with a residence card or another document legalising their stay”. That shortcut can cost you a refusal. The regulation lists specific groups and is far narrower than that description.

The benefit goes to foreign nationals living in Poland who fall into one of these groups (§ 2(2) of the regulation):

Who	Extra condition
Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland	—
People covered by a bilateral social security agreement	depends on the agreement
EU Blue Card — temporary residence under Art. 127 of the Act on Foreigners	living with the children in Poland
Residence card bearing the annotation “access to the labour market”	living with the children in Poland
Intra-corporate transfer (Art. 139a, 139o, 139n)	living with the children; not for stays of up to 9 months
Researchers (Art. 151, 151b), national visa for scientific research	living with the children in Poland

For most people working in Poland, row four is the one that counts: a residence card with the annotation “access to the labour market” (dostęp do rynku pracy). The annotation is printed on the card itself — worth checking before you apply.

Who will not get it, despite working legally

The regulation expressly excludes several situations from the “residence card with labour-market access” group. The benefit is not available to third-country nationals who:

• work on the basis of a visa — by far the most common ground for refusal,
• hold a work permit for no more than 6 months,
• were admitted to take up studies,
• came for seasonal work.

In other words: you may be working in Poland entirely legally, paying contributions and taxes, with your child in a Polish school — and still have no right to the PLN 300, because your basis of stay is a visa rather than a residence card with the right annotation.

Separate rules apply to Ukrainian citizens with UKR status — their entitlement follows the Act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens, and from the 2025/2026 school year the child must attend a school within the Polish education system (not remotely in a Ukrainian school).

How to apply — electronically only

There is no paper application. You have four routes:

1. the mZUS app,
2. the eZUS portal,
3. the Emp@tia portal,
4. electronic banking — offered by several dozen banks and credit unions.

Important for foreign families: applying through electronic banking or Emp@tia is possible only if both the parent and the child have a PESEL number. If the child has none, eZUS or mZUS remain.

You will need a bank account number, an e-mail address and a phone number. Without a bank account there is no payment — it is made solely by transfer.

The deadlines that decide

• Applications: from 1 July to 30 November. After that date the right for this school year lapses. The only exception concerns a child over 20 who obtains a disability certificate after 30 November.
• Payment: an application filed by the end of August meant money by 30 September at the latest. An application filed now means payment within 2 months of submitting the complete documents.

If you are reading this in October or November, you still have time — but realistically a few weeks.

If ZUS refuses

You will receive the refusal electronically, in your eZUS account. You may appeal to the President of ZUS, and then complain to an administrative court. Before you appeal, though, check your basis of stay carefully — most refusals happen because the residence title simply does not fit the list in the regulation, and an appeal will not change that.

What this means for you

If you are a foreign national:

• Check your residence card for the annotation “dostęp do rynku pracy” (access to the labour market). Most of it hangs on that.
• Working on a visa? The PLN 300 is not available to you — even with fully legal employment.
• Do you and your child both have a PESEL? Electronic banking is the quickest route. If not — eZUS or mZUS.
• Do not wait until 30 November. If anything is missing, ZUS will ask you to complete it, and that takes time.

If you employ foreign nationals:

• This is real support for your staff — PLN 300 per child matters to a family on the minimum wage.
• Worth reminding those with children in Polish schools about the deadline.
• It is also an argument in any conversation about the form of residence: a residence card with labour-market access opens up benefits that a visa does not.

What other support foreign nationals working legally in Poland can claim

Beyond the PLN 300, people living and working legally in Poland may — where they meet the conditions specific to each benefit — apply for: 800+ (the child-raising benefit), the family allowance with its supplements, the family care capital and co-funding of nursery care, the “Active Parent” benefit, and benefits from the social insurance paid on their wages: sickness, maternity and carer’s allowance, rehabilitation benefit and — once the qualifying periods are met — an old-age or disability pension. A separate group is help from the labour office, including unemployment benefit, training and courses. Each of these has its own list of eligible foreign nationals and its own conditions — some require a residence card with labour-market access, others a sufficiently long contribution record. To check what applies in your case, write to us — we reply within one business day, in Polish, English and Spanish.

Based on: Council of Ministers regulation of 15 June 2021 on the detailed conditions for implementing the government programme “Dobry start” (Dz.U. 2021 item 1092), § 2; Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners (consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 item 1079), Art. 127, 139a, 139n, 139o, 151, 151b; information on deadlines, application channels, payment and appeals after ZUS, “Program Dobry Start” (zus.pl). The starting point was the article “Cudzoziemcy mogą ubiegać się o wyprawkę szkolną 300+ (Dobry Start)”, Anna Gnioska, Gazeta Prawna. Legal status as at 17 October 2026. This article is for information only and is not legal advice in an individual case.