A bank froze the account because there is a stamp instead of a residence card
A case reported by MOST: 50,000 zł frozen, mortgage payments at risk — because the decision did not come on time.
What happened
MOST reported the case of a Belarusian citizen, an IT specialist living in Poland. He filed his residence permit application in December — since then his only document has been the stamp confirming that the application was submitted; he was still waiting for a fingerprinting appointment.
In May 2026 the bank (Pekao S.A.) invoked anti-money-laundering rules and demanded proof of lawful residence. It did not accept the stamp as sufficient. On 14 July 2026 it blocked transactions on his accounts; roughly 50,000 zł on a savings account became inaccessible. His mortgage payments were put at risk.
According to MOST, obtaining the document the bank demanded can take the office two to four months — even though the regulations provide for a considerably shorter deadline.
The connection to delay
This shows that the cost of delay does not end with waiting. The stamp is a lawful basis of residence, but private institutions treat it differently from a card — and the longer proceedings drag on, the longer a person lives with a document that a bank, an employer or a landlord may refuse to accept.