Payment of the 800+ benefit for foreigners: rules and reasons for withholding

The 800+ parental benefit is payable to a child until he/she turns 18. The right to receive it is the child's mother or father, or the actual guardian who applied to the court for the child's adoption, if he or she lives together with the child and supports the child.

The benefit is also available to persons providing foster care for the child, the child's legal guardians and, in some cases, the director of the social welfare home. An application for a child care benefit and attachments to the application can only be submitted electronically, via eZUS, the Emp@tia portal, or electronic banking. 800+ is also available to foreigners, provided they meet additional conditions. What?

According to ZUS, a person who is not a Polish citizen is entitled to the 800+ benefit if:

lives in the territory of Poland with the child for whom the 800+ benefit has been granted throughout the period of receiving the benefit,

is professionally active, i.e. is subject to pension and disability insurance,

the child fulfills the obligation of one-year kindergarten preparation, compulsory school attendance or compulsory education.

On September 22, the Social Insurance Institution issued a statement regarding possible reasons for suspending the payment of 800+ to foreigners. This may occur when:

the Border Guard register records the departure from Poland of the person submitting the application or the child, but there is no data on re-entry,

there is no information in the registers of the Social Insurance Institution and the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund that the person submitting the application is registered for pension and disability insurance,

there is no information in the educational information system that the child fulfills the obligation of one-year kindergarten preparation, compulsory schooling or compulsory education,

there are inconsistencies in the registers regarding the identification data of the person submitting the application or the child (name, surname, date of birth, PESEL number).