A UK national (United Kingdom national) refers to a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as defined in the declaration made by the Government of the United Kingdom as of 31 December 1982 regarding the definition of the term “nationals” (Official Journal of the EU C 23 of 28.01.1983, p. 1), and Declaration No. 63 annexed to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference which adopted the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, signed on 13 December 2007 (Official Journal of the EU C 306 of 17.12.2007, p. 270).
According to these declarations, the term “UK national” includes:
• British Citizens, excluding those from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man*,
• British Subjects with the right of abode — a residence status that is no longer granted,
• British Overseas Territories Citizens with a connection to Gibraltar.
In general, a UK national is considered a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement if they exercised their right of residence in an EU Member State in accordance with EU law before the end of the transition period (i.e. before the end of 2020) and have continued to reside there, or if they exercised rights as a cross-border worker in at least one EU Member State before the end of the transition period and have continued to do so.
* The rights of holders of passports issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey (as well as the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) depend on whether the passport contains the following endorsement:
“THE HOLDER IS NOT ENTITLED TO BENEFIT FROM EU PROVISIONS RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT OR ESTABLISHMENT.”
If this endorsement is not present, the passport holder is subject to the legal provisions applicable in connection with the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.
Dictionary
The category of a Family Member of a UK National includes the following persons, regardless of nationality:
• the spouse
• the civil partner or durable partner with whom the EU citizen has contracted a registered partnership under the legislation of a Member State, if the legislation of the host Member State treats registered partnerships as equivalent to marriage, and under the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation of the host Member State;
• direct descendants (children) up to 21 years of age or who are dependent on the EU citizen, including those of the spouse or partner;
• direct ascendants (parents) who are dependent on the EU citizen, including those of the spouse or partner;
• other persons not defined above whose presence is required for the UK national to avoid being deprived of the right of residence granted under the Withdrawal Agreement (this category includes persons with a direct right of residence as the direct ascendant of a minor EU citizen, who has actual custody of the minor and upon whom the minor EU citizen is dependent).
Family Members of a UK National are Beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement if they meet one of the following conditions:
• they resided in Poland in accordance with EU law before the end of the transition period and continue to reside there;
• they were direct relatives of the above-mentioned UK nationals and resided outside Poland before the end of the transition period, provided they meet the above conditions at the time of applying for residence under the Withdrawal Agreement for the purpose of joining the above-mentioned UK nationals.
The Withdrawal Agreement also provides for a category of Future Family Members, that is children of the above-mentioned UK nationals (not including the children of a spouse unless also adopted by the UK national) or children adopted by them, born or adopted after the end of the transition period, either in the host state or outside its territory, who are under the age of 21 and are dependent on the UK national or their spouse/partner, and who, at the time of applying for residence to join the above-mentioned UK nationals, meet one of the following conditions:
• both parents are the above-mentioned UK nationals
• one parent is the above-mentioned UK national and the other is a national of the host country; or
• one parent is the above-mentioned UK national and has sole or joint custody of the child.
A stay is uninterrupted if the one-time stay outside Poland was not longer than 6 months at a time and all stays outside Poland did not exceed 10 months in total. This means that your trips abroad during the specified period should not exceed the limits mentioned above. However, there are exceptions to this rule. If you are employed by a company based in Poland and your absence is work-related (a business trip) or due to accompanying a spouse/parent who works in Poland, such absence is considered justified. The same applies if you are a student in Poland but take part in a course or exchange program outside of Poland, for example, at another university. Moreover, if your absence is due to medical reasons (e.g., hospitalization) or other important circumstances, which in total do not exceed 6 months, describe the situation in your application. If you properly document the described circumstances, your stay may still be recognized as uninterrupted, despite exceeding the threshold of 10 months abroad.
The employer to whom you are assigned by a temporary employment agency. The concept of a user employer applies only when the employment relationship is governed by the Act on the Employment of Temporary Workers, and the employer is a temporary work agency.