Now that the weather is changing and the nights are drawing in, there is a noticeable change in Wrocław too. Like the trees in the forests, the community of foreigners living here undergo a transformation at the end of every summer.
Those of us who are here for the long haul are the conifers of the expat forest; we remain rooted and mostly unchanged while the others – the deciduous newcomers – around us move, transform, fall down and start to grow again. We grow in this time and try to extend our branches into new spaces, while our neighbours seem to move so quickly; living a whole season of change, colour, and life. It looks so fun, so fast, so far away, yet so familiar too.
That’s right, summer is over; last year’s Erasmus students have gone, leaving behind them only memories and empty bottles of vodka. Fear not though, as they’re already being replaced by a whole new intake of foreign students set to make Wrocław their home for the year. How many of them will decide to stay for longer, we don’t know… what we do know is the forums for Wrocław’s foreigners are full of flat seekers once again. This cycle repeats every year – people looking for temporary homes. One pattern of foreigner conversation that recurs and persists more frequently though, is…Urząd Wojewódzki. That, and where to find a good hairdresser or dentist who can speak English!
So, Urząd Wojewódzki: (queue grumbling pains from countless foreigners) it’s the most talked about topic since Michael Forbes told foreigners here to wake up! For all the foreigners reading this, if you’re expecting a solution to your suffering, or some inside secrets on how to speed up your application… I’m sorry but you won’t find them here – I’m not a magician! What follows is a light-hearted look at the comments on the “functioning” of the system: something like a modern day, real life „Miś”.
Generally, people are fed up with the service offered by Urząd Wojewódzki in Wrocław. They are frustrated and annoyed at the time it takes to obtain the famous “blue card” or get other residency/visa decisions. Some foreigners complain at the lack of English speakers in the office, claiming that their home countries have English speaking staff in the office which primarily deals with foreigners! For other people, this is not a valid point: we’re in Poland, we should speak Polish. Either way, everyone agrees (in their respective languages) that the queues at Urząd Wojewódzki are simply unacceptable. Did you know people start queuing at five in the morning?
The system and organisation is described as farcical by many on the Wrocław Expats forum.
Here are some of the recent comments:
“I’ve already been waiting 3 months. I emailed them and after two weeks they answered me by email saying I should wait 8 more months to get the decision. So, I have to wait for a year for a document which is only valid for a year!”
Anonymous
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“I don’t know if they will fix this useless 3rd world system. I am sure in this case Wrocław lose more foreigners and they will feel economic way later on.”
Anonymous
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“You just have to be fine with the incompetence of people who take almost eight months to process a temporary residency permit. Some Polish people have tried to explain the delay to me by blaming Polish work ethic, which I have completely rejected on the grounds of insulting and sometimes also racist reasoning, while others emphasise the obvious: a huge influx of applications…
I felt sooo sorry for the manager at Urząd in Wrocław because I felt she was really trying her best to cope, even though the crappy system was working against her.”
Christiaan Boonzaier
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“I have had nothing but fast and efficient experiences in ZUS, GUS and Urząd Miejski. Urząd Wojewódzki is the only exception for me – but they always seemed to be doing their best… …ZUS is very technologically advanced but they haven’t made the same investments in UW.”
Amanda Anthony
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“I have nothing good to say about Urząd Wojewódzki at all. To say the least it is an inhuman experience. It’s just a mess of incompetence and uncaring. I probably had one of the worst inspectors. Waited over 14 months for my Karta Pobytu. Not just waited of course but lost documents, unanswered phone calls and letters, etc… etc… Many times the classic room shuffle. Room A sends you to room B for some paperwork. B send you to C. C send you back to A. Repeat, repeat. No one willing to care about you or make a phone call to coordinate with the other rooms. All deny responsibility and have 0 care. What an awful place… My experiences there led me to invest only 1/4 of what I was planning to in Poland. When one part of Polish government is trying to encourage investment and entrepreneurship, Urząd Wojewódzki seems to be doing their best to discourage it!”
Anonymous
