Your first days in Warsaw: housing, meldunek, PESEL and internet, in what order

Start with a flat on a written lease, then register your address (meldunek) if you will stay in Poland for more than 30 days, and your PESEL follows. A SIM card, home internet and a bank account do not depend on a PESEL: a telecom operator needs an identity document (a passport or residence card for a non-EU citizen), and a bank identifies you from a document too. There is no day-by-day calendar here, because the deadlines depend on your citizenship; the EU, non-EU and Ukraine paths are separated below.

Checked on 07.10.2026. Legal basis: the Electronic Communications Law (Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1221), the Population Register Act (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 384) and gov.pl pages; links at the end. This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. The article is written by allproperty, an agency that finds flats for tenants, so the last section states our terms. We do not name or recommend any telecom operator or bank.

Where do I start in the first days?

With the flat: both your meldunek and your application to an internet operator depend on the address and on a written lease. The rest runs alongside, roughly in this order.

Step	When	What you need
1. Flat and a written lease	Before you arrive or in the first days	The lease (umowa najmu); ask about internet at the viewing (section below)
2. Meldunek	If you stay over 30 days; the deadline depends on citizenship	Passport, proof of lawful stay, the lease; details in our PESEL article
3. PESEL	Usually arrives on its own after meldunek	Normally nothing extra to do
4. SIM card	On arrival day	Passport or residence card
5. Internet	Apply early, ideally before move-in	Passport or residence card, the flat’s address
6. Bank	Once you have an address and documents	An identity document; the bank sets the rest

The path forks depending on who you are.

• Citizen of an EU or EFTA state or Switzerland, or a family member of one. Register no later than the 30th day from arriving at the address (art. 41 ust. 1–2a of the Population Register Act). The in-person requirement for people without a PESEL does not apply to you (art. 40 ust. 3).
• Non-EU citizen. Register no later than the 4th day from arriving at the address (art. 41 ust. 3). While you have no PESEL, you must register in person; family members of EU citizens and UK citizens covered by the Withdrawal Agreement are exempt (art. 40 ust. 3). Documents and the rest are in our article on PESEL and meldunek.
• Arrived because of the war in Ukraine. A PESEL with UKR status follows a separate track, also covered in the PESEL article. The rules have changed several times, so check gov.pl/web/ua before you go.

If you have not found a flat yet, begin with the search form. What can be done before you arrive and what cannot is set out in our article on renting a flat in Warsaw before you arrive.

When do I register (meldunek), and how do I get a PESEL?

If you stay in Poland for more than 30 days, meldunek is compulsory; a stay of up to 30 days is exempt (art. 41 ust. 1 and 3, art. 42 ust. 2 of the Population Register Act). When you register for a stay of over 30 days, the municipal office itself applies for a PESEL for you (art. 17 ust. 1 pkt 2; the number is assigned by the minister responsible for digital affairs, art. 16 ust. 3). A non-EU citizen without a PESEL must attend in person both for meldunek and for a PESEL application (art. 18 ust. 1a, art. 40 ust. 3; gov.pl, 23.03.2026).

Deadlines, documents, the landlord’s signature and the Ukrainian track are in our article on PESEL and meldunek in Warsaw, which also explains how we go to the office with you.

Do I need a PESEL to get internet?

Yes. A PESEL is not required for an operator contract: under art. 296 ust. 1 pkt 1 lit. b of the Electronic Communications Law, a private subscriber gives a PESEL if they have one, and otherwise the series and number of an identity document. A non-EU, non-Swiss citizen needs only a passport or residence card number.

The contract is made in writing, electronically or in a documentary form (ust. 2). The operator starts the service after checking your data against your document or after electronic confirmation (ust. 3): by logging in through your bank, through mObywatel, by a signature, or by a video check in which your face is compared with the document. Which of these a particular operator offers is for you to ask it.

Can an operator refuse a foreigner? Not because of citizenship: art. 298 ust. 1 requires that terms of access do not discriminate by citizenship or place of residence unless that is objectively justified or required by law. But the law lets an operator make the contract conditional on documents showing you can perform it, and on a positive assessment of your creditworthiness from its own data or from a credit bureau (BIG); it must tell you when it does this (ust. 3 pkt 1–2). On a negative BIG assessment the operator may refuse or offer less favourable terms, for example by asking for security (ust. 4). The law does not say what is asked of someone who has just arrived and has no credit history in Poland. Expect to be asked for the lease, proof of income or a Polish bank account (our estimate).

Three more rules matter specifically to a tenant:

• A fixed-term consumer contract cannot run longer than 24 months, and the operator must also offer a term of no more than 12 months (art. 301). Compare the operator contract’s term with the term of your lease.
• If you end the contract early, the operator may claim compensation, but no more than the fees you would have paid up to the end of the term (art. 304 ust. 1 and 3). If you terminate the contract (give notice) before the connection starts, there is no compensation for the service; equipment obtained on preferential terms is the exception (art. 304 ust. 2 pkt 1).
• If a salesperson comes to your door unannounced, do not sign anything: a telecom contract concluded at your home during such an unannounced visit is invalid (art. 284 ust. 4).

What should I ask the landlord about internet before moving in?

A fixed connection depends on the address, the technology in the building and who has to agree to what. Ask at the viewing, or on video: how to run an online viewing is covered in our article on viewing a flat by video.

1. Is there already a connection and a contract with an operator? In whose name is it, and can it be transferred to you or must it be closed?
2. Which technology reaches the building: fibre, cable, radio or only mobile internet? Is there a socket or a router? Ask to see it on camera.
3. Does installation need the consent of the owner, the housing community (wspólnota) or the property manager (drilling, cable along the stairwell)? Under a separate connection agreement (przyłącze), the operator is by default responsible for obtaining consents (art. 299 ust. 6 pkt 1), but it is still better to agree things with the landlord and manager in advance (our estimate).
4. Can you choose your own operator? Who pays for installation, and what happens to equipment and one-off charges when you leave?
5. Is internet included in the rent (czynsz najmu) or in the administrative fee (czynsz administracyjny), or is it paid separately? What counts as running costs is covered in our article on the cost of running a flat.
6. How good is the mobile signal inside the flat? It is your fallback if the connection is delayed: meanwhile you can tether from your phone or buy a data SIM (our estimate).

Put the landlord’s answers in the lease, or at least keep them in writing.

How do I register a SIM card and open a bank account?

SIM. A prepaid SIM is registered: you give the operator your name and identity document details. If you do not have a PESEL yet, your document details are enough (art. 296 ust. 1–2). For a non-EU, non-Swiss citizen, a passport or residence card number is enough. A prepaid contract does not require a written form (art. 284 ust. 3).

Bank. A bank must establish your identity: name, citizenship, PESEL or, if you have none, date of birth, plus country of birth and the series and number of your document (art. 36 ust. 1 pkt 1 and art. 37 ust. 1 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act). Which further documents and proof of address a bank asks of a foreigner, and whether you can open an account remotely, is the bank’s own decision (our estimate), so check before you go.

Where do I file for a residence card in 2026?

Since 27 April 2026, applications for temporary residence, permanent residence and EU long-term resident status can be filed only electronically, through the MOS portal (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl). You log in through login.gov.pl and sign the application electronically with a trusted profile (profil zaufany), a qualified signature or a personal signature (UdSC, gov.pl/web/udsc/info-mos; Zielona Linia, 27.04.2026). Paper is kept only for a few cases, such as intra-company transfers. We do not give advice on residence permits: the basis and type of permit are for the applicant or a lawyer to decide.

MOS does not apply to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens or their family members (Zielona Linia, 27.04.2026). An EU citizen does not receive a karta pobytu: after more than 3 months in Poland you register your stay with the voivode (arts. 20–21 and 39 of the act on the entry and stay of EU citizens, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1065), and only a family member who is not an EU citizen applies for a residence card (karta pobytowa). How that registration works today, ask the Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki.

How do we help in the first days, and what does it cost?

allproperty finds flats for tenants. We take your request and shortlist flats, run online viewings by video, check what a client would ask, talk to the landlord directly and interpret orally (this is not a sworn translation). We serve you in your language: English, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German, Italian, Turkish and Spanish.

• Internet. Our aim is that you are online from the day you move in, and the questions above are how we prepare for it at the viewing. The connection is made by the operator, who names the date, and it depends on the address and the technology in the building, so we cannot guarantee “internet from day one”.
• PESEL. We go to the office with you and help you fill in the documents. The office decides, and if you are not from the EU you still have to attend in person. This help is included in the fee for finding the flat, with no separate charge.

What exactly we do for you, including help with internet and with the office, is written into the mediation agreement (umowa pośrednictwa) before you sign it: under art. 180 ust. 3 of the Real Estate Management Act (ustawa o gospodarce nieruchomościami), the agreement sets the scope of the services and must be in writing or electronic form. Our fee for finding you a flat is 70% of one month’s rent under the lease (czynsz najmu), excluding the administrative fee (czynsz administracyjny) and utilities. It is paid once, after the lease is signed, on an invoice without VAT. Example: rent of 3,500 zł means a fee of 2,450 zł.

Send a search request: move-in date, budget, district, number of rooms. 70% of one month’s rent under the lease (czynsz najmu), excluding administrative fee and utilities, payable after the lease is signed, invoice without VAT. Phone: +48 666 866 468.

Sources

Checked on 07.10.2026.

• Electronic Communications Law of 12.07.2024 (Prawo komunikacji elektronicznej), Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1221: art. 284 ust. 3–4, 296, 298, 299, 301, 304. The 2025–2026 amendments (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 637 and 820, 2026 poz. 252 and 815) do not change these articles.
• Population Register Act (ustawa o ewidencji ludności), consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 384: arts. 16, 17, 18, 40, 41, 42.
• Act on the entry into, stay in and exit from Poland of EU citizens and their family members, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1065: arts. 20, 21 and 39.
• Real Estate Management Act (ustawa o gospodarce nieruchomościami), consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 399: art. 180 ust. 3.
• Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 644: arts. 36, 37.
• gov.pl: Get a PESEL ID, a service for foreigners (23.03.2026).
• Office for Foreigners (UdSC): MOS, information on the system.
• Zielona Linia: MOS, electronic filing of selected residence applications (27.04.2026).